I think the real question is why donors were sending the money to Komen

[malaise]

rather than Planned Parenthood.
In much the same way that most of us do not give the Red Cross money, why were folks sending their money to Komen -DUers have been writing about them for years.
ReTHUGS cannot be trusted - ever.

[JI7]

1. people saw it as giving to prevent breast cancer, the best thing about all of this

is that we learned about where the money goes. how there are other groups where money actually goes towards helping people.

glad there has been criticism of the whole pink campaign .

also most people associate planned parenthood as just being about abortion rights. but they do so many other good things .

[KT2000]

2. when you buy a pink can opener

they get some money, when you buy a pink ribbon can of soup they get a donation, when the checker says "do you want to donate your change to breast cancer research?" they get a donation. They did a terrific job of scooping up all the money for themselves and other organizations that do research leading to prevention don't have the money they need.

[Warpy]

3. Komen's focus was different, they were endowing research

to the tune of about 30% of their contributions. The rest went to marketing tchotchkes, soliciting more contributions, paying executives fat salaries, lobbying, and contributing to GOPs.

Planned Parenthood's focus is as a hands-on diagnosis and treatment center specializing in women's health.

There are other outfits that endow funds into researching breast cancer. There is no other Planned Parenthood.

[peacebird]

4. Guess that is why komens "volunteer"board members earned SO much $

Do planned parenthood folks earn as much?

[Raine]

5. Agreed nt

[Curmudgeoness]

6. When the shit hit the fan, I checked the ratings for Komen

and they had a very high score on Charity Navigator, and Charity Watch gives them a B+ and lists them in their top rated charities. These are places where a lot of the general public gets information on who to donate to and who to avoid.

So in answer to why donors sent money to Komen, you have two reasons----the high scores on charity rating sites and the visibility that Komen has.

[HuckleB]

7. I noted that, too.

Which makes me wonder about Charity Navigator, especially.

Something is not quite right.

[Curmudgeoness]

10. I am not sure all is well with these sites either,

but they are all we have at this time. I wonder if these rating sites could be "influenced" in the same way that Komen is influenced. That would mean that their ratings were useless.

The two sites I checked are the most popular (and they pop up at the top of google searches as well). I guess this is like everything in life----take the information with a grain of salt and do more research.

[cyglet]

8. IRS form 990

Before giving money to anyone. Look for them. Ask for them.

They have to list their financials, whether or not people are being compensated, and what they are being compensated.

SGK is at http://ww5.komen.org/uploadedFiles/Content/AboutUs/Financial/KOMEN%20PARENT%20PDC%20wout%20PW.pdf

(they have EIGHTEEN people who make 6 figures)

[gopiscrap]

9. Mostg folks (myself included)

have not done the research on them...now that I know what they are like: FUCK 'EM,, not only FUCK 'EM but FIGHT EM