Charities rake in millions by bombarding New Yorkers with pleas for used cars – but many donors are being taken for a ride, a Post probe has found.
Some of the charities use contributions for religious purposes without informing the donors. Others spend so much on advertising and other expenses that little is left for charitable purposes.
A review of three years of tax returns for some of the city’s most heavily advertised car-donation groups showed only two – Timothy Hill Children’s Ranch and Kars 4 Kids – met recognized giving standards.
And several funnel all their donations to religious affiliates, a fact not disclosed in their ads or Web sites.
Here’s a rundown:
* Brooklyn-based Heritage for the Blind claims to publish “Braille and large-print materials.”
What it doesn’t spell out publicly – or on its IRS tax forms – is that all of its funding goes to a sister nonprofit, Jewish Heritage for the Blind, which publishes Braille Torahs and other Jewish books.
It raked in nearly $2.4 million in 2005 and used $495,133 for its programs. About $1.65 million went to advertising and $775,361 to salaries.
* Kars 4 Kids says it helps “children who were on the streets.”
It doesn’t say it raises cash exclusively for Oorah Inc., a New Jersey-based charity that provides religious education for kids of non-observant Jews.
On its Web site, Oorah boasts an “80 percent success rate” teaching its clients “to keep themselves apart from the gentiles.”
Kars 4 Kids does spell out its religious affiliation on tax forms to the IRS, and its lawyer contended that links at the bottom of its Web site indicate “the religious focus of the organization.”
Kars 4 Kids raised $8.9 million in 2006, and used $7.6 million for charity. Some $1.4 million went for ads.
* The L’chaim to Life Foundation urges New Yorkers to help “someone less fortunate” – but doesn’t mention that those “less fortunate” live in Florida, where Bais Chabad Synagogue, which runs the charity, is based. L’Chaim’s tax records were not available.
* n contrast, Long Island-based Timothy Hill Ranch, which uses donations to run a 70-acre residential farm for abused, neglected and homeless kids, spells out its Christian ties and on its Web site, and makes them clear to the IRS. Timothy Hill raised $3.4 million and steered $2.2 million to its programs.
* The site for My Ray of Hope claims the group provides medical attention for handicapped kids.
But tax records reveal some of its donations went to a Russian school in California.
My Ray of Hope took in $15,010 in 2005, but had total expenses of $213,394, including ads, putting it into the red. Some $6,250 went to its programs.
The Better Business Bureau says 65 percent of a nonprofit’s outlay should fund its programs.