Wishing Well Foundation in Metairie among worst nonprofits in nation, station reportsPournelle's Iron Law again:
The Metairie-based Wishing Well Foundation USA has received a zero rating from a charity watchdog group for six years in a row, according to a report by WWL-TV.
According to the most recent IRS report the station could find for the group, in 2008, the charity only spent five cents out of every dollar helping terminally ill children, the stated mission of the organization.
Of the $1.3 million raised that year, only $36,000 went toward granting wishes. Over $1 million went to telemarketing firms in Illinois, Missouri and New York. The charity's president, Elwin Lebeau, received $63,600.
Lebeau did not return the reporters' requests for information.
Charity Navigator, a nonprofit watchdog group, rated the foundation at zero out of five stars for six years running. The head of another group, the Louisiana Association of Nonprofits, said a well-run charity gives 75 percent or more of its proceeds toward its cause.
Pournelle's Iron Law of Bureaucracy states that in any bureaucratic organization there will be two kinds of people":Posted by DaveH at March 4, 2011 8:25 PMThe Iron Law states that in every case the second group will gain and keep control of the organization. It will write the rules, and control promotions within the organization.First, there will be those who are devoted to the goals of the organization. Examples are dedicated classroom teachers in an educational bureaucracy, many of the engineers and launch technicians and scientists at NASA, even some agricultural scientists and advisors in the former Soviet Union collective farming administration.
Secondly, there will be those dedicated to the organization itself. Examples are many of the administrators in the education system, many professors of education, many teachers union officials, much of the NASA headquarters staff, etc.