When Is a “Charity” Not a Charity?

By Dennis McKeon

Having been educated by Dominican Nuns in my earliest youth, I was made quite familiar with the Biblical verse from 1 Corinthians 13:13.....

"And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity."

Some people dedicate their lives to performing works of charity. Charity can raise the fallen from the floor of the darkest and most hopeless of places. Charity can liberate the self from destructive self-obsession. Some people, regardless of their circumstances, refuse to accept charity. And some people make a great show of paying lip service to the concept of charity, cloaking themselves in the warm-hued tones and vestments of it, while seeking only to promote a hurtful and mean-spirited agenda.

Contributing to charitable organizations and to those who provide charity is as American as Harley Davidsons and Baconators. Americans, to their eternal credit, are always soft-touches for a good cause, no matter what the state of the economy or their own personal finances.

In contemporary society, it is easy to conflate “tax-exempt” organizations with charitable organizations. The ever more schizophrenic tax codes exacerbate this problem. For example, a lobbying group might be classified as a tax-exempt 501c4…as opposed to an entity that provides hands-on charitable services, which could be classified as a tax-exempt 501c3.

To further muddy the waters, the tax code reads like this, concerning the 501c4 designation:

“501c4s are:

*civic leagues or organizations not organized for profit but operated exclusively for the promotion of social welfare

*or local associations of employees, the membership of which is limited to the employees of a designated person or persons in a particular municipality

*and the net earnings of which are devoted exclusively to charitable, educational, or recreational purposes.”

A non-profit, non-charitable organization can be classified under a definition which also describes an entity whose “earnings are devoted exclusively to charitable…purposes”. Confusing, isn’t it?

Certain tax-exempt, radical, animal rights lobbying groups like PETA and the HSUS (Humane Society of the United States), have come under increased scrutiny for their perceived lack of charitable activity and commitment, and for what could be interpreted as insidious implication and self-portrayal as charities. These organizations take in stupendous amounts of money in donations, yet provide little in the way of actual animal welfare, services or animal charity. Instead, they spend much of this money on salaries and perks, self-aggrandizing commercials, luxurious office complexes, and of course, on lawyers and lobbyists. Their true objective is to promote, by increments, “animal rights”, which is an extremist political agenda, not to be confused with traditional animal welfare. There is a vast and crucial difference between the two. The latter concerns the humane treatment and well being of kept animals, while the former, fully implemented, demands the complete extinction of all domestic breeds of all species, and would forbid legal animal ownership for any purpose.

Many smaller and less well-funded animal activist organizations have followed the basic template of these two main players, seemingly doing little to discourage public perception of them as “charities”, when in fact they are nothing of the sort. PETA, perhaps the most infamous of all animal rights groups, has even been listed by the USDA as a “terrorist threat”. (Huffington Post, 3/18/10)

Let’s have a look at the anti-greyhound racing activist group, Grey2k, based in Somerville, Massachusetts. For the 11-plus years they have been in existence, they have provided almost nothing in the way of actual, hands-on Greyhound welfare, while exhorting the public to “help us help the greyhounds”--by donating to them. They take great pains to portray the Racing Greyhound as a pathetic object of pity and the victim of cruel and inhumane enslavement…and themselves as “greyhound emancipators”.

The way they “help the greyhounds”, however, is to spend the public’s donations on almost anything other than materially or physically administering to those greyhounds. Their agenda of outlawing wagering on greyhound racing, moreover, necessitates the destruction of businesses and jobs that involve breeding, raising and caring for greyhounds. In so doing, the greyhounds they are supposedly emancipating are forced into premature retirement from racing, placing tremendous burden and stress on the existing charitable adoption networks and infrastructure, as well as the greyhounds themselves.

At that stage, Grey2k seems to be no longer interested in “helping the greyhounds”. They provide no direct greyhound adoption or welfare services, and never have, despite having begun only recently--perhaps in light of increased public awareness of the true agenda of mentors like PETA and the HSUS--paying any significant lip service to such things. Perhaps they have finally been shamed into acknowledging that real greyhound welfare groups, with whom they compete for donations, actually exist.

It has recently been brought to light, that from 2006-2011, Grey2k received over $2.2 million dollars in donations. Of this, their actual charitable contributions during this period, per their IRS 990 forms, amounted to just over $31K.

That is, for those who are and should be keeping score, just 1.4% of total Grey2k revenues given to actual charities.

Which charities those parsimonious donations specifically supported is unknown. It is known, however, that an officer and a board member of Grey2k each happen to sit on the board of the anti-gambling activist group, Stop Predatory Gambling. The Stop Predatory Gambling Foundation is—oh snap!--a 501c3 tax-exempt, non-profit organization.

If that doesn’t raise an eyebrow, then consider this. Grey2k is fond of condemning the breeding of greyhounds for the purpose of racing, contending that the yearly retiring greyhound population displaces dogs in the general population, who might otherwise find adoptive homes. However, they themselves have diverted, since 2006, well over 2 million dollars that might have been used by real greyhound charities to provide real welfare for the greyhounds Grey2k professes to care so much about. Instead, much of that money is used to pay the salaries of Grey2k’s officers, for lawyers and lobbyist fees, and for endless and shameless self-promotion.

Far from being anything akin to a greyhound charity, Grey2k manages to negatively stereotype and works toward disenfranchising an entire class of working people and their families, whose sole focus in life involves caring for the Racing Greyhound. It works to destroy their businesses, their breeding programs, their careers and their jobs, and if Grey2k is entirely successful, it will eventually destroy the Racing Greyhound. They are still, thanks to their racing heritage and activity, a genetically diverse, athletically adapted, thriving population of dogs, but one whose sole means of support is the revenue generated through racing.

St. Paul describes charity:

“it is not jealous or boastful… it does not rejoice at wrong”

Grey2k describes itself:

“GREY2K USA is the largest greyhound protection organization in the United States. Since our formation, twenty-six dog tracks have closed for live racing all across the country, and the number of states with dog racing has been cut in half.“

St. Paul describes charity:

“if I have not charity, I am nothing…charity is superior to all the virtues”.

Grey2k describes the cornucopia of options the public has been provided with to donate--to them:

*ONE TIME DONATION--make a secure online gift or send a check today…

*PLANNED GIVING--leave a bequest through the Hope Fund…

*MONTHLY GIVING--join the Gracie Club by pledging a monthly donation…

*HONORARY GIFT--give in memory of a loved one or commemorate a special occasion…

*OTHER WAYS TO GIVE--shop or sell online, search the web, or donate a vehicle to help the greyhounds.”

St. Paul describes charity:
“Charity does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful”.

Grey2k describes its agenda:

“Greyhound racing is cruel and inhumane, and should be prohibited.”

Please support real providers of real animal charity and welfare—such as your local, no-kill animal shelter, or if you are inclined to help greyhounds, your local Greyhound adoption group. Don’t assume that simply because an organization asking for your money is tax-exempt, that they are providers or supporters of animal welfare or of charitable works--or that they aren’t competing with those who actually perform those charitable works, for your hard-earned, charitable donations.