AHA = American Heart Association

This year teh school is pushing online donations for Jump Rope for Heart. Sounds great to me and the kid with the most and furthest donation gets special prizes. So I sign up my first son and decide to walk through the process. I submit $10 only to get a message saying no donations under $25 will be accepted. Well ain't that a crock. Most of my co-workers give $10. I would think(yeah I know they have overhead) that you would be happy to accept $5 or $10. I always give but that pissed me off.

sort of a four drink minimum plus a cover charge.

the ahaq should be ashamed.

check out the CFC Combined Federal Campaign Website they have a booklet that shows what the overhead and what the amount that actually goes to the cause is... thats what I always looked at before making my donations to any organizations.. if they have high overhead they evedently have a management problem and someone is lining their pockets and the donars expences... F*ck them.. I gave to where more money went to what it said its used for!

Hog

American Heart Association

also known as : American Stroke Association

7272 Greenville Avenue

Dallas, TX 75231-4596

September 2003

214-373-6300

800-242-8721

www.americanheart.org Expiration Date: March 2006

Year, State Incorporated: 1924, New York

Affiliates: 12 regional and 297 local offices.

American Stroke Association is a division of AHA.

Stated Purpose: "the reduction of disability and death from cardiovascular diseases and stroke."

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Evaluation Conclusions

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American Heart Association (AHA) meets the Standards for Charity Accountability.

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Programs

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AHA publishes brochures and other publications on subjects like nutrition and dangers of smoking. Some ($32,690,998, or 22%) of AHA's public health education efforts are carried out in conjunction with fund raising appeals. AHA funds scientific studies to obtain knowledge in the prevention, detection, and treatment of cardiovascular diseases. During 2001-2002, AHA reports that it approved 1,073 new research grants and fellowships at the state and national levels. In addition to publishing five medical journals, AHA holds professional development seminars and meetings to keep physicians, nurses and healthcare professionals versed in the latest ways to prevent or treat problems involving stroke, heart attack and other cardiovascular diseases. AHA also offers training in emergency cardiac care. According to AHA, more than six million Americans were trained in CPR and other lifesaving courses in 2001-2002. AHA also campaigned for passage of the Medicare Cholesterol Screening Coverage Act and extension of authority for the Food and Drug Administration over tobacco products. Some ($12,999,605, or 3%) of the amount reported for program expenses was in the form of contributed services, and is also recognized as a source of revenue.

For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2002, AHA's program expenses were:

Public health education 150,000,057

Research 134,267,930

Professional education and training 63,097,427

Community services 42,118,414

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Total Program Expenses $389,483,828

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Governance

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Chief Executive Officer:

Compensation*: $434,247

Highest Paid Executive: Michael Weamer, Executive Vice President, Heritage Affiliate

Compensation*: $454,226

Chair of the Board: Coletta Barrett, R.N., MHA, FAHA

Chair's Profession / Business Affiliation: Vice President, Policy Development and Research, Louisiana Hospital Association

Board Size: 41

Paid Staff Size: 3,394

* July 1, 2001 - June 30, 2002; compensation includes annual salary, and if applicable, benefit plans, expense accounts, and other allowances. The total for AHA's highest paid executive also includes incentive pay from both the 2001 and 2002 fiscal years.

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Fund Raising

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Method(s) Used: Direct mail, grant proposals, special events, cause-related marketing, planned giving, telemarketing, and Internet appeals.

Fund raising costs were 23% of related contributions. (Related contributions, which totaled $453,103,764, are donations received as a result of fund raising activities.)

AHA incurred joint costs of $65,880,360 for informational materials and activities that included fund raising appeals. Of those costs, $32,949,720 was allocated to program expenses, $31,844,663 was allocated to fund raising expenses, and $1,085,977 was allocated to administrative expenses.

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Tax Status

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This organization is tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. It is eligible to receive contributions deductible as charitable donations for federal income tax purposes.

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Financial

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The following is based on AHA's audited consolidated (national center and affiliated Heart Associations) financial statements for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2002:

Source of Funds

Special events (net) 183,820,790

Contributions 116,834,929

Bequests 94,620,844

Sales of educational materials 36,994,106

Received indirectly from federated and unassociated fund-raising organizations 20,652,660

Split-interest agreements 18,129,807

Investment income (net) 17,276,108

Program fees 16,532,087

Contributed services 15,514,022

Miscellaneous 14,718,044

Royalty revenue 9,418,906

Perpetual trust revenue 5,172,486

Gain on disposal of fixed assets 1,621,488

Membership dues 1,329,780

Fees and grants from agencies 1,167,794

Contributed materials 1,033,138

Realized losses on investments (net) -2,967,119

Unrealized losses on beneficial interests in perpetual trusts (net) -8,906,799

Unrealized losses on investments -10,559,053

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Total Income $532,404,018

Uses of Funds as a % of Total Expenses

' Was here ' Start the code to loop in the program

Use your mouse to place the cursor over the the Pie Chart to see each value.

Total income $532,404,018

Program expenses $389,483,828

Fund raising expenses 104,636,601

Administrative expenses 37,729,972

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Total expenses ($531,850,401)

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Income in Excess of Expenses 553,617

Beginning net assets 551,074,969

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Ending net assets 551,628,586

Total liabilities 332,937,666

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Total assets $884,566,252

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Yep lookin at that I can see why they (AHA) were kind of demanding on $25.00 donations.. because from the CFC if they get anything is only $1.00 to $5.00 a payperiod donations from these employees...

I can also see where Bassdude is coming from when they told him they do not accept anything under $25.00 donations.... way I see it, they would and possibly could have more donations sent their way if they'd lower the cap on their demands and go back to viewing these as gifts?

Hog

Times have changed.

Remember the March of Dimes?!

The AHA will learn the hard way.

I used to always donate to 4-5 programs through the CFC when I was a Fed. Employee... it was basically a natural thing to do.. but I always took time to view their assistance Vs. overhead and went that way...

AHA at one time throughout the 15yrs was on my list for CFC.. and they do not miss a beat to this day sending me a packet full of business lables or some other useless crap in the mail.. I havn't that I can recall donated to them in 7-10 yrs previously? so why keep spending the money and effort on this type junk out to people rather then use the funds for the causes they say it's going to?

Hog