My Nonprofit Reviews

I am a mother of a 15 year old girl with SB. As a member of my local SB chapter since her birth, I have been a donor to SBA. You see, in order to use their logo and be listed in their website, each local chapter is required to pay a minimum of around $10,000 a year. The SBA took in $3.5 Million in 2010 ( the last posted 990) and only $124,000 of that went toward grants! They spent a whopping $95,000 on research, whoa... Salary was $1.2 Million. "Other expenses" we're $1.4 Million. I wish we had a real national organization which made a difference in the areas of prevention, awareness, and caring for the affected, but we don't. If we did, the word Spina Bifida would be as well known as Down syndrome. If we did, there would be an actual decline in pregnancies affected by SB, not just more abortions that lower the live births of babies with it. If we did, I would have something positive to say about how they have been there for me and my daughter. But I can't, because they aren't it. The people saying the SBA has made a difference in their lives are likely talking about their local chapter, not the National chapter/ Mother ship. Their local chapters should break off like ours did and spend that extra money on actual services that make a difference in people's lives.

My office recently participated in a "Dentistry from the Heart" free day of dental care. While the idea behind this non-profit organization is a very worthwhile one; their structure, follow-through, and professionalism is severely lacking. We still have NO IDEA where our $1,000 went! We seem to have paid them for a couple of t-shirts and the use of their slogan. After our hefty fee was paid, we tried contacting them with questions many times. We were told they were just "too busy" to handle running their office plus this on the side, yet their are no paid staff on the 990. Hmmm...where on earth does $668,000 go??? My suggestion? Save your money!! Run your own free dental care day. Put up some free flyers around town and call your local health department. Call the news and paper--they will be happy to advertise for you--for free!!!

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