My Nonprofit Reviews
JALcritic
Review for St. Joseph's Indian School, Chamberlain, SD, USA
After receiving several packages from SJIS containing sox, plastic shopping bags, you know the stuff, I opened such a package today, which asked for donations to care for the children at the school. Included in the literature was the fantastical number of dollars needed to support one child per year at the SJIS: $116,195! The figure purportedly includes food, shelter, clothing, health care, counseling, and "much more." This breaks down to $397/day per child. Ludicrous. (By the way, check the math; even on its face it's wrong.) I am an affluent parent in the New york City area who has given three children education at elite schools, health care, shelter, clothing, plus fabulous vacations, ski trips, etc., and I guarantee you it did not cost $397 times three, meaning $1,191, per day to raise my children.
An earlier comment from another donor noted that SJIS has more than $100,000,000 in assets. Charity Watch in the past gave SJIS an "F" rating, the lowest possible, for its lack of transparency and huge marketing efforts. The numbers make me think that the directors, officers, and staff must be paid very considerable salaries. I will not give to SJIS again, and I hope someone investigates the real facts about this organization. As you know, SJIS does not report its revenue, expenses, and assets to any agency, including the IRS, because it is part of the Catholic church. I wonder how much of the donations are shared with the church? And are the children forced to become Catholic?
Thank you for your comment. Currently, direct mail is our primary source of funding. Our main focus at the school is to provide a warm loving home, an education and medical needs for over 200 Lakota boys and girls in our care. In order to do this, a series of mailings are sent to people throughout the US asking for their support. Our school is located in a rural area in Chamberlain, South Dakota. We don’t receive regular, ongoing federal support nor do we receive large donations from huge corporations. Instead we rely on caring individuals from across the country to support our work through tax-deductible donations, one gift at a time. No tuition is charged and providing for the children is our top priority. St. Joseph’s is not required to file a form 990 by the IRS. Because of this, Charity Navigator will not rate our organization. St. Joseph’s Indian School is accredited by the Council on Accreditation (COA). We welcome you to call us at 1-800-341-2235 for more information.
