After reading all of the responses in the other thread (and let Trish close it when she does ...
), and thinking it over, it is up to each individual to make their giving choices, no matter what the charity or event. Let me give you a little of my background.
I worked for the Better Business Bureau in Kentucky. One of the branches of the BBB was charitable giving... giving out information to callers about different charities. Many callers wanted to know if they were "legit" ... of course, we could only give the information that had been given to us, or information that we had compiled about the organization.
Along with giving general information about the actual organization, we told givers that they should also ask "how much of my $ 1 goes toward the actual charity, and how much goes toward administrative costs?" Ours was an 80/20 split... if more than 20 percent went to the administrative costs (mostly to the people who were hired to make the calling), then we would tell callers that they did not meet our standards, but did not discourage them from making their donations. Why? Because....
Each giver has an opinion. Each giver has a CHOICE to make. Do they want to give to an organization who only sees x percentage of the money I give them?
It is the same thing here. Everyone has a choice. If you don't want to donate to a 10 percent donation auction, then look for something that is higher. As of last night, there were 67 100 percent donated auctions. Don't lose sight of that aspect. if every one of those auctions went off at an average of $ 50 a piece (and that is a LOW estimate), that is over half of the amount that we are needing! Over $ 3300!!! And that doesn't include the 100 percent auctions that have already closed. PLUS some of those auctions have free shipping, so the WAHM who has one of those items in their possession (I would be one of those) pays for the item/s to be shipped. Is that sour grapes? ABsolutely not.
So, with all of this being said, what I *wanted* to say is this: you, as a giver, have a choice. If you want to know how much of a 10 percent or 25 percent auction that is going for higher than retail is being donated to AFO, ask the WAHM involved. Although she won't know what her auction will end at, she will probably tell you what she is thinking.
I think the question asked was a good one ... everyone needs to understand where their money is going when it comes to charitable giving, both the person giving the money, and the person providing the wares.