Justification?

I'm not a big giver to "charitable causes." There's one I donate to on a yearly basis partly because of the timing involved in their first solicitation to me - a law-enforcement-based fund that called when the death of my step-mom's father, a volunteer with a police force, was fresh in my mind. With rare exception, I pass on others. I'm not exactly struggling, but I'm not so flush that I feel like throwing money around either.

And every now and then something pops up to remind why I dislike just tossing money at some of these things. Today, I opened mail from the Hospice Fund of America. Home health care for the elderly, that's a good cause, right? Rather than just throwing it away, I read some of the print on the back. An excerpt:

"Hospice Fund of America does not have an audited financial statement. It is estimated that of the contributions received in its first fiscal year Hospice Fund of America will spend 60% on fundraising, 20% on administration, 5% on program services, and 25% on public education in conjunction with fundraising appeals."

Whoa. Whoaaaaa. I get that there's overhead required, but five cents of every dollar is what they estimate will get to the actual program itself? That strikes me as a bit ridiculous. Yeah... umm... pass.