To the Editor:

One quarter of non-profit revenues (501c3) are raised in December, although not all non-profits are created equal. We would not invest our hard earned money for our future without doing the proper research and it shouldn’t be any different when it comes to our charitable contributions, as we want our donations to work for the organizations as efficiently as possible.

That being said, I personally like to donate to animal welfare organizations, which I do so on a monthly basis. For comparison purposes I have included some financial data from six animal shelters/welfare groups operating in the State of South Dakota. All data posted is from the IRS.gov Tax Exempt Organization look-up tool, using the most recent form 990 filed by the organizations.

#1. Light Shine Canine Rescue, serving the Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations. $751,367.00 in Revenue, zero salaries, so 100% goes to the animals.

#2. Aberdeen Area Humane Society. $312,814.00 in Revenue $116,203.00 for salaries which equals 37% of their revenue.

#3. Glacial Lakes Humane Society, Watertown. $218,378.00 in revenue, $93,980.00 for salaries which is 43% of their revenue.

#4. Heartland Humane Society, Yankton. $277,119.00 in revenue $152,795.00 for salaries which is 55% of their revenue.

#5. Brookings Regional Humane Society. $196,553.00 in revenue and $111,467.00 for salaries which is 56% of their revenue.

#6. Beadle County Humane Society, Huron. $207,764.00 in Revenue $146,550.00 for salaries which is 70.5% of their revenue.

When choosing a charity, do your research and choose wisely because with non-profits it should not be about the jobs, it should be about the bottom line and the beneficiaries, which in the aforementioned would be the animals.

Douglas Hart
Huron