Charity Navigator: “A charity that's spending 70% or more on their programs is one that we would feel comfortable with." - by Michael Towner

​According to Ashley Post, a spokeswoman for Charity Navigator, “A charity that's spending 70% or more on their programs is one that we would feel comfortable with." Charity Navigator analyzes thousands of regulatory filings from charitable organizations.
According to a recent investigation by New York state attorney general, of the more than $1.3 billion raised by charities in the state in 2018, about $369 million — or 27% — went to pay professional fundraisers' fees (Attorney General Letitia James), down from 31% the previous year.
The report looked at 891 individual campaigns launched last year and found that fundraisers pocketed half of the money raised during 273 of those campaigns. Of those 891, 59% of those campaigns saw the cost of hiring outside fundraisers exceed the level of donations.
The figures come from fundraising efforts reported to the attorney general from more than 85,000 charities registered in New York. Donations included money sent to charitable nonprofits, charitable foundations or charitable trusts that focus on education, human services, the arts, housing, the environment and other issues.
Using fundraising firms isn't unique to New York. Thousands of charities nationwide hire such entities to help process gifts and fulfill other donor requests. But philanthropy experts say that most well-managed charities don't overpay for the services.
"We think charities definitely shouldn't be overusing professional fundraising, but in our research that's a pretty small percentage," said Ashley Post. 

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Charity Navigator ranks the top 10 charities that it says overspend for professional fundraising. The organizations that make the list spent half or more of their yearly revenue on fundraising efforts, and includes charities in Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Michigan and Texas.
Rank       Charity                                     Program Expenses  Professional Fundraising Fees
1 Disabled Police and Sheriff's Foundation Genevieve, MO   4.7%               90.3%
2 Cancer Survivors' Fund Missouri City, TX                 8.5%               88.1%
3 The Committee for Missing Children Lawrenceville, GA     6.4%               87.9%
4 Autism Spectrum Disorder Foundation Schererville, IN     18.5%              77.2%
5 HonorBound Foundation Darien, CT                         20.3%              67.0%
6 Kids Wish Network Holiday, FL                            17.1%              62.5%
7 Children's Leukemia Research Association Garden City, NY 23.8%              60.4%
8 Law Enforcement Education Program Troy, MI               8.2%               51.9%
9 Find the Children Santa Monica, CA                       24.4%              48.9%
10 Veterans Support Foundation Silver Spring, MD           18.9%              48.8%
 
https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=topten.detail&listid=28

​Missouri-based Disabled Police and Sheriffs Foundation, which spent 90% of its income on fundraising efforts and was shuttered earlier this year, topped Charity Navigator's list. Another organization, the Children's Leukemia Research Association of Long Island, New York, generated about $969,000 in revenue in 2017 (the most recent Charity Navigator data available), but roughly $671,000 went to fundraising expenses.
The leukemia group has used telemarketers for at least two years to help generate donations, a move that took place soon after the group's founder died, said Angelo Russo, the association's executive director. Russo said her organization is on the list because of activity that took place in 2017.
Form 990 filings from 2016 and 2017 show that most of the revenue went toward paying the telemarketing service, which threw off the association's programs-to-personnel cost ratio, said Russo, who took over as head of the organization in mid-2018. The group has since stopped using telemarketers.