One of the things we’ve always hung our hat on here at the Hero Foundation is how effective we are with your donations. Since everyone in the organization is a volunteer, and we don’t pay for office space, we can get a lot of mileage out of the money that comes in.
Also, I think it’s important to be transparent. You trust us with your hard-earned money, so it’s only fair we let you know that we’re being responsible with it.
Of course, we do have expenses, because we still have to file paperwork with the state, and we need the basic raw materials to run things like stamps, paper, wrapping paper for presents, etc. But how much does that actually cost?
I’ve always said 99%…I wasn’t far off
At our events I’ve often said things like, “With no paid staff and very few expenses, we’re passing 99% or so of your donations directly to families.”
Well, I decided to go through the books for 2023 to do a little self fact-check and for the year we actually came out pretty close.
Based on money input and output, our total expenses came to just 1.6%. So, you can do the math as far as how much money is left over that we can provide to Michigan families. While we aren’t the biggest charity around, our founder once used the phrase:
“I like to say we’re small, but we’re mighty.”
I think those words still hold true today, and by minimizing our costs to such a degree, we will continue to work hard to be as mighty as we can be with your generous donations.
Adam Henige is President of the Hero Foundation and is passionate about helping Michigan families in need. In his spare time he enjoys traveling with his wife and following his favorite sports teams.