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To the Point

What Happens to Our Charitable Contributions?

T'is the season of charitable giving, but how well do charities use the money we give them? Americans will donate about $300 billion to charities this year. Will the money be used the way the donors think it will? How effective is our charitable giving?

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KCRW placeholderBy Lawrence O'Donnell • May 12, 2014 • 1 min read

T'is the season of charitable giving, but how well do charities use the money we give them? Americans will donate about $300 billion to charities this year. Will the money be used the way the donors think it will? How effective is our charitable giving? How much is wasted? How difficult is it to give away the huge sums that billionaires are pumping into their favored causes? And what unintended consequences result from our best intentions?

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    Lawrence O'Donnell

    MSNBC

  • Sonya Geis with wavy brown hair wearing a black dress with red accents and decorative earrings against a white background.

    Sonya Geis

    Senior Managing Editor

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    Karen Radziner

    Managing Producer, To the Point & Which Way LA?

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    Daniel Borochoff

    President, American Institute of Philanthropy

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    Paul Schervish

    Director of the Center on Wealth and Philanthropy, Boston College

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    Holden Karnofsky

    Founder, GiveWell

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