Habitat for Humanity: Where does all the money go?

By Bryan Fox On May 3, 2010 · 31 Comments

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Habitat for Humanity volunteers. Photo: Natalie Maynor

Since its start in the mid-1960’s, Habitat for Humanity has built over 350,000 houses to date, and housed over 1.75 million people. The organization has a Presidential Medal of Freedom. Ashton Kutcher spent a week building in Central America. Brad Pitt laid down some bricks in India. William Shatner sold a kidney stone to finance a house. It seems as close to an intrinsic good as you’re going to find in the NGO world.

Speaking badly of Habitat would not only be difficult and improper – it would represent something approaching depravity, wouldn’t it?

I’ve got a long summer break this year, so I decided I might join up with the organization’s Global Village program in Cambodia. A quick bit of online research led me to the names and contact details of the three projects taking place.

I followed up with the leader in Siem Reap. Hugh M., a semi-retired chemistry professor in Tacoma, Washington, would make the project his seventh build. He agreed to do a phone interview with me the same day I contacted him. He asked reasonable questions about my motives for doing the program and my personal history, how I’d feel living with other team members, and if I had any special dietary restrictions.

Photo: tukanuk

The literature he’d sent made the experience look exactly like the one I wanted to have, so I didn’t ask much, except to find out about our lodging (“It’s nicer than anything I’ve ever stayed in in America,” was his response) and how much prayer would be involved. “I don’t have a daily reflection, or do a reading,” he promised me. “Some people come for that, so I tell them right up front, that’s not the kind of groups I run.” This seemed to me to be the best of all possible answers.

One thing I was curious about, though, was the cost of the trip. The Cambodia builds, all two-week affairs, cost $1,750. I asked Hugh where this money went. “Well, $400 goes to the Habitat fund in the country; it’s a donation. And the rest covers hotels, and transportation, and food, insurance, and that sort of thing.”

So the build required in excess of $1,300 a head. In a country where the average per capita income is around $2,000, and a most people don’t earn a fraction of that, that’s a lot of cash. I said as much to him, politely, and he responded with a verbal head scratch. “You know, I have tried to ask them where this money goes, or to cut down on the fees a bit, but that’s just the way it is.” I left it at that, and we chatted on a while longer about the adventure ahead.

“You know, I have tried to ask them where this money goes, or to cut down on the fees a bit, but that’s just the way it is.”

Before hanging up, he told me what I wanted to hear: “If you’re interested, you are welcome to be on my team.” Hired. I thanked him and told him I’d reach a final decision within a few days.

The unaccounted $1,300 still bothered me, though. As much as I wanted to do the project, the math just didn’t make sense.

Considering Cambodian prices, and being very generous, I broke it down as such (Habitat’s breakdown is here):

Donation to Cambodia HFH: $400 per person
Shared accomodation – $50 per room, per night – $25pp x 13 nights = $325 per person
Meals – breakfasts and lunches for 10 days, not counting weekends $8 x 10 work days = $80 per person
Health insurance – $100 per person
Transportation – a mini-van for 16 x 10 work days – $50 per day, $500/16 people = $35 per person, approximately

TOTAL: $940 per person

Photo: charleschan

Granted, these are just the ‘necessities’. There are other things covered by the fees, including participation in ‘local ceremonies and events’. But we are still short.

I placed a call to Habitat’s headquarters in Americus, Georgia to inquire further. The receptionist put me through to David, the worker in charge of SE Asia.

David spoke with a fairly pronounced Indian accent. He told me that, in fact, $500 of the money went to donations – $400 to the local branch, and $100 to the American office. Fair enough. “But what about the rest?” I asked. He then reiterated the exact information that the build website contained – in fact, it’s entirely possible he was reading from the site as he spoke to me.

“Yes, I saw all of that online,” I assured him, “But I’ve been to Cambodia before, and we’re still talking about $1,250 for two weeks.”

“Well, as I said, $500 is a donation,” he repeated, and at this point I noticed a slight change in the tone of his voice.

“I am very interested in the program,” I told him, “I’ve already interviewed with the Team Leader and he told me I was welcome to join. I just want to know, since this is an investment, where it’s going.”

He solicited Hugh’s name and the trip dates. I realized I was no longer an anonymous caller.

“So we share a double occupancy hotel room, correct?” I continued. “Even $50 a night would get you a great double room in Cambodia.”

“I just want to know, since this is an investment, where it’s going.”

“Yes, but when you are travelling in a group the expenses are higher,” he claimed, citing some little-known Inverse Law of Group Travelling Costs.

I didn’t press that issue. “And transport, in Cambodia, it’s very cheap – I mean, a bus for one day can’t be that expensive for a group.”

Silence.

“Yes, well, if you have any other questions about the program,” he said, “I’d be happy to answer them.” It was clear he had no desire to remain on the phone.

“But you haven’t answered the questions I’ve asked, so I’d really like to talk about them first.”

“Yes, well, I hope this has been helpful, and feel free to call us again.” He now appeared to be reading from a customer service script, choosing lines in no particular order.

“But why would I do that when you haven’t answered the questions I’m asking you?” I laughed.

“Yes, well, thank you, and have a nice day.” And with that, the phone call ended.

What the hell had just happened?

Now, the kicker. My phone call to Americus took place at 10:00 PM Seoul time, which would have been 9:00 AM there, and 6:00 AM in Tacoma. Scarcely 20 minutes after I got off the phone, I received the following message from Hugh:

From: Hugh M###### ########@comcast.net
to: Bryan Fox

Date: Wed, Mar 31, 2010 at 10:16 AM

Subject: Re: Siem Reap Team

Bryan,

Thanks for the interview and your quick response to my emails.

After reviewing the list of applicants I think in all fairness that I should place you on the wait list for my team.

Hugh

Photo: Aresaurburn

So this is what Global Village project volunteers need to say – I am willing to take my vacation time and finance my own way to a foreign country. I am willing to pay for my own meals, lodging, health insurance, and transport to the work site. And I am willing to work, unpaid, for two weeks on a project. And I agree unquestioningly to let you charge unaccountable dollars for the privilege of doing so?

I took a look at HFHI’s 990 (a tax exempt organization’s IRS form) from 2009. The organization employs only 1,252 staff and in the previous tax year, it had almost $255 million in revenue, nearly 90% from contributions and grants. It declared slightly over $266 million in operating expenses, including $47 million in salaries and wages. So whatever it charges to its 750,000 volunteers, the organization is still running at a loss.

Transparency, anyone?

This article is not meant as an exposé of the ‘seedy underbelly’ of Habitat. But all Global Village projects charge at least $1,300 for 10-14 day stints in countries where that is a lot of money.

So isn’t it fair to ask: Where is the money from the Global Village program going?

I wrote Hugh a very cordial reply, saying I imagined they’d called him from the head office and told them to strike me from the records. I wished him a successful and enjoyable trip. I didn’t get a response.

So if anyone in Phnom Penh is reading this, and needs some help building a house in July, get in touch. I’m willing to work cheap – and by that I mean, if you charge me less than $800 a week, I’m in. I figure I’ll be coming out ahead.

Community Connection:

Habitat for Humanity isn’t the only organization that charges people money to volunteer. If you just don’t have the cash or are worried about organizations’ use of money, check out Matt Scott’s 10 Volunteer Opportunities for Free Travel.

About The Author

Bryan Fox

Bryan Fox went to Seoul one year ago, chasing Love halfway across the globe. When he got there, it turned around and kicked him in the crotch. He now lives in the mountains, and moderates the Seoul Writers Workshop.

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When a part-time writing job in Korea became international fraud (13 comments)

view all → Bryan Fox

Kathy

This is really good investigative journalism. More transparency! EVERYWHERE that’s a good thing to push for.
http://www.kaleidoscopicwandering.com JoAnna

Wow. This is really disturbing but somehow not all that surprising.

I think it’s a good thing that you asked hard questions. People should have to answer the questions you asked. Non-profit organizations need to be accountable to the people who support their efforts.

One of the most eye-opening experiences I’ve had was a conversation with a few friends who spend long durations of time working for non-profits. One told me that the money actually goes to the kids and she’d give to the organization in a heartbeat. The other said the execs were riding around in nice vehicles and she’d never give money to her workplace. Funny how the world works.
http://meganahill.wordpress.com Megan Hill

Damn, nice piece. Habitat is one of my favorite charities, and one I’ve spent a lot of time working for on Saturdays, on week-long domestic trips, and for 2 months after Hurricane Katrina. Much respect for trying to get answers. And hopefully this piece will turn up something more concrete.

My understanding is that the vast majority of charitable donations go towards operating expenses, rather than directly to the cause. So donating to HFH means a large portion of your donation will go to overhead, staff salaries, etc. rather than to building materials. That’s just part of the game with nonprofits. But they should tell you that if you ask; it’s one of the stipulations of being a public, tax-free charity.
http://inconvenience.wordpress.com Yanina Wolfe

I’m glad you wrote those emails and this article.
I’ve asked similar questions and have received the same lame reply (or no reply at all).

I’ve met many people in the field, who have been working with NGO’s for decades, and still do, that told me about enough muck going on.

That much money is quite a lot in those countries, and no one has ever explained to me where it all goes. Accommodation, food, transport, donation, even staff salaries (who should be paid in local wages if they live there) do not add up.

A lot of this behavior has actually made me slightly bitter towards working with non-profits. Obviously not forever, because helping people is what I want to do. I guess I’m on the search for an NGO that walks the walk. I guess it always hurts to have your idealist spirit dent a tad, when the people you think are idealists, or trying to help…aren’t at all.

It’s not always easy to know how good organizations are.

In the end, I wish you luck with your efforts. This is a great advertisement for you. Keep us updated.

Cheers.
http://theworldisgettingsmaller.com Tom Gates

This one was a real eye opener. I still think H4H is a great program but like any other, there are some people caught up in a pretty good length of red tape. I would love to know the answers to Brian’s questions.
http://carlo-alcos.com Carlo

Can someone please forward this to them and have someone who knows the answers to his questions leave a comment here?
Bryan Fox

Hey, thanks for reading. For those who are interested, there’s a hyperlink missing here that might clear things up (or, in fact, muddy them even further). Where I’ve written (Habitat’s breakdown is here), I’d meant for this hyperlink:

http://www.habitat.org/gv/tripcost.aspx

And here’s a link to one of the project’s ‘explanations’ of costs:

http://sites.google.com/site/cambodiaglobalvillage/accomodations-and-trip-costs

Odd, indeed…
http://abbiemood.com Abbie

I have to say that is a little disappointing, and not necessarily the fact that they charge, but how the matter was handled. I’ve paid to go on a volunteer trip, and I understand the need for volunteers to pay their way for certain things, but the response on the phone and then putting you on the waiting list makes it all seem a bit shady…
http://www.twitter.com/gabimgarcia Gabriela Garcia

Like other commenters, I have also worked with H4H on many occasions and found it to be a really positive experience. I hope this piece reaches someone that can provide a clear explanation. If not, it’d be quite disheartening :/
Roger Black

I would like to know why it is a good idea for unskilled young people from rich countries to make houses in poor countries. Surely, there are skilled people there who could earn a living making the houses. Is this really not just a form of tourism that undercuts local people`s labor? Why not just send the money for the materials and quit with the need to actually act out your supposed generosity.
http://shantiwallah.blogspot.com Marie

Me too, and I took a whole load of students along with me. At the time I remember asking about this and obviously felt comfortable enough to carry on with the endeavour. Mind you, I was in Japan and my Japanese abilities are rubbish! I’m sure the annual report would have to be a public document. Someone could try to get a hold of of it. But my suspicions are as others have previously posited, that the donations are generally distributed (operating expenses) rather than used for each particular programme.

Our location had a truck that we used to collect bricks from the brickyard, so if there are many of those owned by Habitat, that might be one of the expenses along with permanent local staff in sending and receiving countries. I’m just trying to think of things now!

I will say one thing towards your mention of prayer time. The organisation is a Christian one, but they are supposed to be non-proselytizing.My groups didn’t have a problem, but another group from my university (who went to a different country) did. They just had to remind the local group about the rule and they stopped.
Jacob B.

Here’s a question: if you’re so worried about this money, why not volunteer for the local affiliate? In my experience, there’s no fee charged for asking the local volunteer coordinator if they need help on “x” day.

I’ll tell you where the money is going: it’s a foreign a**hole tax.

It seems incredibly imperialistic to believe that these “impoverished” Cambodian affiliates are so desperately in need of help, that they should be bending over backwards to ensure that temporary, unskilled foreign labor knows “exactly” where there money is going. Some foreigner gets it in their head that swinging a hammer in Cambodia is more valuable than swinging a hammer in their hometown. Next thing you know, some project leader is fielding a question about f*#king malaria pills for the 1000th time.

But really, think about it: these people need to coordinate logistics for a large group–food, shelter, transportation. This is not “simple”. This means someone who works locally has to drop their projects (which may include coordination material donations, managing fund-raising activity and managing the schedules of SKILLED laborers) to make sure some foreigner feels good about themselves for the next fiscal year.

How do you want them to quantify that loss? Do you want them to put on the sign-up sheet “Amount of additional money its going to take for us to consider your arrival worth the trouble – $”x” USD”?

Are these volunteers so GOD-LIKE for giving up TWO WEEKS of their PRECIOUS TIME, that it’s untenable to think that they might, possibly, be a burden on the project–their only saving grace a sizable, unquestioned donation?

Stephanie Huey

Hi Jacob,

I understand your argument completely. I addressed Bryan’s original post but very much wanted to address yours personally as well. I worked with the Guatemala affiliate and with the Global Village program in general I know from experience that the vast majority of Guatemala’s construction comes from Global Village groups simply because there aren’t any Guatemalans who have the luxury of VOLUNTEERING to build someone’s house and HFH, as an NGO, does not have the ability to hire them. On the trips I’ve been on, however, they do hire local masons to lead the worksites so that the construction is consistent with Guatemalan building standards.

And besides all that, Global Village began in the first place with the idea that going out of your comfort zone to a completely different country to see another lifestyle and make a contribution to a family who needs it is a personal growth experience, not an exercise in Imperialism. Sure you can volunteer with the local US affiliates – it’s a great experience and allows local organizations to focus on their own community. But is it really such a terrible thing to want to help and want to maybe go somewhere new and exciting to do it? I certainly don’t think so. The college kids I took to Guatemala were, for the most part, spoiled pampered kids who’s mothers actually packed their own suitcases. By the end of the trip they’d all thought long and hard about what it means to grow up in a 3rd world country, Latin American cultural differences, and reevaluated their perceptions of Guatemala more than a little. And these are all students who’d volunteer locally beforehand.

I don’t mean to denigrate your argument at all, but if you ask me, Global Village is a great program that encourages cross-cultural communication, lends labor to countries who’s workforce doesn’t have the ability to volunteer because they spend all their time trying to eek out a meager living, and has opened more than one set of eyes to what it means to live and work somewhere worlds away from home.

Julie Schwietert

Stephanie-

Thanks for your thoughtful comments; I really appreciate how you contributed to this conversation by sharing your personal experiences.

http://www.garywcarrier.blogspot.com Gary C.

Hey Bryan,

I worked for Habitat once (which is about all I could afford) and have since worked with the Fuller Center for Housing. Millard Fuller, who started Habitat in Africa, started Fuller Center a few years ago when he lost majority share of Habitat. Fuller Center was his aim to get “back at the roots” of what he started.

Though Fuller Center doesn’t have as many build sites, its about half the price (I built in El Salvador for about $500) and Chris Fuller (Millard’s son) and his family are on many of the builds.

I hope this helps bud, I too share your frustration with Habitat and their inability to tell us where our money goes.

Here’s the link, check out the Global Builders page…

http://www.fullercenter.org/
Stephanie Huey

Bryan,

Thanks for this article! I’ve worked with Habitat locally for years and have participated and led Global Village trips to Guatemala. It’s been a while since then, but I remember as trip leaders we had EXTENSIVE budgeting worksheets to settle out lodging, food, transport, recreation costs etc (that all seemed fairly reasonable) and our liasons with HFH Guatemala usually had three different budget levels for us to choose from for the participants. I must add that our actual numbers came from the Habitat Guatemala office, NOT Habitat International, so the numbers I was able to quote to the participants were based on the destination affiliate and their common practices. While they are all overseen by HFH International, I am sure that the budgeting varies by country. It is always possible that there is a need for change in the Cambodia affiliate. After working out the participants’ budget for the trip I led, I knew from personal experience that I could have (and had) backpacked around Guatemala for much cheaper. However, HFH caters to the bulk of US citizens who haven’t traveled much, and who certainly have not traveled in hardship/backpacker conditions, so you’re definitely paying tourist prices for tourist accomodation, food and transport because that’s what most participants want. Yet another possibility is that Cambodia operates like Guatemala, in which we consciously pay higher wages to the locals whose services we employ (bus drivers, cooks) because they make such a pittance normally — think of it as “Fair Trade” for employees instead of coffee.

A lot of money I remember also went towards the recreational activities that were planned. On our trip we added in a few extra recreation days by request so the participants would get to go to an artisan market, climb a volcano and visit a colonial city among other things. Global Village leaders can also choose to have their own personal trip costs divided out among the participants (since they aren’t getting paid by HFH, some choose to do this). These are a lot of little reasons, I realize, they add up very quickly as you might imagine.

I understand your hesitation completely. Habitat has been so successful that they’ve been forced to grow a LOT in a very short time, and unfortunately, you can only get so big before it really does start to run like a business, almost by necessity. I have met and worked with many people who work with HFH United States AND HFH International (also headquartered in Georgia) and in my experience this is a genuinely caring NGO that often battles its own success and size. I hope this helps to allay your fears in some way, but again, Habitat is so big that it would be impossible for me to guarantee the integrity of every International affiliate. I would also add that I have never been on the Habitat payroll so am not inclined to mislead you, but I have plenty of friends who DO work for them and they most definitely do not make much in the way of salary. It is a labor of love for most people employed there.

Best of luck in your travels!
Stephanie
http://www.blahnikproperties.com Luke B

I agree with both Jacob and Stephanie in a sense. While I think it is important to open up the eyes of Americans to those living in poverty around the world, I also think that sending unskilled American laborers to do the job of a local makes no sense at all. The article states that one person pays about 70% of an annual income to take a 2 week trip to do what probably works out to 1 day worth of skilled labor. How in the world does this make sense? If the person were truly acting on altruistic motives, they could donate their salary from 2 weeks worth of work in America to an impoverished countries building program. This would turn their contribution of about 1 day worth of skilled labor into 1 year of skilled labor. But who wants to work at their desk in America when they could be digging a hole for 4 hours and then drinking beer and riding on a zip line in Honduras?
llg0517

I wonder where the money, does go.
Habitat built me a home. charged me 90,000 for it.
it is a 1200 sf home, made of siding. in a undesirable part of town.
I over heard one of the “Forman” that they ordered enough materials for 2 houses. I think this a money racket. if volunteers bulid the house, items are donated, why is the cost so high? You can buy a nice new brick home for that amount of money.
It seems the people they are supposed to help are victemized again.

Dick Hall

Nothing makes sense in Habitat’s numbers. They build a low quality house in the bad parts of town for the same money any builder could build a similar sized , similar quality house. And their labor is free! A lot of materials are donated, and sometimes the land is too. They also raise money with heir “restore” stores, but none of that money seems to go in homes.

DEEKAY

great job Bryan ,
hope u continue such work in exposing countless NGO’s ….
their size usually gives them away

one of the most haloed and widespread NGO is an organisation called ECOM …
googling it wont even give that many results …
they are run by the Knights of MAlta selling vaccines and AIDS ‘treatment ‘ to the impoverished villages of the 3rd world..
utube: In Lies We Trust dr jonas salk
here the inventor of the polio vaccine admits that it contains monkey virus’ that causes vaccine ..this clip was pulled from a documentary it was meant to be part of
polio can be remedied by introducing clean water and environment ..
instead we have criminals introducing cancer into the 3rd world
they also run charites treating the victims who grow up with hideous cancer growths ..and ask for donations…a win win Satanic scheme
german leprosy is one such organisation aligned with the Emergency corp of the Order of MALTA ECOM
vile creatures roam this earth
utube : AIDS + deusberg

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_6P6DGLMDOV6NGYVXRQCDCGXYCI MsAbby

He didn’t really expose anything. This organization is well run, helps millions of people world wide and just because he got a rooky answering the phone does not mean the charity is a failure or not worth donations.

I live in a small community and we are building our 58th Habitat home right now. Every single person that participates works for FREE. Volunteers buy the properties, volunteers clear them, a local business pour the foundations for cost, and local volunteers build. We don’t even have newsletter expenses because a local church prints our newsletters and volunteers put them together. We just pay postage.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_6P6DGLMDOV6NGYVXRQCDCGXYCI MsAbby

He didn’t really expose anything. This organization is well run, helps millions of people world wide and just because he got a rooky answering the phone does not mean the charity is a failure or not worth donations.

I live in a small community and we are building our 58th Habitat home right now. Every single person that participates works for FREE. Volunteers buy the properties, volunteers clear them, a local business pour the foundations for cost, and local volunteers build. We don’t even have newsletter expenses because a local church prints our newsletters and volunteers put them together. We just pay postage.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_6P6DGLMDOV6NGYVXRQCDCGXYCI MsAbby

He didn’t really expose anything. This organization is well run, helps millions of people world wide and just because he got a rooky answering the phone does not mean the charity is a failure or not worth donations.

I live in a small community and we are building our 58th Habitat home right now. Every single person that participates works for FREE. Volunteers buy the properties, volunteers clear them, a local business pour the foundations for cost, and local volunteers build. We don’t even have newsletter expenses because a local church prints our newsletters and volunteers put them together. We just pay postage.

DEEKAY

CORRECTION:
utube: In Lies We Trust dr jonas salk
here the inventor of the polio vaccine admits that it contains monkey virus’ that causes LEUKEMIA.
Kat

Hey Bryan,
I have done a lot of work with Habitat’s Global Village program and as a long term volunteer. Although I cannot give you an answer as to why your questions were not all answered in your phone conversation I can offer you the information I know based on a standard trip to Latin America, which can run about $1200.

Donation to Hosting Country: $400
Donation to habitat international: $100
Travel Insurance: $35 +$27 (3/per day): $62

Hotel accommodations for (8 nights): $160 per person
Meals for the week (9days): $140 per person
Transport – to and from the airport, daily to and from worksite, to and from affiliate locations up to 6 hours away from the airport (x 2 vans because groups are usually about 12- 16 people): $150 per person
Cost of an in country coordinator and translators food and board: $25 per person

Plus money for tips, emergency funds and the leaders trip cost should they chose to have that rolled in, brings your fairly close to that $1200 trip cost.

Sure you can back pack though Latin America at a cheaper cost and catch public transportation. But what you have to keep in mind as Stephanie had mentioned in her post, is that most of the people who do go on these trips are traveling for the first time, don’t know how to go about the country, and or my not even speak the language and they want to take baby steps trying to step out of their comfort zone.
The cheapest way is not always the safest either.
Habitat and Global Village place standards on the types of vendors hosting countries use because the hotels they use, can not be in dangerous areas, transportation costs can be higher as the companies they use are required to have insurance for all their vans, buses etc. for liability purposes, maintenance (and although gas prices in the US have gone down a bit, the same has not happened in many Latin American Countries). And then there is food. Food that has to be prepared with purified water (or some sort of special preparation) instead of regular tap water may also require vendors to increase their prices.
Personally I know that if I was only traveling on a trip like this for just over a week, I would not want to spend half my time in the bathroom because my stomach cannot handle they way the food was prepared. If I were going to spend a short time in the country I would rather pay a little extra for safety, security and a pleasant time.

For those of you who don’t know Habitat does not give away homes but rather provides no interest, low cost homes for those who are living in substandard housing and or are unable to attain normal bank loans because of their income.

That $400 donation that goes to the hosting country is put into a “rotative fund”.
So basically the donation goes into a pot, provides families the means to afford their Habitat home, payments the families make to pay off the loan go into this same pot and then Habitat is able to provide more loans to more families. This helps the organization sustain itself and you can see this by the increasing number of houses that Habitat has been able to build each year.

I hope this helps to answer most of your questions….

Like I mentioned I have done alot of work with the Global Village progam, and I do stand behind it. And I can understand why others will be reluctant if their questions are not being answered but I hope this helps to bring a better understanding and a more positive outlook on the progam.
Tap Scow

I find it strange that people always try to scrutinize everything a charity does, as if they can run a better show.

Habitat is not just about the needy obviously. Why send Americans (I am writing from Asia) all the way around the world just to build some houses when the locals can do it faster, certainly cheaper and better? The answer is surely the volunteer experience helps the volunteer become a better person. Much of the cost goes to the houses proper, and also the running of the entire organisation, whose job is to also advocate for the cause of the poor!

If you can do a better job, then stop whining and go do it! If you want to do things for free, then go visit an elderly home and talk to the old folks for a couple of hours – its free! Why go haggle with some executives in the NGO and micro-analyze all the costing, as if there were some giant conspiracy going on here?

Ah, but once you ask people to shut-up and actually make it happen, everybody will keep quiet. If it were not so, the entire world would be a better place by now.

Habitat for Humanity is audited to death, and fulfills all the requirements of transparency that are considered reasonable. If you still don’t trust that, then don’t give or participate.

And by the way, if you ever find a perfect NGO, please don’t join it; because the moment you do, it will become imperfect.
Rusty

I agree with Kat. As a long term volunteer there is much more to the program costs than indicated by the leader interviewed for the article. each leader also has the option to design there own trip with hel from the affiliate staff in the country iin which you are traveling. Some leaders choose a more comfortable trip than others since many people are doing this for the first time. So that will also play into the cost.

And safety is paramount. Habitat also has requirements in order to keep the team safe as well. And that may not come cheap as far as transportation and so forth.

It sounds like the article was meant to pick apart a good organization that does good things around the world.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_6P6DGLMDOV6NGYVXRQCDCGXYCI MsAbby

I’m sorry, but…. my local Habitat is totally run by volunteers. Not one single person here takes any money for any services. Local churches help us put out our news letter and they raise money for us. One local bank even matches fund donated during December/January of each year up to $20,000 (an entire house). We mentor each family, teach them finances, we screen to get the families, and our success is such that we have had only one family default on their home loan. Many are now saving money and have learned to budget and pay off their debts. We are proud of this and anytime the author wants to come and build with us, we won’t charge you anything, just show up, help out and get a free lunch donated by local churches and restaurants.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_6P6DGLMDOV6NGYVXRQCDCGXYCI MsAbby

I’m sorry, but…. my local Habitat is totally run by volunteers. Not one single person here takes any money for any services. Local churches help us put out our news letter and they raise money for us. One local bank even matches fund donated during December/January of each year up to $20,000 (an entire house). We mentor each family, teach them finances, we screen to get the families, and our success is such that we have had only one family default on their home loan. Many are now saving money and have learned to budget and pay off their debts. We are proud of this and anytime the author wants to come and build with us, we won’t charge you anything, just show up, help out and get a free lunch donated by local churches and restaurants.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_6P6DGLMDOV6NGYVXRQCDCGXYCI MsAbby

I’m sorry, but…. my local Habitat is totally run by volunteers. Not one single person here takes any money for any services. Local churches help us put out our news letter and they raise money for us. One local bank even matches fund donated during December/January of each year up to $20,000 (an entire house). We mentor each family, teach them finances, we screen to get the families, and our success is such that we have had only one family default on their home loan. Many are now saving money and have learned to budget and pay off their debts. We are proud of this and anytime the author wants to come and build with us, we won’t charge you anything, just show up, help out and get a free lunch donated by local churches and restaurants.
HfH = Corruption

Ok, how about a reply from a Habitat Homeowner?? I am in my fourth year of partnering with HfH. Before closing on our home, all of our paperwork listed $82,000 as the final price of our home. Then a $20,000 grant came through, I believe from the Salvation Army. This should have lowered our price to $42,ooo after applying all grants we qualified for. (This following Hurricane Katrina, which leveled our town) Think again. Mysteriously, the price of our home jumped to $104,000 which left us owing 64,000. When repeatedly asking where the extra $22,000 came in at, our requests for imformation were ignored. Granted, 64K is still cheap for a home, but considering HfH received 102K, this house is not worth it. I could have a larger WELL BUILT home for that amount. The majority of the work on our home was performed by illegal immigrants. Watch a cop drive by, lol, and they all run to the woods, no joke. And only 1 spoke broken english. The top 2 officials at our local office have taken multiple trips to Tahiti, Haiti, and various other places. Not as a proposal to build there, just sort of mass Habitat vacations. I am thankful for my shoddy built home, as my note is $418 monthly, but this is not a home I will live in for 30+ years. It will fall apart long before then. I could go on and on about imbezzlements, homes sold to those who don’t qualify under HfH guidelines while others are turned away that are in great need and DO qualify, and just the general abuse of the system by this org. But I won’t. Great org to volunteer for here in the states, but NEVER to donate money to. They are corrupt as they come. And no, volunteers do not man the offices, those are extremely well paid career con artists your dealing with. Here on the Gulf Coast, anyway.

Habitat for Humanity: Where does all the money go?

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