We know some of you may be weary of so called non-profit organizations. And, with good reason. The truth is most of the donations made to most non-profit organizations are used for overhead expenses, maybe a fancy office, maybe several office staff, automobiles, maybe the cost of personnel travel is paid by your donations. Some non-profit founders and board members take an annual salary that exceeds 6 figures. Some organizations are not what they seem, even fraudulently taking donations without any intention of helping anyone but, themselves. I caution you, there are some bad actors out there on social media. When giving to individuals in Africa, be sure they are legitimate. If you have not personally met the individual, and vetted them, don't give. It may be a scam. And, when scams succeed, it is bad for everyone.
Even at some well known organizations, the expenses which must be paid before any of your donation goes to the cause, can exceed 65%! If you are giving to an organization, I urge you to ask about their overhead expenses. Those are expenses that they might say support their mission, or are a necessary part of managing their programs. We don't believe that is the proper way to assist those in need. We believe every penny received at Plant Fruit MUST go to the programs in Uganda that are making a difference for the Batwa. That is why we have added some hearts to our donation page. Those hearts show how we are good stewards of your donations. Our founder, our board members in the U.S. and in Uganda are all volunteers. They have never been paid. When we travel, we do so at our own expense. All of the planning, the architectural work that goes into creating a community from the ground up for the Batwa has been donated to Plant Fruit. When we hold an event, we try to find a sponsor to bare the cost of the expenses. We take your donations very seriously and, we are frugal. We are constantly looking at the expenses we have, in order to make our funds go further. Our book keeping system and funds management system are paid for by our founder or the board. All the pretty posters we use during our events were paid for by our board members. We are proud to be cheap! Thank you for supporting the Batwa. Thank you for being part of our Tribe.
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