Perspective: A WIS Editorial - Angels and Scrooges - wistv.com - Columbia, South Carolina |

The sixth annual Scrooges and Angels list has been released, and once again it's time to review which charitable organizations are doing the best job of putting your contributions to good work.

Each year our Secretary of State announces the best and the worst based upon the percentage of funds that go toward their charitable programs.  Angels must devote at least 80% of total expenditures to get their rating; and Scrooges are designated as those who fail to spend on programs and instead use a high percentage of donations to pay for administrative and professional costs.

So here are some of the winners and losers from around our state and in our community:

Among the Angels are Camp Discovery at His Acres in Blythewood with 96% of expenditures going to programs and Carolina Wildlife Care in Columbia with 87%.  Scrooges include the South Carolina Professional Firefighters Association in Myrtle Beach, SC contributing  24% to programs, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post #2779 in Orangeburg with a mere 4.9%

Secretary Hammond says that even in these tough times, South Carolinians continue to be some of the most generous people in the nation and always answer the call when it comes to helping the less fortunate.  But our generosity can be taken advantage of, so before you contribute your hard earned cash, visit the website on your screen (www.scsos.com) and select the Charity Search button to check out your favorite charity's status.