Dismas Charities is waving the white flag, according to the Courier-Journal.
The charitable organization, which supports halfway houses for inmates, is giving up its luxury suites for Louisville football and basketball events at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium and the new KFC Yum! Center, respectively.
The University of Louisville also has agreed to refund the money.
Too bad.
A charitable organization that takes contributions, invests the money wisely, and gets tremendous returns on the original donations.
Running a charity like a business. No, they don’t pay taxes but what a concept.
They still have one of the cabooses on the West side of the stadium parking lot. They’re trying to get out of the lease. Maybe they can put a few “halfway” paitents in there if they can’t….
All this is fervent prayng after you’ve already been caught in the act of sin. And, if the C-J hadn’t brought Dismas’s regal status to light with a front expose…do you think they really would have made such a public matter of getting out of the lease with the University?
Whistling past the graveyard…
They was nothing secretive about what Dismas did, and for you to imply otherwise is not being honest. They would have preferred for the story to be buried in the obituary section instead of the front page. Dismas was merely bowing to the pressure and anything it did would have been magnified by the Courier.
Cbcard, I respect your opinion, and you probably know more about the situation. What I liked was the principle they espoused, whether they actually followed it or not.
I do not dispute the work they do. They do a good job of it. But their salaries and “perk” expenses far outstrip the norm for non-profit organizations. Excluding the area N-P hospitals the salary of the CEO is about triple the salary of any other N-P including ones with budgets triple that of Dismas.
In fact the salary of the # 2 is double that of many of the heads of larger local organizations. In a for profit business that can be acceptible, especially in a privately held corporation. But non-profits fall into a different catagory. There are several types of guidelines to rate expenses of non-profits based on their revenues. Dismas does a good job at it’s mission but a poor job in controlling expenses.
Charlie you are way off base. My wife was the executive director of a Metro United Way non-profit. She is appalled by what she has learned about Dismas. They seem to be anything but a non-profit.
And to claim that they paid for the suites out of their investment money (which they later admitted wasn’t the account they drew the checks on) is like saying your left front pocket and your right front pocket aren’t in the same pair of pants.
The suite was full of blue jerseys for the opening game. Hopefully the new occupants will be cheering for the Cardinals.
Sorry to hear that, Frank. If I had known, I might have taken a different position on the issue. 🙂
They went way overboard with these suites. Non-profits have a responsibility to be smart with their money. They can pay there directors hundreds of thousands of dollars. According to a NPR report earlier this year, it is a good strategy to have high earing directors. Paying a high salary to get a higher return on an investment just makes sense. But buying a corporate box and for several thousand dollars (tax free), does not make sense. If the owner wants a box, that should come from his earnings, not the charities.
Darn, paying from personal earnings. There’s an idea. I hate it when I agree with a UK fan. Can’t be good.
You have a point, Bob. Maybe they could share some of those profits with government, and still make money. I don’t recall ever getting a call from Dismas for a donation. Everybody else sure calls.
Somebody get the phone, please.
I don’t think anyone would mine them running their operation like a business if they paid taxes like a business. However, they are a non-profit and exempt from taxes so… people care.