Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, at left, had some unflattering things to say about nonprofit workers during a recent broadcast—and Robert Egger, president of D.C. Central Kitchen, has posted an amusing retort on YouTube.
While excoriating Democrats and the left for allegedly trying to kill the “private sector,” Mr. Limbaugh refers to “lazy idiots” and then segues into an evaluation of the nonprofit world:
“Nonprofits siphon contributions as their salaries and so forth and think of themselves as good people, charitable people. These people are rapists in terms of finance and the economy.”
Mr. Egger’s video—which as of Wednesday morning had been viewed more than 40,000 times—takes Mr. Limbaugh on a mini-tour of the nonprofit world, wondering if the radio host was referring to the “lazy idiots” who organized the World War II memorial, the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, run churches and other religious institutions, or are employed by the conservative Heritage Foundation (which highlights Mr. Limbaugh’s membership on its Web site).
It ends with a visit to D.C. Central Kitchen, in Washington, where participants in a culinary job-training program use a universal gesture to show Mr. Limbaugh exactly what they think about his comments.
How would you respond to Rush?
A G-rated version of the video follows:
0 Responses to Nonprofit Leader Takes On Rush Limbaugh
leapingstone - August 25, 2010 at 4:27 pm
Perhaps he was talking about LeapingStone??? http://www.leapingstone.org No, that’s not right. We are an all volunteer organization. No one takes a salary, no perks, no frills. The money we raise goes to build schools in West Africa. The people who sit on our board of directors are educated, devoted individuals trying to make a difference in the world. So I guess he isn’t talking about our nonprofit either…. keep looking.
jafly08 - August 25, 2010 at 6:23 pm
I love DC Central Kitchen, way to go! I was a Development Director for a nonprofit in DC for a number of years and I hired Fresh Start Catering for many of our fundraising events, they did an excellent job. Fresh Start is housed within the larger continuum of services provided by DC Central Kitchen, is staffed by those you see in the video clip, and provides sophisticated, professional and quality catering services at a reasonable price. Otherwise, to Limbaugh I would say: your research staff needs to bone up on nonprofit financial management and such topics as fee-for-service, etc. Also, don’t make claims that the private sector can take care of social service needs in this country, then complain when churches and organizations do just that, you can’t have it both ways.
annebelle - August 25, 2010 at 9:45 pm
The fact of the matter is that most nonprofits do exactly as Rush says…the money they raise goes for exhorbitant administrative costs rather than services. The problem is that these organizations also don’t pay taxes, so they are really double-dipping and leaving the responsibility for the additional tax burdens to the very people they are trying to serve. Sometimes it makes sense to listen to people on the “right” rather reacting in a knee-jerk way. You have to look beyond your own backyard before assuming that the facts are not the facts.
mcarmstrong - August 25, 2010 at 10:51 pm
Annebelle, you need to do more research on non-profits before you assume that Rush Limbaugh’s “facts” are truly facts! Many non-profit groups…including the one I work for and the area in which I’ve been employed for more than 30 years….RELIEVE the tax burden on the community by providing services to the community that government either can’t or won’t provide but are nonetheless very much needed. In this current economy, thousands of non-profits are stepping up to feed, house, treat, and care for adults and children who are now homeless, or without a paycheck, or lack insurance. Many of us earn substantially less than our counterparts in the for-profit world. But we pay income taxes, payroll taxes, etc., for our employees; personally we pay sales tax, income taxes, property taxes, etc. AND most of us give proportionately more to charities and non-profits than the wealthy people like Mr. Limbaugh and others who earn high 6- and 7-figure $$ incomes.
philanthropyguy - August 26, 2010 at 10:54 am
Rush Limbaugh needs to see this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0myNj8BHt_4 before criticizing the nonprofit sector!
joe5991 - August 26, 2010 at 11:25 am
I spent over twenty years in non-profits before joining an investment bank and no one in my experience as an investment banker worked harder for less pay then the folks I worked with. I spent years with the American Friends Service Committee, YMCA, grass roots community organizations and neighborhood housing development organizations. Rush Limbaugh and anyone who would even contemplate agreeing with him should be sent to work in a day care center for a woman’s shelter or made to build houses for a year with Habitat in Haiti.
robmccreary - August 27, 2010 at 9:07 am
Limbaugh….your an IDIOT. Talk about overpaid morons. You and Annabelle need to get your heads out of your asses and smell the coffee.Knuckleheads…
abeliever - August 27, 2010 at 11:05 am
Mr. Egger, you have said it all so well! I think Mr. Limbaugh owes a huge apology to ALL non profits! And robmccreary, I have to agree with you! What an idiotic remark on Limbaugh’s part. In my experience working with all walks of life, those with the least do tend to be those who give the most of their time and percentage of income. What would we do here in the mighty U.S.A. without the compassion and kindness and hard hard work of these groups? Especially in today’s economy…so get off your high horse, RUSH!
kasius - August 27, 2010 at 2:22 pm
This is all very confusing. Isn’t it the right that wants NO government and everything in the private sector which the nonprofits belong to? So if they’re worthless my assumption is that Mr Limbaugh would rather those in need just die and go away and stop bothering him?There’s no need to debate the merits of Mr Limbaugh’s position or for that fact, the merit of anything he says. I only wish some nonprofits were as good at self-promotion and development (fund raising) as Mr. Limbaugh is from the insanity he spews on a regular basis.
jwsbateman - August 27, 2010 at 3:46 pm
I’m more surprised that people still listen to Rush than to learn the topic of his latest rant.The claim that “most nonprofits” incur “exhorbitant administrative costs” (stated above by annabelle) reflects an uninformed opinion and is more troublesome than Rush’s attempt to get a headline. Charity Navigator and the Council on Foundations gather and publish a large amounts of data and studies comparing administrative overhead to funds used for programs and services. The few bad apples that appear each year in a country with hundreds of thousands of nonprofit organizations is not reflective of “most” nonprofits.All nonprofits subject themselves to scrutiny through annual, mandatory disclosures of tax returns and other legal documents. Salary information on the top paid executives at nonprofits is part of the required disclosure by nonprofits. Try getting Goldman Sachs or JPMorgan to disclose the names of executives receiving 5, 6, or 7 figure bonuses, particularly when getting bailed out by the US government.Scrutiny is part of the world in which nonprofits live and operate – a much more open scrutiny than exists for the world of for-profits or for individuals. That scrunity, however, need not be based upon rash, uninformed opinions when factual data to the contrary is easily obtained.
cjsharp - August 29, 2010 at 6:48 pm
I’d like to agree with Annebelle because the reason I’ve spent over 20 years in the non-profit sector is precisely for the “EXHORBITANT” salaries they pay that make up part of the administrative costs she refers to. Who wants to work for a for-profit entity and have to worry about all those non-profit beggars who keep asking for money just because the annual bonus I would have gotten paid is more than 10 or 20 or 30 years of a non-profit salary? Who needs THAT hassle? I would like a clarification from Annebelle though. You are right, non-profits don’t pay taxes (but all their employees do) so if the administrative costs are so exhorbitant now as you seem to think, what do you think paying taxes would do to those administrative costs if they were required to pay them? And how does a non-tax-paying non-profit put that burden on the people they serve when the vast majority of their clients are people who are too poor to pay for anything–hence the reason they need the non-profit’s services? But you are right of course: trotting out the standard “double-dipping” argument is NOT a “knee-jerk”, ill-informed, conservative response at all. Thanks for thinking it through so carefully.
leickman - August 31, 2010 at 12:12 pm
Annebelle, clearly Mr. Limbaugh and you do not read many 990′s. While there are some abuses I would tell you the majority of nonprofits are working to be good stewards and work effectively with donor funds to accomplish their missions. As it relates to taxes nonprofits pay federal and state employee taxes and in the majority of states sales tax plus, the employee will pay sales, property as well as the additional fees that pay for public services such as 911. Over the last several decades nonprofits have played a huge role in redeveloping blighted areas in communities while serving their client base. Additionally, many nonprofits pay taxes to business improvement districts or through a mutually agreed upon self assesment. I could go on to talk about the tax revenue generated through tourism by nonprofits and the list can go on. Annebelle,I hope you can be educated I have my doubts about Mr. Limbaugh.
70026677 - September 10, 2010 at 7:33 pm
I wonder if Rush meant this charity http://philanthropy.com/blogPost/Military-Charity-Raises-Record/26509/?sid=&utm_source=&utm_medium=en