The television show American Idol raised $76-million for charity last year and is planning on Wednesday to broadcast a second effort to raise money, notes The New York Times.

Most of the money raised last year has gone to organizations that fight poverty in the United States and Africa, the newspaper said, based on interviews with recipients of the money. The Charity Projects Entertainment Fund, which oversaw the distribution of the money, was not able to provide details because its financial statements were being audited, the newspaper said. A new group called Idol Gives Back, which is controlled by the producers of the program, will distribute the money raised through the program broadcast on Wednesday.

Last year’s “Idol Gives Back” broadcast collected $55-million from at-home viewers who called in, $14-million from corporations, and $7-million in matching grants from businesses and foundations.

Some $5-million of that money, or 7 percent, went to covering administrative costs. Of the rest, $68-million has been pledged to nine groups, which collectively received half that total last year and will receive the rest this year. Six groups will receive the money raised in 2008.

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