Alexi Rosenfeld
- Gothamist reports some funky happenings in the charity for SantaCon.
- Since 2014, SantaCon has raised money by ticket fees for charity.
- Its charitable spending has been partly funneled into groups related to Burning Man, the report says.
[DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU ARE UNDER 8 YEARS OLD]
Finding out Santa wasn't real was a devastating moment of my childhood. This is almost as bad.
An investigation by Gothamist reveals that the charity behind SantaCon, the bar crawl of fur- and crimson-clad belligerents, spewing mirth and barf in equal parts around New York City each December, isn't exactly what you'd expect.
SantaCon has taken place in New York City for more than 20 years. Its event this year is Saturday. After some criticism from local scrooges who didn't appreciate the mobs of fratty, drunken merrymakers, SantaCon rebranded as a charitable organization, asking revelers to pay for a $15 ticket that goes toward charitable causes. Its website lists City Harvest, HeadCount and other nonprofits as recipients of money raised through ticket sales.
Gothamist's investigation into the charity's public filings told a different story than what many of the revelers might expect for where their $15 is going. According to the report:
A Gothamist analysis shows that the organization raised $1.4 million through SantaCon programming from late 2014 through the end of 2022, and that less than a fifth of that money has gone to registered nonprofits.
More than a third of the organization's total giving during that period went to groups or individuals who appear connected to Burning Man, the annual weeklong festival in Nevada, including organizations devoted to hula hooping, dance parades, free costumes and more.
The majority of the expenditures — about 59% — went into the operating cost of running the day-of SantaCon (permits, sound equipment, staff) as well as the organization's office space and related costs.
Other sums of money went to groups associated with Burning Man, like a zero-interest loan to host a post-Burning Man party, a grant to a documentary directed by someone who has given workshops at Burning Man, and a partnership in a charity with a bar in Queens that is owned by an address in Black Rock City, Nevada (the Burning Man location).
SantaCon also had about about $17,000 in crypto losses in 2018, the report noted.
Gothamist points out that none of this is illegal, just … not what people might have expected out of the group's charitable status. A Notre Dame law professor quoted in the Gothamist story said that none of the information publicly available about the charitable organization behind SantaCon points to anything fraudulent, either. Still, he said charities often play "fast and loose" with accounting.
Gothamist also spoke to two other experts in nonprofit accounting. "The money going to their targeted charities is minuscule as a percentage of their budget," Brian Mittendorf, the H.P. Wolfe chair in accounting at Ohio State, told Gothamist.
Representatives for SantaCon didn't respond to Business Insider's request for comment. The founder of the group the runs the event told Gothamist that it's not a small undertaking — and that there were lots of costs for overhead.
As if learning Santa isn't real wasn't hard enough.
from Business Insider https://ift.tt/VECz9TR
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