Christmas time is not the only time charitable organizations tug on the heartstrings of people to give to the needy. No matter what time it is, people feel good about knowing they have contributed to the less fortunate.

Those signs that read “four cents will give milk to a whole family” really make it easy to drop a buck in a can. Beware though, because the truth in some cases is that only eight cents of every dollar contributed could reach the needy. It’s a sad state of affairs when giving in the name of charity actually means paying profit organizations for soliciting funds.

It was reported in the Chicago Sun-Times recently that much money donated to charitable organizations actually is used to pay profit-making firms hired to run telephone fundraising campaigns. This idea seems a little backward. It sort of defeats the purpose of a “non-profit organization.”

One-third of the 33 solicitation firms that filed state reports last year gave less than 20 cents out of each dollar to the sponsored charity.

For example, the American Handicapped Association reserved only eight cents to the dollar; VietNow reserved 15 cents, and Chicago Heart Association a whopping 18 cents.

These numbers are disgusting, especially when the industry standard is 50 cents. The attorney general truly needs to look into curbing this irresponsible and exploitive behavior.