I might be going out on a limb here but am I the only one who is getting tired of seeing Frank Siller of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation (T2T) interviewing celebrities to raise money for his charity? Surely people are not donating because Mark Wahlberg, Kevin James, or any other celebrity appears in those commercials. For the record, I could not determine whether these celebrities are being paid, but at the very least it gives them some nice national exposure.

To be fair, T2T reports that they take only five dollars of every one hundred donated for administrative and fundraising costs, and Frank Siller does not take a salary. On that basis alone they seem like a worthwhile charity if you feel inclined to donate. Advertising is expensive. When a charity spends a great deal of money to raise a great deal of money, it becomes harder to track true efficiency. Something about the entire presentation just doesn’t feel right.

It also makes me wonder what might have happened if the government had used that nine billion dollars of taxpayer money that was paid out to the families of the victims of 9/11 on the long term medical needs of first responders and veterans instead. That seems fairer, but what do I know. I am from Chebanse.

I never understood why the government gave approximately two million dollars to each family that lost someone on 9/11. It is tragic that they lost loved ones, but millions of families in this country have lost loved ones in tragedies and the government did not write them a check. When my sister was killed in a car accident, my parents did not receive one dime from the government, nor would they have taken it.

This whole line of thinking pushed me to investigate other charities. I was stunned to learn that St. Jude, a charity I have promoted weekly in my newsletter, is sitting on a nine billion dollar endowment, enough to run their hospital for more than four years. They also make heavy use of celebrities, which has always bothered me, although I will admit Sofía Vergara did not offend me nearly as much as the others. Even so, after learning about their enormous endowment and their much lower efficiency score, we stopped our monthly donation and chose to support Ronald McDonald House instead. They provide free housing to parents while their children receive medical care, which feels like a very direct and meaningful service.

I also began looking at executive salaries in the nonprofit world. This is a tricky subject, but if you evaluate charities using a basic formula of transparency plus efficiency plus executive compensation, the differences become very clear. Direct Relief, which provides emergency medical services, ranks at the very top with a score of ninety six out of one hundred. Ronald McDonald House is close behind with a score of ninety and is one of the most trustworthy and efficient children’s charities in the country. St. Judes, despite its enormous wealth, scores only sixty two. And get this – The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals earns a surprising score of forty. This should make a person rethink where their donations will make the greatest difference.

Meanwhile, Wahlberg, who is reportedly worth about four hundred million dollars, is literally on my television asking me for eleven dollars a month for T2T. Something about that math feels upside down to me.

It occurred to me that when Wahlberg appeared was how lopsided charity pleas have become. Some tragedies receive national attention, celebrity endorsements, and millions in donations, while others barely receive a mention. Sadly, we give based on what we see, not necessarily based on where help is most needed. Charities capitalize on visibility, not necessarily on fairness. It’s not a criticism of the families, but of a system that rewards spotlight over need. Celebrity driven commercials contribute to that imbalance. They shape the narrative of who deserves help. Maybe we should rethink how we decide where our charitable dollars go, and whether the loudest charity is always the one doing the most good.

Before you send off those Christmas donations, it never hurts to dig a little deeper and make sure your generosity ends up in the right hands.