April 2, 2010

Freedom Alliance’s Charity Rating Falls After CREW Complaint

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In the days since Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed complaints regarding Sean Hannity’s charity work, Charity Navigator downgraded its rating of Freedom Alliance from four stars to two stars.

CREW’s complaint to the Federal Trade Commisssion alleges the Fox News star has falsely claimed that all proceeds from his Freedom Concerts go directly to a program run by Freedom Alliance—Oliver North’s non-profit—that helps veterans’ kids attend college. In reality, it’s not clear exactly how much money finds its way to scholarships. CREW also challenged the Freedom Alliance’s tax-exempt status with the Internal Revenue Service, arguing that the group is engaging in partisan political activities that should disqualify it from this status..

Charity Navigator provides independent analysis of a charity’s financial health, looking at “how responsibly it functions day to day as well as how well positioned it is to sustain its programs over time.” Here’s CREW’s latest post on their complaint against Hannity and the Freedom Alliance.

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It is astonishingly hard keeping a newsroom afloat these days, and we need to raise $253,000 in online donations quickly, by October 7.

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