Where Your Donation Goes, and Why We Will Not Quote You a Percentage

Most nonprofit donation pages carry a statistic. Ninety-something percent of every dollar goes directly to programs. It is a reassuring number and you should be slightly suspicious of it, because the definitions behind it are flexible and almost nobody reading it checks.

We are not going to publish one, because we will not put a figure on this site that has not been verified. Here is what we can tell you instead, all of which you can check.

The Jamaica Education for the Poor Foundation, Inc. is a registered 501(c)(3) public charity in Maryland, EIN 30-0207531, based at 8003 24th Ave, Hyattsville, MD 20783. Our filings are public and you are welcome to look at them.

Our officers serve as volunteers. They have historically reported receiving no compensation from the foundation. That is not a marketing line, it is what appears in the filings, and it is the single most useful thing to know about where the money is not going.

What money is spent on: books and school supplies, backpacks, computers and printers, scholarships and educational assistance, youth mentoring, leadership development, and community outreach. Beyond that, the long-term project is a permanent leadership training center in Jamaica.

About the center, plainly: it has not been built. No construction has started, no site has been announced, and no opening date has been set. We are raising the money. We would rather tell you that than imply progress that has not happened, and if you see a nonprofit being vague on exactly this point it is worth asking why.

Donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law, and you will get a receipt. You can give once, monthly, or yearly. If you want a gift earmarked for a specific campaign, tied to an event, or made as a corporate contribution, call us at (240) 330-5127 and we will set it up.

As the foundation grows we intend to publish a proper transparency section: how donations are used, program spending, and progress on the leadership center campaign. When those numbers exist and have been verified, they will go on the site. Not before.