I’m usually pretty skeptical when I see a charity event. Half the time it’s just a product promotion, no one cares much about the charity, and you can’t really trust that the money is going where it’s supposed to. I call that “charitising.”

Having seen firsthand the behavior of a well known and respected charity that ran telethons and has a larger than life sports celebrity “dedicated” to the cause, I’ll take lots of salt with their talk of tireless, selfless, “devotion” to the charity.

I’ve seen mothers of children afflicted with a disease they are trying to “fight”, pretend to care, but making sure at each visit that they got their parking validated for their hubby’s Mercedes on the charity’s dime. Not big money, but the principle is troubling.

That’s why I enjoyed reading this article at Hamptons.com. Jane Pontarelli is running a golf charity for cancer, and she does not take a salary. I can write a long megillah, but the article says it all and says it well. So I’ll end the post with this snippet:

Pontarelli strongly advises to do your research before handing over any donations. She recommends visiting the web site Charity Navigator before you write a check. Ask a lot of questions as if you’re buying a car, she recommends. When in doubt go to the web site and find out how they rank as charities. Do they do what they’re suppose to be doing with the money to help the causes? They should be fiscally responsible. And only a fraction should be going to administration costs.

The Evelyn Lauder Breast Cancer Research Foundation receives 100 percent of the proceeds from Play for P.I.N.K. They support the research of nearly a dozen distinguished doctors working around the country on Cancer Research by using a portion of the $2,000,000 raised just this year. Lauder nor Pontarelli take a salary, but many charity directors do so, some earning as much as $500,000 a year. Charity isn’t meant to be a lucrative business like corporate America.

In 2001, Pontarelli and her white Maltese, (the late) Lulu, became the society editors of, The Palm Beach Pet Society which is a who’s who of the pet world. Annually they publish a glossy coffee table book of pets dressed in couture or dripping in jewels from Tiffany, Van Cleef & Arpels or Chopard, riding in a Porsche with D & G sunglasses, or around the pool in their birthday suit. Throughout the pages, pet lovers pay homage to the beautiful creatures that share their bed, or lick their cone. While others mourning the furry faces that have gone onto the doggy camp in the sky. Pontarelli expanded its circulation by bringing it to the Hamptons and NYC. All the proceeds from the sale of the book go to local pet charities.

Pontarelli champions three types of charities; Children, because they’re the beginning of life and our future. Cancer, because it’s a tragic part of life and that’s what’s killing us. And animals because they make you happy.