What Does it Mean When a Charity Turns Down a Cash Donation?

Can people and organizations get so caught up in how they look, that they forget the point?

Rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine recently attempted to donate $200,000 of the $2 million he made on releasing a recent single to the charity No Kid Hungry, but the organization declined to accept the gift.

The charity informed Tekashi, legally named Daniel Hernandez, that they have a, “policy to decline funding from those donors whose activities do not align with our mission and values.”

The charity, whose mission seems to be synonymous with its name, espouses the idea that no child in America should go hungry. A laudable goal. They go on to say in part that when you join their effort (presumably by donating) that you join a, “movement of teachers, chefs, community leaders, parents, lawmakers and CEOs” who have coalesced into this crusade.

When you click on the organization’s web site you are, as expected, immediately subject to a pop up asking for donations. So, what does it mean when an organization with courageous goals declines a donation?

Clearly, with their statement, the organization has placed a value judgment on the individual offering the donation. By saying, “no thanks” they have created a climate in which some people may be able to join the movement, while clearly others cannot.

It is hard at first blush, knowing just these facts, to not believe that the movement is something of an elitist sect that would rather feel good about themselves than actually feed kids. The list of “movement” participants is quick to list lawmakers, CEOs and community leaders as central to their cause. It seems pretty clear that there is an inner circle that leaves others outside the movement, Mr. Hernandez being case in point.

Granted, Mr. Hernandez is certainly no saint. He was just recently released from federal prison after serving most of a two-year sentence for racketeering and other charges related to gang activity. As you might expect, this was not Mr. Hernandez’s only brush with the law, he has a checkered past including drug sales and assault charges as a minor.

Mr. Hernandez’s recent legal troubles however, included him providing key testimony against a gang which he belonged to for a short period and has been trying to extricate himself from. Mr. Hernandez’s statements led to key arrests of several violent gang members and resulted in a plea deal which shortened Hernandez’s sentence.

Also of note about Mr. Hernandez is his relatively recent foray into philanthropy, making donations to needy people in the Dominican Republic, donating food and cash to poor residents in Chicago’s south side, money to at-risk youth programs in New York City, and also notably an appearance in an anti-violence against women commercial that went viral in 2019.

Born of immigrant parents from Mexico and Puerto Rico, Hernandez grew up poor in New York. He excelled at sports and was heavily involved in his church, often singing in the choir and reading scriptures aloud to the congregation.

The murder of his stepfather, gunned down near the family home, sent Hernandez into a spiral of depression and post-traumatic stress. At age 13 he began acting out and started experience difficulties at school and occasional brushes with the police.

Part of his lashing out at society involved an alternative appearance including wildly colored hair and tattoos. An incidental meeting with Peter “Righteous P” Rogers who came into the bodega where Hernandez worked, reportedly was the beginning of Hernandez’s rap career as the then CEO of Hikari-Ultra records said that he looked like a rapper and should start rapping.

We all make judgment calls. It is certainly well within the rights of any non-profit to develop and maintain a moral stance and work within their value set.

The problem with that, is that it becomes a slippery slope. Once a line is drawn in the sand, tests for where that line should exist seem to come out of the woodwork. What if someone with a felonious past logs on and gives $10 to the organization. What do you do then? Reject out of principle? Or let it go, because it is only $10?

What then also of your corporate sponsors? Walmart and Amazon happen to be listed as corporate partners for No Kid Hungry. How much wrong can a corporate sponsor do before they become controversial enough to drop? Or, do they contribute so much that ethics get blurred when the organization’s hand goes out to them?

I am not passing any sort of condemnation along on either Mr. Hernandez or No Kid Hungry for who they are. And, they each have their position and are entitled to it as such. I just wonder about an organization with an absolute goal that will seemingly hedge on that goal if they don’t approve of the activities of their donors.

They seem to be saying, “Well, really, a few kids could go hungry because we just don’t want to accept money from this person.” It seems disingenuous to me and makes me wonder about whether people and companies value their “street appeal” (to borrow a real estate term) over their actual mission?

They are more concerned about how their actions look to others than the actual impact of the actions. There is a clear and obvious answer here. Mr. Hernandez makes an anonymous donation to No Kid Hungry and none of us are ever the wiser.

I kind of think they are both wrong to arch their backs at one another and the only people that are really impacted are the hungry kids. But that is just my opinion.

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Timothy Key spent over 26 years in the fire service as a firefighter/paramedic and various fire chief management roles. He firmly believes that bad managers destroy more than companies, and good managers create a passion that is contagious. Compassion, grace and gratitude drive the world; or at least they should. Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and join the mail list.