FARM AID CONTROVERSY

Farm Aid expenses eat away donations Even before Willie Nelson strums his first chord Sunday at this year's Farm Aid show in Tinley Park, one of the concert's missions will have been accomplished: Upholding the family farm as an American icon. But how much the Farm Aid organization helps those farmers financially is a different matter. The percentage of funds given away by the group is exceedingly low compared with money eaten up by expenses or not used. Last year, Farm Aid donated less than 28 percent of its revenue, according to a review of the non-profit's records and policies. An organization should be giving away at least 65 percent of its revenue to be considered performing adequately, said Naomi Levine, a New York University expert on philanthropy. The high-profile concert itself, which is also burdened by high expenses, provides only a small percentage of revenue to philanthropic causes. Farm Aid, which has been more successful than any other group -- maybe even farmers themselves -- at advocating the need for family farms, dispensed $387,641 in 57 grants to local organizations in 2004. This was on total revenue of slightly more than $1.4 million, according to records filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Evelyn Shriver, president of Bandit Records and a director on Farm Aid's board, said she was "shocked" that such a small percentage of the money raised went to grants last year....
Farm Aid singer rips up, stomps on newspaper In a press conference after the Farm Aid concert last weekend in Tinley Park, musician Neil Young tore up a copy of a Chicago newspaper and stomped on it. What made him mad was an article critical of the farm charity for giving away less than 28 percent of its budget in direct grants. "We are not purely raising money to give to farmers," Young said. "That's only a small part of what we do. We are available 24/7, 365 days a year to the American farmer. That's what we do. That costs a little bit of money.'' If those expenditures were included in the total, it would show that the charity spent 76 percent of its budget on its mission of helping farmers, with the remaining 24 percent going for administrative and fund-raising expenses, Farm Aid officials said. That's well above standards set by the Better Business Bureau and other charity watchdog groups that recommend charities spend at least 65 percent on program services, according to Glenda Yoder, associate director at Farm Aid....
Farm Aid show backs Katrina aid, organics Farm Aid staged its 20th annual star-studded benefit concert on Sunday, pledging help for overlooked rural victims of Hurricane Katrina and defending against charges of financial waste. The day-long show at an outdoor arena south of Chicago grossed $1.3 million in ticket sales and played to an enthusiastic crowd of more than 28,000. Farm Aid's founder, country music legend Willie Nelson, performed alongside board members Neil Young, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews as well as Wilco, Buddy Guy, Widespread Panic and other performers. Conceived by Nelson in the depths of the U.S. farm crisis and first staged in Champaign, Illinois, in 1985, Farm Aid is now closely associated with the "good food movement" and a push-back by small-scale and organic producers against huge factory farms and corporate-driven production agriculture. "We are here to promote food from family farms," said Caroline Mugar, executive director of Farm Aid. "Changing the food you buy changes the way your food is grown."....

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