Where Most Needed

The editorial by Lucy M. Caldwell seems so confident of its claims:

In 2005, the Phoenix New Times reported that the Arizona branch of [the American Cancer Society] spent a gasp-inducing 95 percent on overhead costs, leaving cancer victims "only the crumbs."

But an archives search of Phoenix New Times for the word "cancer" in the year 2005 turns up no such article.  Then there's this one:

At one time, the American Cancer Society spent only 26 percent of its national multibillion-dollar budget on actual medical research, allotting the other three-fourths to “operating expenses.”

Now this one is easier to trace.  The "26 percent" claim belongs to George Mason University economics professor James Bennett.  An article in Sourcewatch ("Capital Research Center and the Tobacco Industry") uses data from various tobacco documentary files to show how Prof. Bennett's research was supported by the tobacco industry in the 1990s to discredit anti-smoking organizations, before the tobacco litigation and subsequent settlments. 

Then the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation (EIN 75-1835298 Form 990) falls in the sights:

[T]he foundation, which organizes the annual Breast Cancer 3-Day walking events nationally, can only manage to put forward 13 cents to its cause for every dollar it raises.

A quick look at the Form 990 shows that the organization spent $8.7 million on fund raising and received $77 million.  Of the total $99 million of fund raising and program income, $53 million went to direct grants, $18.8 million went to public health education.  Even if one completely discounts the value of "public health education," the payment to the cause in the form of direct grants is 53 cents on the dollar, not 13 cents. 

WMN is never shy about making allegations of charity corruption, but it's important to get the sources right: at the very least, know who they are and identify them.