RECOMMENDED CHARITIES

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

The Board of Director of the Harvard Combined Charities would like to clarify the new Student Council decision (reported in the December 4 CRIMSON) regarding "recommended charities" which we place on the solicitation card and the rule concerning their administrative expenses. In the past the Combined Charities could not place on the card any organization whose administrative expenses exceeded ten percent of its annual budget.

This year there were two charities which we wished to recommend but could not if we interpreted the restriction literally: the National Scholarship Fund for Negro Students and the Salzburg Seminar. Two considerations stood between the rule and a fair analysis of the charities.

Firstly, salaries paid to officials of an organization are listed as administrative costs. But often there is no clear line between administrative work and the service for which the charity is known. The National Scholarship Fund, for example, has field workers traveling throughout the country notifying prospective Negro college students of placement and scholarship opportunities. Then the same people will record and file relevant findings. Deciding upon the nature of this salary is just one of many cases.

Secondly, young or small institutions have particular difficulty keeping fund-raising and administrative costs down. Founded less than ten years ago, the Seminar operates on a budget of not much over $100,000. Officials of both groups have satisfied us that their expenses are not abnormally high when one considers the nature and history of their work.

The Council has not revoked the ten percent rule, but merely has modified it to require a detailed explanation of the budget of any charity which we place on the card not meeting the ten percent qualification. David M. Dorsen 56, Edward M. Strasser '56   Co-Chairmen of the Board of Directors