Glenn Beck is holding a much-hyped rally next month in front of the Lincoln Memorial — a rally he has promoted by saying it will be remembered as a turning point in American history for hundreds of years. He is also promoting the rally as a fund-raiser for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, a charity which gives scholarships to the children of Special Ops soldiers killed in combat, and financial assistance to wounded troops.
It’s a respectable cause, and the charity has been rated highly by Charity Navigator.
But read the fine print (as pointed out by Bill Press) on Beck’s site, and one wonders exactly how much of the donations Beck is soliciting will make it into the charity’s coffers.
All contributions made to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation (SOWF) will first be applied to the costs of the Restoring Honor Rally taking place on August 28, 2010. All contributions in excess of these costs will then be retained by the SOWF.
So the money only goes to the charity once Beck pays for his rally. It’s not so unusual, and we have to note that Beck’s folks say he is not receiving any sort of speaking fee for the event.
SOWF has not yet returned calls for comment.
It’s clear that the charity knows about this fine print, since they themselves reprinted it in their own press release about the event. The charity is also prominently encouraging donations to the event on it’s own “Make a Donation” page.
Maybe SOWF has agreed to the terms simply because a lot of people are going to show up to Beck’s rally, in the hops that voluntary donations from Beck supporters will more than cover the costs and leave them with something to show for their cooperation.
After all, as Beck himself said, “If you come, I believe this may, maybe in 100 years from now or 200 years from now, I believe this will be remembered as the moment America turned the corner.”
“This is going to be an iconic event,” Beck said. “This is a moment quite honestly, that I think we reclaim the civil rights movement.”
The rally is scheduled for Aug. 28, the same day Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have A Dream” speech in the same location.
