Charities That Give and Take

In the opinion of the Peabody Board, Charities That Give and Take was among the best of a number of excellent radio documentaries produced by Mutual in 1987. This is an intensive inquiry into the collection and disbursement of funds collected in recent “superstar” fundraising events. Spanning the globe from New York to London to Ethiopia, correspondent Paul Henderson, executive producer Craig Warner and producer Doug Levy conducted interviews and examined financial records in order to trace the flow of money and aid from donor to beneficiary. The result, presented in a 22-minute documentary as well as a series of daily reports, was the discovery that there was immense variation between the charities on amounts spent for overhead expenses, perquisites for event promoters, and most importantly, the amounts and kinds of relief provided to those in need. For an investigative report of great timeliness and importance, a Peabody Award to Mutual Broadcasting System for Charities That Give and Take.