Other awards:
Web of Charity
URL: http://www.webofcharity.com/
This one-click charity is Not Recommended.
I am not going to do a full review of WebofCharity at this time, because I learned on July 9, 2001 that the site is not collecting funds, nor passing on funds to beneficiaries.
I received an email from Janelle Hail, President of the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF), in response to my standard confirmation-of-funds query. Hail said her organization had not heard of WebofCharity, had not given permission for their name to be used, and had not received any funding from the site.
I emailled the owner of WebofCharity, John Swenson, to inform him of the problem with NBCF. In his reply, he said no funds have been distributed, but they will be at an undetermined time in the future. Swensen said his brother created the site, but found it to be too much of a burden and intended to close it down. Swenson, however, decided to keep it running, but due to extreme time constraints with his son undergoing a bone marrow transplant, he has not actually had time to maintain the site fully, nor to pass on funds.
His email implied that funds are not even being collected at this time.
I advised Swenson that he should put a warning up on the main page indicating that no funds are being collected/distributed at the moment, or take the page down entirely. Because the site's FAQ and other elements state that funds are being distributed, Swenson could end up in legal trouble if this is not true. In an effort to spare what appears to be a well-intentioned person from suffering legal nightmares, I strongly recommended that Swenson contact NBCF and put up a warning message on the site immediately.
Until WebofCharity is actually collecting and distributing funds, it will be considered Not Recommended by One-Click Charity Check. Users should find other places to spend their time clicking, because WebofCharity is not raising money for anyone at the moment.
As of 7:30 am PDT July 10, 2001, no reply from Swenson has been received, and there is no message on the WebofCharity site to indicate that it is not collecting funds. If either of these things changes, I will post a notification below. However, I will not be checking WebofCharity regularly, so if anyone discovers that a notice is up and I haven't mentioned it below, please contact me to let me know.
Update: July 11, 2001
Mr. Swenson has let me know that WebofCharity now includes a small message on the Donation Totals page that says, "To Date no funds have been disbursed and no sponsors have been billed. All Counter's [sic] will be reset after Disbursement." He has also cc'd me on emails to the listed charities, asking them if they wish to be removed from his list.
He expressed concern that I was not being fair, insofar as not waiting a month before posting this information. I informed him that he has confused the month waiting period for replies from beneficiaries or administrators (as mentioned at the top of the criteria page) with other email. I also informed him that that period would not apply in this case, since I am not waiting for a reply, with replies having been received that indicate the site is neither collecting nor distributing funds at this time. I stated that I will not recommend a site to users when it would effectively be a waste of time for them to click, since no money is being raised.
When the site is operational and both collecting and distributing funds, Mr. Swenson has been invited to let me know, that I might complete a review at that time.