<b>Bono</b>
<b>The ONE Campaign</b>
<b>Mission: </b>To fight extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa, by raising public awareness and educating policy makers about the importance of smart and effective policies and programs, such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. ONE also works closely with activists and leaders in Africa to address structural issues, such as debt relief, trade investment, and good governance, that are essential for countries to lift themselves out of poverty.
Bono’s campaign (which he has always said is a marketing or lobbying campaign – thus distancing it from grant giving charity rules) had an interesting 2010. Total revenue for the year was $18,738,485 (down from $35,212,269 the prior year) – with 55 percent, or $10,464,935, going to “salaries and other compensation.” Only $1,356,706 was paid out in grants, with $11,249,753 going to “other expenses” like 12 percent – or $2,338,966 - for travel, $2,620,148 for unspecified service fees, $1,202,212 in information technology and $828,804 in office expenses.
One claims it is a non-profit advocacy organization -- sort of like a marketing campaign – not a grant giver – so therefore it should be held to different standards.
Kathy McKiernan, ONE's press secretary, told FOXNews.com: “We do not solicit funding from the general public or run programs on the ground. ONE fights extreme poverty and preventable disease by raising awareness of these crises and their solutions, and by pressing policymakers both in the US and around the world to support smart, effective programs that save lives and stabilize communities. So we are part Brookings Institution, part AIPAC and part the NRA for the world’s poor.
“Our staff is the primary tool through which we do our work. Just as a newspaper’s budget would show a large percentage devoted to staff salaries to fund the work of reporters, editors, researchers and more, ONE allocates a significant percentage of its budget to enabling the organization to have the staff necessary to do our programmatic work. ONE has more than 120 staff operating in 8 offices around the world. We are specifically funded not to be a grant-making organization. The only exception is our ONE Africa Award, a prize given each year to a grassroots organization in Africa. On travel expenses, in addition to staff travel to the continent of Africa, ONE runs a half-dozen listening and learning trips to Africa each year so that we can show groups of influencers how poverty and disease are impacting people in the world’s poorest countries, how people in those countries are fighting back and how American-supported programs, such as PEPFAR or the Global Fund, are making a difference." (AP)