Gip - Your points are valid but I am not just pulling this out of my ass. I did a google search that did not contain the number 90 and found this:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090322195530AAkD8t0
I know that is the least trustworthy source possible. Again, just want to prove I am not making this up.
The organization I intern for is actually doing better than the financial ratio I mentioned:
92% programs
3% fundraising
5% admin
http://www.rescue.org/about/financial-information (there is an easy to read graph at the bottom of the page)
But as you stated, they are a large organization so it is much easier to do so for them.
Edit: And again, I said it was the ideal. Not that you shouldn't donate to an organization that doesn't reach these financial goals. I couldn't really find a legit source that agrees with me. I concede to you but still assert that I am not just making this up!
I'm not saying it can't happen, but its really amazing if it does. Its great that you work for an organization that does so well. Assuming you aren't working for a non-profit that has reenacting dead baby jokes as its mission, that's rad that you are a part of it.
I checked out charitynavigator.org and I think some of it also has to do with what the overhead actually is in general. The top organizations are almost all food banks. Those have a pretty low overhead. You put out some bins at the right places, sponsor drives, and keep the place running and that is pretty much the brunt of the costs. I would guess a group that has international missions and actions would have higher overhead. I'm sure there are organizations that put their money to better places and are more effective at putting money toward the same goal than IC though still.
Completely unrelated rant not aimed at any poster:
I guess I kinda feel bad about this guy's meltdown. It seems like if you try to be an active person in our current society you are dragged through the muck. Honestly, it goes with any activism. Whether its the tea party on the right or occupy movement on the left, if you are an average person and get involved in political issues today you are the subject of insults and epithets that aren't even related to the issue a lot of the time, and often are put under more scrutiny than the people they are protesting, its fucked up. Again, not saying his work is perfect, but society would be better served if guys like Joseph Kony or these big corporations could be under that scrutiny instead. Don't agree with this guy's solution? Fine, let's talk about other solutions, don't turn the issue into whether the people who made the documentary did a good job or are good people, turn it into a discussion about the fact that there are a lot of problems that we aren't facing up to in Africa. Our society is better served with an active populace, the elites are better served with the repression of activism instead of the opening of conversation around it. I feel like its a shame this conversation, which started about how we deal with the Kony's of the world and how we don't turned into a circus around this dude.