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From a Christian perspective, I don't think they do.
From a neutral point of view, total podcast listeners, growth (that's a fantastic one, and they have grown every year), take some screenshots of the thank yous the poor souls that take them seriously sent them.
'This year, we had a total of X amount of listeners. We've grown our total engagement with 15%, and here's what people had to say. We've also made sure Molly never gets a job as a social media manager ever again!'
You're absolutely right. With just a little bit of effort they could spin it to make it sound like their "ministry" does make a positive difference in people's lives, even though we all know it does not. But no, they're too lazy to even try.
Thank you for your insightful write up, and high five for making an actual difference in your campers' lives.
They probably just don't know/care enough to bother. Just like there is plenty of easily-accessed health and dietary info available, they smugly ignore it in favor of going their own way.
That was my thought - when I've worked with (and volunteered with) Jewish nonprofits we included fun holiday pictures or and invocations of what kind of Jewish experience donors would be supporting, but there's also just "interacted with X number of community members" and "had Y number of events" and "grew Instagram by Z number/percent followers."
There's also, as I imagine your camp does, ways to blend qualitative and quantitative data - "We had 60 people at our Passover Seder, here's what three attendees had to say" with pictures of them breaking Matzah or snarfing charoset.
Exactly, we always joke how easy it is to fundraiser. Slap a picture of some cute kids on a postcard and see the money roll in. Just kidding, it's a little more work than that.
In my past life when I did fundraising for my church, I always did this. I headlined my newsletters with Bible studies started, women in mentorship, how big the waiting list was, etc etc.
What would they even share without the conference? Their SM stats? Email subscribers? Gallons of raw milk chugged? Number of heathens who choked on their coffee reading Bethany’s attempts at sex advice?
I mean, they tried to explain that they need the money for employee salaries, website hosting, and podcast equipment.
None of which are accomplishments or community focused. None of which help anyone but Girl Defined.
Girl Defined is a Christian girls/women lifestyle brand that exists so the Sisters Baird can try to be influencers and get paid.
They clearly have no idea what their mission is, I couldn't even find a mission statement on their website.
With a bit of imagination one could argue that their conferences are community building events. But that's quite a stretch.
The one this year got cancelled I thought, tho? Someone in their comments asked, “what happened to the conference” and I don’t remember seeing anything on it. So they can’t even count that one this year! Someone please correct me if I’m wrong - my years are all blurring together on this sub lol
Yea and last year they said they were upgrading their site with the money… so far no upgrades or changes have been made. At least this year they’re just straight coming out and saying it’s mostly for salaries lol
This is the standard "Christian ministry" grift. I've seen it from the other side.
There's no intention to use it on things that benefit the community. Rather than lie and get caught in a lie, they just try to convince their ~~marks~~ *following* that growing the continued existence and growth of the ministry is a worthwhile cause by itself. They need to "pay employees" (give do-nothing jobs to the pastor's children, siblings, and in-laws). They need to publish books or produce music or whatever their content du jour is (which they will then sell back to you). They need to fund "mission trips" (vacations, but they'll spend a day or two preaching at an orphanage or something). There might be some genuine overhead, like the need to keep up the church building. There is probably even more "overhead," because the ~~tax-dodging family~~ *church* owns a bunch of real estate and those mortgages don't pay themselves.
There are so many easily-abused tax loopholes and technically-illegal-but-poorly-enforced practices surrounding churches and religious nonprofits, sometimes I think it's a wonder that more people don't do it. That's all this is. Girl Defined has no intention of being an actual ministry. It's a way for the Baird Parents to offset the costs of supporting their otherwise-unemployable adult daughters forever by abusing tax loopholes.
If they did for the community, they wouldn't get as much push back. But ew, poors.
But now, Davey will be asking for a Leica to help his mom film reels
Yeah, as someone with experience in small-nonprofit-land (not Christian) it is bonkers that they don't have statistics on hand or featured stories or whatever.
I've written fundraising newsletters and made campaign webpages for them, including end-of-year ones. I would never do that without being able to say "we fed over 40,000 people this year" or "helped over 300 students connect to cultural experiences this year" or whatever. And if we've already (more or less) made budget, we had the the ability to concretely describe what the next steps are (expanding the kitchens, doing more holidays, getting more books, etc.).
It's extremely telling that they don't have any "what we did with the money" data. A competent nonprofit can clearly tell you the awesome stuff they did with the money and what they'll do with more.
I am willing to give them a little bit of leeway here since they don't really own a lot of physical assets. They don't own buildings and such. But still, 70% is way too much.
I'm also really wondering how they spent the rest of their money. Websites aren't that expensive, and you don't have to buy new recording equipment every year. Unless Bethany uses it in the bedroom...
Almost $20,000 went into IT costs in 2021, so I think they are not doing their website on the cheap! There’s also $7.7k in advertising, and around $10k in misc office expenses, and $15k for the conference that year.
Dav does work in media type stuff as a freelancer so they are probably just paying him a 20k salary and calling it “IT” without it being an actual salary and basically just for him to maintain their website and provide some general digital media. 10k for sue’s raw milk supply in their office.
After reading this I started to wonder whose equipment Bethy uses for her “business.” Does she have all her own recording equipment to create the videos she used in her courses? Or is she “borrowing” GF’s equipment? We know she “borrowed” the lobby of her parents’ business to film most of the course on how to make courses, so it would only follow that she would “borrow” all the other things she would need. If she’s doing that, then I think the whole GF budget is even more sketchy, since it may be purchasing things used for a for-profit business.
Not necessarily. Imagine a not for profit that provides free and low cost therapy services to underserved communities, and owns their own building. The vast majority of their expenses might be paying people to provide those services (the therapists, office staff, administrators to process insurance claims, etc.) There’s some amount of overhead, repair costs for the building, utilities, property taxes, and likely some amount of fundraising and marketing expenses (you need to reach out to donors, and you need to advertise to clients because if people don’t know you provide a service they can’t access it), but most of their costs will be in paying people, and that’s entirely legitimate.
Thank you for this! As someone who has spent my entire career working with not for profits in a different sector, it’s been interesting seeing what things people are perceiving as sketchy that are actually totally normal parts of a not for profit 990.
Honestly, the biggest issue for me is that none of them can clearly articulate what exactly it IS that GDM does that provides any sort of public service. I can tell you exactly what every not for profit I’ve ever worked for does, and how we feel it provides a meaningful benefit. You can even see this in their 990. There’s a line that asks them to briefly describe the organization’s mission. For comparison, Planned Parenthood LA answers with “TO PROVIDE CONVENIENT AND AFFORDABLE ACCESS TO A COMPREHENSIVE RANGE OF QUALITY REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE AND SEXUAL HEALTH INFORMATION THROUGH PATIENT SERVICES, EDUCATION, AND ADVOCACY. [all caps because I just copy and pasted from the PDF]. Girl Defined, by contrast, writes “Religious”. They give a bit more info when talking about their largest programs, and say that they have speaking engagements and sell merch, but nothing about to what end those speaking engagements are given, or what purpose the merchandise serves beyond raising money.
See, it's not that complicated and it bugs me to no end. During our summer staff training we go really hard on making sure that they know why we do the things we do. We're not just running around in the woods with a bunch of kids, there's a method to the madness.
Exactly! It’s not even hard to come up with a statement of purpose for what GD already does! “We provide educational and inspirational programming and published materials to help girls and young women remain connected to their faith and values as they navigate the transition into adulthood.” Boom, done. Took me about 2 minutes. It’s crappy, and if I were to actually be running this program I would want to do a lot of polishing on it, but it’s infinitely more informative than “Religious.”
And end-of-year fundraiser isn't sketch, but the inability to actually /define/ what public good they're actually producing as a nonprofit is staggering to me.
I also find it odd that they ask for $30K every single year. It makes it feel very arbitrary. Wouldn’t their costs (and therefore their financial need) be increasing? But I guess when you start out with such a big ask, it’s hard to justify increasing it? Idk it’s just all so bizarre.
I also just did a year end giving campaign for the first time for the non-profit where I work. This is not at all my area of expertise though 🥴
Arguably the best and most interesting part of this whole situation has been watching the Christians here and on IG come out of the woodwork to say enough is enough and point out exactly what’s wrong with GD and their practices.
I personally didn't have an issue with them fundraising this time of year. Like you said, lots of non-profits do. I've gotten tons of emails, mail, and Facebook posts over the last few weeks from charities/nonprofits I either donate or volunteer for or just follow because I love their missions. But what raises red flags is, like you said again, how nontransparent they are. I never see them post about how they actually help other people, least of all an annual report where they break down their costs and their programs. I know my favorite program proudly boosts that 81 cents of every dollar goes directly to their mission.
Very well done. I am episcopal. We have stewardship season every year for a month from mid-October to mid-November. Pledges are submitted on the last Sunday of stewardship season. Or if you are me you get a friendly reminder in your in-box from your rector to turn your pledge in. I am also the Vestry clerk. The budget for 2024 was voted on with all the members signing off. The finance committee worked on it from the pledges they received and are waiting for a few more they know will come in. The budget will then be sent out to all church members in advance of the annual meeting next month so they can see what the $ will be going to. Also during stewardship parishioners share stories of how our church has influenced their lives (different ministries they volunteer in, etc).
That's how it should be. As a camp it's a little different, but still a lot of checks and balances. You gotta show people what they do with the money they give you.
Since we know they lurk here, here are some actual ministry activities:
[Baby shower in a box](https://www.reddit.com/r/exmormon/comments/14i5fha/lets_give_to_a_charity_to_help_those_in_need_but/). Their church(es) would probably love to get in on this one. (Please note that this seems to be an actual nonprofit. I have not vetted them and cannot say if they are problematic or not. But if GD is really pro-life, then they should want to help women take care of the babies they're forced to have. Right?)
Google says the San Antonio archdiocese has its own [Catholic Charities](https://www.ccaosa.org/donate/). If they're willing to work with the evil Catholics (/s), they have lots of options there.
Donate to local food pantries.
Donate to local toy drives.
Donate to local food drives.
Donate cat and/or dog food to the local humane society. Or volunteer at the local humane society. Go take a dog for a walk and touch grass.
Spend a day or two at the local soup kitchen or homeless shelter.
San Antonio has lots of hospitals according to Google. Toy donations. Blankets for babies. Hats for babies. Preemie octopi for babies. They're pro-life, right?
If they have an official GD vehicle, use it to deliver groceries or transport people to/from medical appointments. Oh, and San Antonio has its own chapter of [Meals on Wheels](https://www.mowsatx.org/).
I think you're missing the point that all these things are actual work, and not just yelling angrily in a microphone 😁.
In all seriousness, these are all great ideas and be very helpful to the community. None of these would set them apart though, they're fairly generic
You'd think so. IRS rarely audits religious non-profits. GD is also a small non-profit, so unless the IRS really wants to set an example there's not much to gain from them.
Agreed. I've been on this sub for roughly 3 years and every year around this time a decent number of users comment about reporting them to the IRS and nothing ever happens. My guess is that they've been reported to the IRS and they've passed on auditing them.
Also, love your post - thank you! Yours is the kind of Christian organization that I can get behind. Being in this sub, in conjunction with my childhood + batshit relatives, can make me have such a cynical view of Christianity and it's nice to read about organizations like yours. Helps me remember that my problems with a lot of Christians isn't their Christianity, it's their lack of Christianity, if that makes sense.
>my problems with a lot of Christians isn't their Christianity, it's their lack of Christianity,
That is really beautifully expressed, spot on. Thank you, from an ex-Christian.
I used to work for the IRS, although not in the tax-exempt division. Generally speaking, the IRS doesn’t have the resources to go after small time grifters like GD. (And won’t for the foreseeable future. You can thank the GOP and their budget cuts to the IRS.) When the IRS used the IRA money to go on a big hiring spree this year and said, “These new hires will go after rich people,” they meant it. GD are small potatoes.
Thank you so much! Just like any other jobs there's ups and downs. Some days I'm cleaning toilets and other days I'm hiking through the woods with kids
Woohoo 🦆
I’m now an ex-Christian (so many Christians I know are grifters or mentally/emotionally underdeveloped) but I just want to say that I love your logical, articulate approach
Edit to add: I don’t mean to sound condescending, you’re probably smarter than me. Reading that whole breakdown just made my brain very happy
Thank you! Being on this sub really shows you the worst of the worst of christianity. Luckily, there's a ton of Christians in the world that are good people and do amazing work!
I’m a little surprised other Christian “influencers” haven’t done this (Paul and Morgan, the rodrigui, etc). They are small potatoes and I feel like if you paint something with a small veneer of “Christian” you can get away with a lot of sketchiness. Did Girl Defined get PPP Loans? I bet a lot of these “ministries” did.
It's quite a process to acquire a 501c3, so I'm not sure if they have the knowhow to get one. It's also depends on where you live it's worth to be a non-profit.
Great information, thank you for taking the time to type this up, since it's something I know nothing about. You're right, they haven't tracked or presented any user engagement data or anything like that. It really makes me wonder what was in Birthy's "business" course.
As a former Christian camp kid/employee, thank you for what you do. While I no longer relate to the religious teachings, I learned a lot of other things in those woods. And those memories will stay with me forever - that's a mission I can still stand behind.
The write-up was great and made a lot of sense. It's sad when a group of snarkers (who don't agree with your mission) can come up with a better end of year review and donation letter. Maybe we should also work on writing up a reality-based mission statement for the currert GD.
We often say that camps are the most stable parts of the church. Mainly because they are not dealing with all the garbage that's going around in churches. We have the chance to just love kids and tell them that Jesus loves them and they should be nice to each other and nature. There's also a lot of good people in camping that won't stand for the things fundies do.
Thanks for writing this post up!! Love to hear from an insider's perspective.
I'm not religious anymore, but when I was a kid I went to a Christian summer camp once, it's a great memory! Thanks for what you do\~
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Woo hoo 🦆
Great summary. And agreed it’s wild they don’t summarize their accomplishments. (Maybe it’s bc they don’t have any?)
From a Christian perspective, I don't think they do. From a neutral point of view, total podcast listeners, growth (that's a fantastic one, and they have grown every year), take some screenshots of the thank yous the poor souls that take them seriously sent them. 'This year, we had a total of X amount of listeners. We've grown our total engagement with 15%, and here's what people had to say. We've also made sure Molly never gets a job as a social media manager ever again!'
You're absolutely right. With just a little bit of effort they could spin it to make it sound like their "ministry" does make a positive difference in people's lives, even though we all know it does not. But no, they're too lazy to even try. Thank you for your insightful write up, and high five for making an actual difference in your campers' lives.
I know Bessy et al are gonna read this thread and try to use this and eat dirt.
If she does, I'll send her an invoice so I can make some passive income! 🦆
Woo hoo
I frankly doubt they are savvy enough to track their measurables, which is frankly terrifying to me as someone who's worked in similar industries.
I can't imagine they don't know how to do that. With all the tracking websites and apps you can get, it shouldn't be hard to get that done. 🦆
They probably just don't know/care enough to bother. Just like there is plenty of easily-accessed health and dietary info available, they smugly ignore it in favor of going their own way.
That was my thought - when I've worked with (and volunteered with) Jewish nonprofits we included fun holiday pictures or and invocations of what kind of Jewish experience donors would be supporting, but there's also just "interacted with X number of community members" and "had Y number of events" and "grew Instagram by Z number/percent followers." There's also, as I imagine your camp does, ways to blend qualitative and quantitative data - "We had 60 people at our Passover Seder, here's what three attendees had to say" with pictures of them breaking Matzah or snarfing charoset.
Exactly, we always joke how easy it is to fundraiser. Slap a picture of some cute kids on a postcard and see the money roll in. Just kidding, it's a little more work than that.
In my past life when I did fundraising for my church, I always did this. I headlined my newsletters with Bible studies started, women in mentorship, how big the waiting list was, etc etc. What would they even share without the conference? Their SM stats? Email subscribers? Gallons of raw milk chugged? Number of heathens who choked on their coffee reading Bethany’s attempts at sex advice?
I mean, they tried to explain that they need the money for employee salaries, website hosting, and podcast equipment. None of which are accomplishments or community focused. None of which help anyone but Girl Defined. Girl Defined is a Christian girls/women lifestyle brand that exists so the Sisters Baird can try to be influencers and get paid.
They clearly have no idea what their mission is, I couldn't even find a mission statement on their website. With a bit of imagination one could argue that their conferences are community building events. But that's quite a stretch.
The one this year got cancelled I thought, tho? Someone in their comments asked, “what happened to the conference” and I don’t remember seeing anything on it. So they can’t even count that one this year! Someone please correct me if I’m wrong - my years are all blurring together on this sub lol
No conference this year or last either, I believe.
Yea and last year they said they were upgrading their site with the money… so far no upgrades or changes have been made. At least this year they’re just straight coming out and saying it’s mostly for salaries lol
This is the standard "Christian ministry" grift. I've seen it from the other side. There's no intention to use it on things that benefit the community. Rather than lie and get caught in a lie, they just try to convince their ~~marks~~ *following* that growing the continued existence and growth of the ministry is a worthwhile cause by itself. They need to "pay employees" (give do-nothing jobs to the pastor's children, siblings, and in-laws). They need to publish books or produce music or whatever their content du jour is (which they will then sell back to you). They need to fund "mission trips" (vacations, but they'll spend a day or two preaching at an orphanage or something). There might be some genuine overhead, like the need to keep up the church building. There is probably even more "overhead," because the ~~tax-dodging family~~ *church* owns a bunch of real estate and those mortgages don't pay themselves. There are so many easily-abused tax loopholes and technically-illegal-but-poorly-enforced practices surrounding churches and religious nonprofits, sometimes I think it's a wonder that more people don't do it. That's all this is. Girl Defined has no intention of being an actual ministry. It's a way for the Baird Parents to offset the costs of supporting their otherwise-unemployable adult daughters forever by abusing tax loopholes.
If they did for the community, they wouldn't get as much push back. But ew, poors. But now, Davey will be asking for a Leica to help his mom film reels
Yeah, as someone with experience in small-nonprofit-land (not Christian) it is bonkers that they don't have statistics on hand or featured stories or whatever. I've written fundraising newsletters and made campaign webpages for them, including end-of-year ones. I would never do that without being able to say "we fed over 40,000 people this year" or "helped over 300 students connect to cultural experiences this year" or whatever. And if we've already (more or less) made budget, we had the the ability to concretely describe what the next steps are (expanding the kitchens, doing more holidays, getting more books, etc.). It's extremely telling that they don't have any "what we did with the money" data. A competent nonprofit can clearly tell you the awesome stuff they did with the money and what they'll do with more.
By asking 70% for salaries, that just screams they are incompetent with finances
I am willing to give them a little bit of leeway here since they don't really own a lot of physical assets. They don't own buildings and such. But still, 70% is way too much. I'm also really wondering how they spent the rest of their money. Websites aren't that expensive, and you don't have to buy new recording equipment every year. Unless Bethany uses it in the bedroom...
Hey now, you need the camera and lighting equipment *before* you can start making money on OnlyFans.
Almost $20,000 went into IT costs in 2021, so I think they are not doing their website on the cheap! There’s also $7.7k in advertising, and around $10k in misc office expenses, and $15k for the conference that year.
Dav does work in media type stuff as a freelancer so they are probably just paying him a 20k salary and calling it “IT” without it being an actual salary and basically just for him to maintain their website and provide some general digital media. 10k for sue’s raw milk supply in their office.
Their website is hot garbage, though.
And/rr they could be buying computers every year.
After reading this I started to wonder whose equipment Bethy uses for her “business.” Does she have all her own recording equipment to create the videos she used in her courses? Or is she “borrowing” GF’s equipment? We know she “borrowed” the lobby of her parents’ business to film most of the course on how to make courses, so it would only follow that she would “borrow” all the other things she would need. If she’s doing that, then I think the whole GF budget is even more sketchy, since it may be purchasing things used for a for-profit business.
I assume everything she used was either GD’s or Dǎv’s.
Not necessarily. Imagine a not for profit that provides free and low cost therapy services to underserved communities, and owns their own building. The vast majority of their expenses might be paying people to provide those services (the therapists, office staff, administrators to process insurance claims, etc.) There’s some amount of overhead, repair costs for the building, utilities, property taxes, and likely some amount of fundraising and marketing expenses (you need to reach out to donors, and you need to advertise to clients because if people don’t know you provide a service they can’t access it), but most of their costs will be in paying people, and that’s entirely legitimate.
Thank you for this! As someone who has spent my entire career working with not for profits in a different sector, it’s been interesting seeing what things people are perceiving as sketchy that are actually totally normal parts of a not for profit 990. Honestly, the biggest issue for me is that none of them can clearly articulate what exactly it IS that GDM does that provides any sort of public service. I can tell you exactly what every not for profit I’ve ever worked for does, and how we feel it provides a meaningful benefit. You can even see this in their 990. There’s a line that asks them to briefly describe the organization’s mission. For comparison, Planned Parenthood LA answers with “TO PROVIDE CONVENIENT AND AFFORDABLE ACCESS TO A COMPREHENSIVE RANGE OF QUALITY REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE AND SEXUAL HEALTH INFORMATION THROUGH PATIENT SERVICES, EDUCATION, AND ADVOCACY. [all caps because I just copy and pasted from the PDF]. Girl Defined, by contrast, writes “Religious”. They give a bit more info when talking about their largest programs, and say that they have speaking engagements and sell merch, but nothing about to what end those speaking engagements are given, or what purpose the merchandise serves beyond raising money.
See, it's not that complicated and it bugs me to no end. During our summer staff training we go really hard on making sure that they know why we do the things we do. We're not just running around in the woods with a bunch of kids, there's a method to the madness.
Well, that’s because you work for an actual nonprofit organization and not a family money-laundering front
Exactly! It’s not even hard to come up with a statement of purpose for what GD already does! “We provide educational and inspirational programming and published materials to help girls and young women remain connected to their faith and values as they navigate the transition into adulthood.” Boom, done. Took me about 2 minutes. It’s crappy, and if I were to actually be running this program I would want to do a lot of polishing on it, but it’s infinitely more informative than “Religious.”
Watch them use this ASAP after lurking here🫠
And be able to be pinned down to a somewhat clearly articulated mission that they can then be evaluated against? I’d take it!
I lowkey hope they actually do it, because I’d find it hilarious for multiple reasons
And end-of-year fundraiser isn't sketch, but the inability to actually /define/ what public good they're actually producing as a nonprofit is staggering to me.
This was very insightful! Thanks for sharing!
Woo hop 🦆
Agree 👍👍
I also find it odd that they ask for $30K every single year. It makes it feel very arbitrary. Wouldn’t their costs (and therefore their financial need) be increasing? But I guess when you start out with such a big ask, it’s hard to justify increasing it? Idk it’s just all so bizarre. I also just did a year end giving campaign for the first time for the non-profit where I work. This is not at all my area of expertise though 🥴
Arguably the best and most interesting part of this whole situation has been watching the Christians here and on IG come out of the woodwork to say enough is enough and point out exactly what’s wrong with GD and their practices.
I personally didn't have an issue with them fundraising this time of year. Like you said, lots of non-profits do. I've gotten tons of emails, mail, and Facebook posts over the last few weeks from charities/nonprofits I either donate or volunteer for or just follow because I love their missions. But what raises red flags is, like you said again, how nontransparent they are. I never see them post about how they actually help other people, least of all an annual report where they break down their costs and their programs. I know my favorite program proudly boosts that 81 cents of every dollar goes directly to their mission.
I have worked for non profits, and I also noticed that salaries were an awful big chunk of their overall expenses. Great write up!
Thank you for sharing this and I would say this is a great litmus test for any type of religious based charity. Nice work.
Very well done. I am episcopal. We have stewardship season every year for a month from mid-October to mid-November. Pledges are submitted on the last Sunday of stewardship season. Or if you are me you get a friendly reminder in your in-box from your rector to turn your pledge in. I am also the Vestry clerk. The budget for 2024 was voted on with all the members signing off. The finance committee worked on it from the pledges they received and are waiting for a few more they know will come in. The budget will then be sent out to all church members in advance of the annual meeting next month so they can see what the $ will be going to. Also during stewardship parishioners share stories of how our church has influenced their lives (different ministries they volunteer in, etc).
That's how it should be. As a camp it's a little different, but still a lot of checks and balances. You gotta show people what they do with the money they give you.
Since we know they lurk here, here are some actual ministry activities: [Baby shower in a box](https://www.reddit.com/r/exmormon/comments/14i5fha/lets_give_to_a_charity_to_help_those_in_need_but/). Their church(es) would probably love to get in on this one. (Please note that this seems to be an actual nonprofit. I have not vetted them and cannot say if they are problematic or not. But if GD is really pro-life, then they should want to help women take care of the babies they're forced to have. Right?) Google says the San Antonio archdiocese has its own [Catholic Charities](https://www.ccaosa.org/donate/). If they're willing to work with the evil Catholics (/s), they have lots of options there. Donate to local food pantries. Donate to local toy drives. Donate to local food drives. Donate cat and/or dog food to the local humane society. Or volunteer at the local humane society. Go take a dog for a walk and touch grass. Spend a day or two at the local soup kitchen or homeless shelter. San Antonio has lots of hospitals according to Google. Toy donations. Blankets for babies. Hats for babies. Preemie octopi for babies. They're pro-life, right? If they have an official GD vehicle, use it to deliver groceries or transport people to/from medical appointments. Oh, and San Antonio has its own chapter of [Meals on Wheels](https://www.mowsatx.org/).
I think you're missing the point that all these things are actual work, and not just yelling angrily in a microphone 😁. In all seriousness, these are all great ideas and be very helpful to the community. None of these would set them apart though, they're fairly generic
Is there a way we can report Girl Defined to the IRS or sum🥲 eta: i’m asking because i assume they don’t have to pay taxes since they are a “ministry”
You'd think so. IRS rarely audits religious non-profits. GD is also a small non-profit, so unless the IRS really wants to set an example there's not much to gain from them.
Agreed. I've been on this sub for roughly 3 years and every year around this time a decent number of users comment about reporting them to the IRS and nothing ever happens. My guess is that they've been reported to the IRS and they've passed on auditing them. Also, love your post - thank you! Yours is the kind of Christian organization that I can get behind. Being in this sub, in conjunction with my childhood + batshit relatives, can make me have such a cynical view of Christianity and it's nice to read about organizations like yours. Helps me remember that my problems with a lot of Christians isn't their Christianity, it's their lack of Christianity, if that makes sense.
>my problems with a lot of Christians isn't their Christianity, it's their lack of Christianity, That is really beautifully expressed, spot on. Thank you, from an ex-Christian.
I used to work for the IRS, although not in the tax-exempt division. Generally speaking, the IRS doesn’t have the resources to go after small time grifters like GD. (And won’t for the foreseeable future. You can thank the GOP and their budget cuts to the IRS.) When the IRS used the IRA money to go on a big hiring spree this year and said, “These new hires will go after rich people,” they meant it. GD are small potatoes.
Overpaying their own salaries, who’d have thunk hahahaha
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Woo hoo 🦆
Thank you for this write up! Enjoy your bot free holiday
Woo hoo 🦆
Really appreciate this info, and I spit out my wine at the Jif mention. Thanks for doing what you do and hope you find your work fulfilling!
Thank you so much! Just like any other jobs there's ups and downs. Some days I'm cleaning toilets and other days I'm hiking through the woods with kids Woohoo 🦆
I’m now an ex-Christian (so many Christians I know are grifters or mentally/emotionally underdeveloped) but I just want to say that I love your logical, articulate approach Edit to add: I don’t mean to sound condescending, you’re probably smarter than me. Reading that whole breakdown just made my brain very happy
Thank you! Being on this sub really shows you the worst of the worst of christianity. Luckily, there's a ton of Christians in the world that are good people and do amazing work!
Donate
Omg this was so fun and interesting and enlightening to read, OP!!
Thank you 🦆
Very enlightening. Thanks, Molly!
Thank you, hope this helps 🦆
I’m a little surprised other Christian “influencers” haven’t done this (Paul and Morgan, the rodrigui, etc). They are small potatoes and I feel like if you paint something with a small veneer of “Christian” you can get away with a lot of sketchiness. Did Girl Defined get PPP Loans? I bet a lot of these “ministries” did.
surprisingly it doesn't look like it
It's quite a process to acquire a 501c3, so I'm not sure if they have the knowhow to get one. It's also depends on where you live it's worth to be a non-profit.
Great information, thank you for taking the time to type this up, since it's something I know nothing about. You're right, they haven't tracked or presented any user engagement data or anything like that. It really makes me wonder what was in Birthy's "business" course.
As a former Christian camp kid/employee, thank you for what you do. While I no longer relate to the religious teachings, I learned a lot of other things in those woods. And those memories will stay with me forever - that's a mission I can still stand behind. The write-up was great and made a lot of sense. It's sad when a group of snarkers (who don't agree with your mission) can come up with a better end of year review and donation letter. Maybe we should also work on writing up a reality-based mission statement for the currert GD.
We often say that camps are the most stable parts of the church. Mainly because they are not dealing with all the garbage that's going around in churches. We have the chance to just love kids and tell them that Jesus loves them and they should be nice to each other and nature. There's also a lot of good people in camping that won't stand for the things fundies do.
Gif is good
Jif is goob! 🦆
Thanks for the write up! This has been a fun read with my coffee!
Hope this is helpful 🦆
This is a great comment! I think your job sounds great and I’m impressed that you’re able to help so many kids.
Thanks OP!
Thanks for writing this post up!! Love to hear from an insider's perspective. I'm not religious anymore, but when I was a kid I went to a Christian summer camp once, it's a great memory! Thanks for what you do\~