The National Council for Adoption:
MOTHERS, MONEY, MARKETING, & MADNESS
The National Council for Adoption usually has something to say about any adoption issue. One would think they should just based on their name. After all “National Council” makes it sound as if an official governmental appointment was made. That they are the official US stance, made after long thought out meetings by a Council, on all things related to adoption. Alas, that is just a well thought out play on the name made to make one think that is what they are.
By their own Mission Statement, they are something else:
“Founded in 1980, the National Council for Adoption (NCFA) is a research, education, and advocacy organization whose mission is to promote the well-being of children, birthparents, and adoptive families by advocating for the positive option of adoption. NCFA is an adoption advocate and expert in the halls of power and the courts of public opinion, on behalf of all parties to adoption and its member adoption agencies around the country.”
It’s very clear, as noted in the bolded emphasis, that their self-appointed job is to promote adoption and that promotion is benefitting the adoption agencies. They are a lobby group, pure and simple, bought and paid for to use their power and resources to sway the public in such a way that adoption is seen as positive.
How they do such things is no mystery.
Their 2005 IRS form #990 states clearly that they have the resources. Their total gross receipts for that year were $2,920,818. That’s almost 3 million dollars. Just for reference, if we compare similar adoption groups there is quite a difference in funding. The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute is the next biggest competitor as an Adoption information and research group coming in at $671,296. The American Adoption Congress filed their 990 for $39,338 as income. Bastard Nation declared $2,872 and Concerned United Birthparents has ten chapters listed with none of them having an income greater enough to be eligible for filing status. With the exception of the EBD, none of the other adoption groups have compensated employees relying instead on all volunteer activities. Simple math computes that the NCFA operates at a greater budget than all their opposition combined.
It makes sense to wonder were their money comes from.
Just over 1 million of the NCFA funding comes from “public support.” This does not including another fifty-plus thousand that comes from membership dues. Once again, the National Council for Adoption members consists of non-profit adoption agencies. The Gladney Centers for Adoption and Bethany Christian Services are all members. While both are, indeed, non–profit, one only has to look at their IRS 990’s to see where the money is rolling in. The Gladney Centers in Texas have one main “hospital” group and two other big “funds.” Combined there is over 39 million dollars declared as assets and another $12,154,675 claimed as income after expenses. That’s over 50 million dollars.
Bethany Christian Services breaks out to three main states; North Carolina, Iowa, and Michigan with a combined income of $ 3,098,830 and assets of $ 1,236,37. While Bethany is not quite as hard to stomach as Gladney in terms of excessive figures, seeing these huge “non-profit” numbers makes it easier to comprehend how American adoption services is over a 3 billion dollar a year industry. It behooves the agencies to fund a lobby group that promotes their needs, causes public opinion to be swayed in their favor and facilitates an environment beneficial for their bottom line by promoting adoption.
The NCFA is also privately funded by various moral majority groups such as the Family Research Council who “champions marriage and family as the foundation of civilization, the seedbed of virtue, and the wellspring of society…. values human life and upholds the institutions of marriage and the family.” Pro-life organizations and the LDS church also support the NCFA viewpoints as they all mesh together in some absurd God fearing way.
However, the greatest portion of the NCFA’s funding is received from “government contributions/grants.” In 2005 that figure topped out at $1,615,588, but historically, 2005 was not one of their very best years:
2004: $5,331.093; 2003: $8,323,973; 2002: $4,497,484; 2001: $1,091,555
And that total is over 20 million dollars from government grants. Tax levees collected from US citizens from the federal government and awarded to an adoption agency lobby group so that they can tell us what to think and feel about adoption. Over half their operating budget received from our tax money, but they still promote what favors the other half of their funding, the agencies.
So what do they actually do with all that money??
They have to pay their hard working staff.
