Update: The article has been updated with comment from the Michigan Humane Society.

LANSING — Charities received an average of 38 cents of every dollar collected by professional fundraisers licensed in Michigan, according to a new report from Attorney General Bill Schuette.

That's up from just 35 cents on the dollar reported in 2012.

"While I'm pleased we've seen a three percent improvement since last year, it's not enough," Schuette said in a statement. "I will continue promoting this transparency in hopes consumers and charities will be able to do more to help their intended causes."

Charities sometimes hire outside fundraising companies to collect donations and generate new donors. "This can be costly. But once a new donor is obtained, future donations are less expensive to acquire," according to the report.

The report includes data submitted in 2013 by more than 300 professional fundraisers that are licensed in Michigan on their campaigns conducted for charities in Michigan and nationwide in 2012 or 2013. The report does not count money raised internally through charities' own employees or volunteers.

Some charities receive most of the dollars raised, while others actually lose money on the campaign.



For example, Grand Rapids-based J. Milito & Associates charged LaughFest in Grand Rapids $2,076 to conduct a telephone fundraising campaign that brought in only $238, according to the report.

Michigan Veterans Foundation Inc. received $61,623, or 20 percent of the $308,115 collected from a telephone fundraising campaign conducted by professional fundraiser Great Lakes Marketing of Michigan in Bay City.

The Michigan Humane Society got $20,468, or 26 percent of the $79,229 raised by Donor Care Center based in Ohio.

Others are more lucrative for nonprofits, such as the Detroit Regional Chamber Foundation, which received 96 percent of the $6 million collected by Ohio-based Resource Development Group.

Professional fundraising is often just one component of an organization's strategy for raising money, noted Marta Diffen, vice president of development for the Michigan Humane Society.

She noted that at Michigan Humane Society, 83 percent of funds were spent on programs and services in fiscal year 2013, up from 80 percent the prior year.

"There are short term goals and long term goals for fundraising and the strategies to meet these goals often differ," she said in an email. "Sometimes, using a professional fundraising entity is the strategy; but certainly not in all instances."

The Better Business Bureau recommends that charities spend no more than 35 percent of related contributions on fundraising.

See the full report here, or look up a specific charity here.

Email Melissa Anders at manders@mlive.com. Follow her on Google+ and Twitter: @MelissaDAnders. Download the MLive app for iPhone and Android.