Locks of Love

According to the Wise Giving Aliance (aka WGA, the BBB affiliate for non-profits), the stated purpose of Locks of Love is "to provide the highest quality hair prosthetics to financially disadvantaged children with long-term or permanent medical hair loss." The report shows something else though. Locks of Love collects hair donations and financial contributions to produce hairpieces for children in the United States who have applied to LoL. All applications are evaluated by the Board of Directors. Children must be under 18, living in the United States and have long-term or permanent hair loss, usually from Alopecia Areata (an autoimmune disorder which causes hair follicles to shut down), severe burns or radiation therapy. In the fiscal year ended November 30, 2002, LoL provided 113 vacuum-fitted cranial prosthesis, repaired 22 pieces, and provided 39 synthetic hairpieces.

Ninety percent of the children who apply for wigs through Locks of Love have a disease called alopecia areata. Others have trichotillomania, a disorder that leads them to pull out their hair compulsively. Some have suffered burns or trauma, even dog bites. Others have been in car accidents and lost their scalps. Only 3 percent are bald because of cancer, and they usually have had radiation treatment to the brain stem or are on chemotherapy indefinitely. But most cancer patients are not eligible for Locks of Love wigs because their hair will grow back when their chemotherapy ends.

Okay, enough technical stuff there. In 2002, LoL received enough hair to make approximately 10,000 hairpieces. What a huge difference this would make to those under 18 with hair loss. Yet give.org cites they only made 113 wigs from human hair in that same year along with 61 other pieces for a total of 174 hairpieces. Where did the other 9,826 potential hairpieces go? Also, according to give.org, LoL does not open their financial records to the public like any reputable charity should. They have since remedied this as of 2007.

Many times hair that is cut never actually reaches Locks of Love. The average American female uses many cosmetics on her hair, and uses heated devices on her hair everyday which damage and weaken the hair making it unfit for wigs anyhow. The Charity Navigator site reports that LoL has provided only 1000 wigs since its inception (date not given - but it first registered as a nonprofit in 1997). LoL reports that it receives over 2000 donations of hair through the mail each week an equal amount from hair salons.

So to answer the question "Where did the other 9,826 potential hairpieces go?", I have an answer.

Locks of Love has received criticism for its practice of selling donated hair, rather than using it in wigs as the donors expect. In general, hair contributed by Americans is unsuitable for wig manufacture. The reason is that their hair is damaged by frequent washing, the use of styling products and dyes, and the heat from hair dryers and irons.

A 2003 report by the WGA found that in the previous year, Locks of Love had raised over $150,000 by selling donated hair and had received another $213,000 in charitable contributions and grants, but provided only 113 human-hair and 39 synthetic wigs. LoL was previously not up to the requirements of the WGA but as of April they met them through 2008. This only means that they provide information and in no way indicates they live up to their claims.

According to its tax returns, Locks of Love made $1.9 million from hair sales from 2001 to 2006, and took in another $3.4 million in donations. Besides paying for wigs, the money goes for overhead and other costs, including grants for alopecia research.

LoL claims: "We estimate that children donated over 80 percent of the ponytails received." Sadly, children won't be receiving even 80% of the total hair received.

Locks of Love sends the best of the hair it receives to a wig manufacturer, Taylormade Hair Replacement in Millbrae, Calif., which weeds through the selection still further, rejecting up to half.

"We hate throwing it away but ultimately we have to clear the place out," said Greg Taylor, the president and owner of Taylormade. "There is a disparity between the hundreds and hundreds of braids and ponytails and the number of hairpieces we've produced." (source:NYT)

Taylor sells the wigs wholesale to Locks of Love for less than $1,000. Since the charity began in December 1997, it has provided about 2,000 wigs to recipients for free or a reduced price. You do the math.

This charity may be providing wigs to some of the children who need them, but they do nothing to clear up the misconceptions about their company. many alopecia sufferers seem unaware that they are the group's main priority; only about 10 apply for a wig each week according to Locks of Love. Don't let others think they give wigs to cancer patients either.

By no means am I saying you shouldn't donate hair to this organization if you want to help those with hair loss. What I am saying is that most likely the kids you expect to get the hair, won't. If you want to help kids with cancer, grow your hair long and sell it. Take that money and donate it to the local cancer center or to a local family with a child who has cancer so they can buy a wig. Or volunteer your time. I promise that will help a cancer patient too.

Pantene Beautiful Lengths, started in June 2006, has received 18,000 ponytails and distributed 2,000 wigs to women with cancer, a number that matches Locks of Love's work since 1997. One company does the work in one year that another company does in nearly 10.

The Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance report, valid through April 2007, states that at the time the report was published Locks of Love did meet all twenty of its "Standards for Charity Accountability."

These organizations seem to evaluate only the finances of charities. They do not have any comments on whether donated hair is used as donors expect, for wigs. They also don't evaluate sources of income in detail, so it is not possible to tell how much of Locks of Love's income is from the sale of donated hair.

The Better Business Bureau reports that Locks of Love made $352,401 from "unusable material sales." It is possible that some or all of this is the sale of the unaccounted for donated hair.

Locks of Love officials have increased their number of employees and the pay rate. They have 6 paid staff members and the director earns $61,260 in compensation. For the 6 employees, they earn a combined $88,136.

Ending in Nov. 2005, the annual income for LOL was $940,897. Some key billing practices in 2004:
Website design -- $27,500
Legal services -- $16,427
Accounting services -- $1,400
Please view the website to see how the donations you make help them and ask yourself is it worth that much?

The image shows here shows the revenue versus expenses. Does it concern you that Locks of Love brings in that much money, has expenses that are half of their revenue and yet their wig production has not increased? Maybe it should.