“What were you doing here?” she asked. “Did Feed the Need apply for a grant?”

I hesitated.

“Different situation,” I replied finally. “Seems your father had an ‘in’ with our president, Tom. The usual rules didn’t apply.”

“What are the ‘usual’ rules?” Marion asked. “I mean, how do you judge a nonprofit organization? How do you ‘verify its integrity,’ as you put it? I assume it has to do with how the money is spent—administrative and fundraising dollars versus program dollars and all that.”

“That’s only part of the picture,” I said, “though overhead versus outlay is the first thing we look at. All nonprofits file a Form 990, information that they are mandated by the IRS to provide to the public.”

“That’s good,” said Marion.

“It is. That way, I can know, going in, the sort of percentages we’re talking about.”

“What’s a good percentage to look for?” Judith asked. “I mean, if a nonprofit spends 50 percent of its income on expenses, is that bad?”

“Fifty percent should certainly raise some red flags,” I replied. “But it really depends on the organization and how it classifies its expenses. Newer companies are going to have higher start-up costs. And certain types of nonprofits have more administrative expenses than others.”

“So how do you know whether a nonprofit is really legit or not?” Judith asked. “I mean, I’m sure there are companies that play with the figures to make them look better than they are.”

“We use a lot of different criteria,” I replied. “There are voluntary watchdog groups, for example. Nonprofits can sign up and hold themselves accountable to these stricter guidelines. That’s always a good sign.”

“Feed the Need belongs to more than one, I’m proud to say,” interjected Marion. I nodded, remembering that several accountability groups were listed in the fine print on Feed the Need’s brochure.

“What else?” Judith asked.

I hesitated, taking a bite of the shrimp cocktail that Angelina had just placed in front of me. The shrimp was perfect, the sauce a tangy complement to the seafood.

“It’s kind of hard to say,” I answered after swallowing. “If the foundation is considering a sizeable donation, we try to get a look at the books and redo the calculations ourselves.”

“So basically it’s a matter of mathematics?”

I speared another shrimp, hesitating.

“No,” I said. “The math is just the first step. Once things check out on paper…”

I stopped, stalling with another bite of shrimp, wondering how much to say.

“Go on,” urged Marion. “Once things check out on paper…”

“I don’t usually talk about this,” I said finally.

“Oh, come on,” Judith urged. “It’s very interesting.”

I looked from one to the other and finally smiled, wondering if these two rich women could even comprehend my criteria.

“Once the math checks out, more often than not it’s simply a ‘mentality’, if you will. A way of thinking, of doing business.”

Marion and Judith both studied me, their shrimp cocktails ignored.

“I usually start by reading their mission statement, then I look to see if they really seem to be living by it. I mean, I hate to call it intuitive, but in a way, it is.”