SantaCon raises money for charity. They've spent a lot on crypto and Burning Man.

SantaCon, which returns to New York City on Saturday, boasts on its website about raising “over $1.1 million for charitable causes” like City Harvest.

Organizers of the daylong bar crawl, during which tens of thousands of revelers in Santa costumes crowd bars and sidewalks across the city, have long defended against public pushback by saying that the event is a charity fundraiser.

A Gothamist analysis shows that the organization raised $1.4 million through SantaCon programming from late 2014 through the end of 2022, and that less than a fifth of that money has gone to registered nonprofits.

Read the full story at Gothamist.com.