Shrine temples, not Shrine hospitals, are often the primary beneficiaries of the group’s fund-raising activities, an investigation by The Orlando Sentinel has found.

IRS records for 76 temples reviewed by the newspaper showed an income of $39.8 million. These temples reported spending $35.3 million on themselves and giving $4.5 million to hospital charity, according to IRS and hospital records.

Projections based on records for 185 Shrine temples in 1984 suggest a total income of approximately $97 million. Shriners spent on themselves or invested an estimated $86 million of that total, while Shrine hospitals received roughly $11 million.

The money provided by the Shrine temples represents only a small fraction—about 4 percent—of the hospitals’ annual income. Most of the hospital funding, roughly $126 million in 1984, came from interest on the charity’s $1.75 billion investment portfolio. This interest alone was more than enough to cover the hospitals’ $103 million in annual operating costs.

Note: This article was originally published on June 29, 1986. Some details may have been condensed for digital archival purposes.