CHOOSE WISELY WHEN MAKING YOUR DONATIONS
With so many people in need and the requests for assistance flooding our lives, we need to be even more vigilant and cognizant of scams and unscrupulous people and organizations. This story was posted on my nonprofit website (The-Spirit-of-Humanity.org) a few years ago. It’s still as germane today as it was then.
Each charitable act you decide is important and deserves your support should be vetted and its full transparency investigated. How much should I give to worthy causes after acknowledging my family is taken care of? What can I give of my life to benefit others? The answers to these questions always depend upon the individual. Giving from the heart your time, assistance and monetary donations is up to you and your priorities.
There are many large and well known charitable organizations and Fortune 500 companies that use the paid for services of companies such as InfoCision Telemarketing for acquiring their donations, customer acquisition, care and retention, as well as other financial services. Media and political fundraising are all a part of their services.
Bloomberg has alleged that InfoCision sometimes takes as much as 100% of the proceeds raised for nonprofits and that givers are often unaware of the percentage of their money that goes to the telemarketing firm. Furthermore, the report alleged that the script given to the telemarketers to read to prospective donors contains factual lies about how much money will go to the charity.
In one instance a charity entered into a contract with InfoCision, a telemarketing firm that works closely with nonprofits. Only 15% of the expected funds raised would be given to the charity with the other 85% being kept by the telemarketing firm. Allegedly telemarketers were instructed to lie to prospective donors regarding how much of their donation would go to the charity.
InfoCision, the Akron-based telemarketing company is one of the largest telemarketing companies in the world. The National Rifle Association paid InfoCision more than $80,000,000 for the solicitation of donations and membership processing services between 2012 and 2015. They’ve represented the March of Dimes and the American Cancer Society.
On April 20, 2012, the Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced a settlement agreement with InfoCision. The Ohio Charitable Law Sections investigation “found reason to believe InfoCision violated several sections of the Ohio Charitable Organizations Act.” As part of the settlement InfoCision agreed to pay $75,000 and to “fully abide by the state’s laws on soliciting charitable contributions.” In another case InfoCision agreed to pay a $250,000 civil penalty over allegations that its employees misled people it had called for charitable donations.
A Federal Trade Commission investigation said the company’s telemarketers, which have made millions of calls on behalf of charities, called consumers and told them at the outset that the call was not to ask for a donation. They would then ask the consumers to mail or give materials to family and friends asking for donations on behalf of a charity.
This type of telemarketing organization and charities that pay their CEO’s millions of dollars should be avoided. Would you want to make a donation knowing that only a small portion was going to actually help someone? Choose wisely to make sure your donation is going directly to the charitable institution or to individuals seeking help. The-Spirit-of-Humanity.org volunteers do not take any salary. Other than minimal overhead costs, all donations go to the truly needy or projects on their behalf.