Okay. So this isn't a "deal" in that it won't save you any money. But you can use this to verify that your donations aren't really going to some company's bank account instead of your charity. In that sense, it's a hot deal for your charity (and for your conscience).
Here's the deal: it turns out that alot of the phone calls you receive soliciting for donations to various charities are not from volunteers but are from FOR-PROFIT companies. So-called "professional solicitors." In exchange for a percentage of the donation, these companies will do the grunt work of actually running fundraisers. As we'll see, they don't come cheap. A number of these solicitors keep 99 percent of the donation for themselves while passing only 1 percent to your charity. How about that. You donate $20 to your charity and feel pretty good about yourself but it turns out that the solicitor is keeping $19.80 for themselves and giving $0.20 to your charity. Woohoo!
I don't know about most states but before they can solicit funds from Kentucky residents, Kentucky law requires them to register themselves with the state consumer protection division. The state attorney general, in turn, publishes a web page with those professional solicitors that are currently registered, the duration of their fundraiser, and more importantly, the details about how the donations are being split between the company and the charity.
Since a number of these fundraisers are being operated by companies outside the state of Kentucky, it's quite possible that they're running their fundraisers in other states so this list might be useful to non-Kentucky residents too.
List of currently active fundraising campaigns being run in Kentucky by professional solicitors
Print this list out and keep it near the phone. The next time you answer the phone and it's someone asking for donations, you'll be able to ask them whether they're volunteering and if not, who they work for. If they're on the list and they're keeping a large percentage of the donations for themselves, perhaps you should find an alternate way to donate to your charity (perhaps directly) so that your money doesn't help some entrepreneur pay for his or her Porsche. Your charity and your conscience will thank you for it.
Here's the deal: it turns out that alot of the phone calls you receive soliciting for donations to various charities are not from volunteers but are from FOR-PROFIT companies. So-called "professional solicitors." In exchange for a percentage of the donation, these companies will do the grunt work of actually running fundraisers. As we'll see, they don't come cheap. A number of these solicitors keep 99 percent of the donation for themselves while passing only 1 percent to your charity. How about that. You donate $20 to your charity and feel pretty good about yourself but it turns out that the solicitor is keeping $19.80 for themselves and giving $0.20 to your charity. Woohoo!
I don't know about most states but before they can solicit funds from Kentucky residents, Kentucky law requires them to register themselves with the state consumer protection division. The state attorney general, in turn, publishes a web page with those professional solicitors that are currently registered, the duration of their fundraiser, and more importantly, the details about how the donations are being split between the company and the charity.
Since a number of these fundraisers are being operated by companies outside the state of Kentucky, it's quite possible that they're running their fundraisers in other states so this list might be useful to non-Kentucky residents too.
List of currently active fundraising campaigns being run in Kentucky by professional solicitors
Print this list out and keep it near the phone. The next time you answer the phone and it's someone asking for donations, you'll be able to ask them whether they're volunteering and if not, who they work for. If they're on the list and they're keeping a large percentage of the donations for themselves, perhaps you should find an alternate way to donate to your charity (perhaps directly) so that your money doesn't help some entrepreneur pay for his or her Porsche. Your charity and your conscience will thank you for it.
Facebook
Twitter