This "charity" is apparently a scam; what should I do?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Today I received in the mail a letter from the “Children’s Wish Foundation International,” claiming that they’d called me on March 11 and I’d agreed to send them $20. I have no memory at all of this conversation, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.

So I’m looking over the letter, and somehow my bullshit detector starts beeping. The name sounds suspiciously familiar to the Make A Wish Foundation, which grants dying wishes to terminally ill children, and the more I look over the letter the less I like what I see. Among other things, there’s no Web site listed on their stationery; surely any legitimate charity would have a Web site? Also there’s a bunch of legalese fine print on the back that sounds as if they’re hiding something but being careful to just barely be in compliance with the laws on disclosure.

So I go do some Googling, and I find a site called www.charitynavigator.org, whose page on the Children’s Wish Foundation International is not reassuring. This appears to be basically a moneymaking operation under the guise of a charity to help terminally ill children.

Man, this is evil.

So what do I do? I see three possibilities:

(1) charitynavigator.org is mistaken, or I’m misinterpreting their rating (which is a fairly unambiguous “zero stars”), and it’s a legitimate charity;

(2) The site is correct and this is a scam and I just throw the letter away; or

(3) It’s a scam and I write them a scathing letter asking how they sleep at night among various and sundry speculation about their ancestry, sexual proclivities, and chances of achieving a happy afterlife.

Suggestions?

2

turn it over to the postal inspectors. if it’s a scam, sending out letters could be mail fraud.

3

Since it’s a scam by mail, I think alerting your Postmaster General would be the appropriate thing to do.

Of course, if I were in your position I would just throw the thing away, because I’m lazy like that.

4

You can also contact the Better Business Bureau.

And then give the $20 to another really good charity. One i saw was Give the Kids the World. It provides a way to help terminally ill children go the Walt Disney World. Here is the website http://www.gktw.org/

5

Also try www.give.org.

Unfortunately, charitynavigator almost certainly is not wrong, and the CWF is not the worst of the lot. There are dozens of “heart funds” and “cancer societies” and “junior police leagues” and other confusingly-similar-to-legit-operations “charities” out there. They will never tire of telling you that they are 501©(3) organizations (which doesn’t in the first instance say anything about how much of their proceeds are going to overhead or to outside professional fundraisers). I’ve seen outfits that spend 90% (!) on administration, overhead, and fundraising, and 10% on charitable programs. Obviously, these things are a gold-mine for the professional fundraisers and the “executives” who award themselves handsome salaries for running the “charities.”

You should, I think, always directly ask any strange charity soliciting you (a) what percentage of their proceeds are spent on charitable activity (and what kind of activity this is); (b) whether (if it’s a phone solicitation) the person calling you is an actual volunteer or member of the organization (as they’ll often let you believe) or is instead working out of a boiler room in Brooklyn.

IANA tax lawyer, but perhaps in the more egregious cases of do-nothing “charities,” there might be a way to challenge their vaunted 501©(3)/tax exempt status, which would greatly diminish their ability to brag on this as if it legitimized them.

There is a separate debate as to just how much overhead and non-charity spending a “legit” charity can have. United Way has been slammed for excessive overhead ni the past, yet some still regard them as effective and honest. But . . . anyone spending over 30% of proceeds on fundraising, probably ought to raise some eyebrows.

6

Holy crap! That’s the one just a few blocks down from my house.

7

Thanks for the suggestions, all; Huerta88, you’ve been especially helpful. I think I’ll first check with the BBB, then give CWFI a phone call tomorrow and ask a few pointed questions (“What part of Atlanta are you in, exactly?”).

Then I’ll either rip into them on the phone or send them a scorching letter on the ethical aspects of preying upon people who are trying to make the world a slightly better place.

Or both.

Yeah, probably both.

8

Charities in Canada are required to have a Charitable Organization Registration Number, and they are required to have it on all their stuff and give it out whenever requested. If the US has the same requirement, easy enough to find out if they’re legit or not.

I was in the charitable money-making game for a couple of years - I put myself through secretarial school doing door-to-door soliciting for a legitimate charity. A lot of charities are administration heavy; my best advice is to pick a few that you do support, and regretfully decline the rest.

9

[screeching halt]

Having worked for (legit!) non-profit organizations, have I missed a memo somewhere? IANAaccountant, but I remember all my paperwork for my workplace being a 401(c)(3). I remember my for-profit corporate jobs being listed as 501 companies. (Forgive me, but the connections are slow tonight, so I’d prolly get my answers after this connection has timed out.)

[/screeching halt]

And thank you, geewhiz. I will personally vouch for Give Kids The World. The are a ‘resort’ for terminally ill children (one week vacation at Disney and (ahem) the other theme parks here in Orlando, as well as pizza parties, unlimited free ice cream, theme park character ambassadors, choo-choo train, movie theatre, breakfast and lunch provided by Perkins restaurants, carousel, swimming pool, and ‘Marc’s Dino-Putt’ (dinosaur-themed miniature golf course, complete with a T-Rex that rears up and roars when you make a hole-in-one – Hole #6, I think). I have participated through my workplace at our events scheduled at “Kid’s Village”, other co-workers do horticulture work, housekeeping, and general maintenence, and dang, it’s just a great place. I do not have the time to volunteer as much as I would like to there (let’s say, life happens when you make other plans), so instead, they get a chunk of my paycheck and some G-rated videos for their library.

If you can snag a copy of Gift of Life by Henri Landwirth, with J.P.Hendricks (foreward by Walter Cronkite), read it. And read it again. And know once again that there are good people in the world. Not just H. Landwirth, but all the people who make these kids and their parents and their siblings smile for the first time after months of chemo and therapy and injections and surgery and all the ordeals that would make stronger folk crumble. I see these kids every day at the parks, and ya know, as maudlin as it sounds, it gives me a new perspective on me and the world.

This is not an ad. Merely for your information. Provided by yours truly.

If you might happen to know of a terminally ill child (3 - 18) with a wish to visit the Village and all it has to offer (did I mention this is at no charge at all to the family? D’oh, I did not. Really.), please read through the website and the prerequisties.

For the US folk, check the state listings

And for you international folk, check the International list.

And I thank you all.

10

I’m with geewhiz and screech: I volunteer for GKTW every year and they’re a wonderful organization. Frankly, it sounds as if the one which contacted you is trading on the reputation of the Make-A-Wish Foundation… how evil do you have to be to screw people out of money they’re donating?

11

[QUOTE=screech-owl]
[screeching halt]
Having worked for (legit!) non-profit organizations, have I missed a memo somewhere? IANAaccountant, but I remember all my paperwork for my workplace being a 401©(3). I remember my for-profit corporate jobs being listed as 501 companies. (Forgive me, but the connections are slow tonight, so I’d prolly get my answers after this connection has timed out.)
[/screeching halt]
http://www.irs.gov/charities/charitable/article/0,,id=96099,00.html

Which is pretty heavy on what the 501©(3) organizations can’t do (mainly, lobby or pay a dividend to private shareholders), but pretty light on just how inefficient or administration-heavy they can be. I am sure there are regulations or cases establishing that the organization must do more than a de minimis amount of actual “charity,” but I’d imagine the line is not bright, and I’d imagine the IRS is not terribly au courant at keeping tabs on the organizations and their use of proceeds as long as they are not overtly flouting the statute by political lobbying or selling stock or something. Any tax lawyers in the house? If particularly agitated, I would not rule out just calling the IRS hotline to report one of the sleazier outfits, just on general principle (besides, odds are that the kind of people who would try to deceive donors may also have done something non-kosher in their other financial dealings; who knows, maybe the IRS would get off the dime and do something?).

12

Your State’s Attorney General would probably be interested too.

13

Of course it’s a scam. (Let’s say they did call you) Just because you promised them a $20 doesn’t mean you have to send it to them. If you are truly interested in donating to a charity, you can always look THEM up on the Internet and donate.

Hmmmm, I see…

That would be my course of action. Just be on your way and be skeptical of such things.

If you’re contemplating doing this, think that these are immoral people and so a firm “verbal spanking”, as my 9th grade English teacher coined, won’t change their thoughts.
This stuff happens all the time, these “companies” may or may not be techincally legal as you mentioned. I’m sure there are groups committed to stopping all of these scams.

The best defense is skepticisim and logic.

14

Interesting. I’m currently working on a Master’s in Public Affairs (conc. in Non-Profit Managment) at IUPUI, where the Center on Philanthropy is located (they publish “Giving USA”, if you’re familar with that). While the industry standard has typically been to “keep admin costs below 30% or so”, they’ve been doing studies that are finding non-profits massively fudging the numbers to arrive at that. In fact, the economist in the group maintains that any amount of money put towards fundraising that nets more than your investment is money well spent. Care should be taken when making the distinction between “scam organization” and “not cooking the books”.

It’s a tough situation that the third sector has gotten itself into, and won’t likely be getting out of without some serious IRS shakedown.

15

Here’s a quick way to see if a charity is legit: Ask for a copy of their latest annual informational tax return (Form 990), and a copy of their exemption application (form 1023 or 1024).

You’ll get one of three answers:

  1. “Sure.” The charity provides the requested info, or a URL, or a request for the proper copying fee. The charity is legitimately registered (or has some very good faked info).

  2. “Huh”? The charity does not understand the request, and you may need to explain that this info must be disclosed on request. Or the scammer is trying to stonewall you. If an explanation is not sufficient, ask for the same info from the IRS – it’s public record.

  3. “No!” The charity does not realize that this info is public record and must be disclosed on request. Or they’re a scam. Explain nicely, once, then report them to the IRS.

Refer to Pub. 557 for details. (I looked this up just the other day, so I have current copies.)