State AG’s report: most holiday donations go to pockets of for-profit telemarketers
Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman recently released his office’s annual fundraising report showing that for-profit telemarketers receive the lion’s share of donations they raised on behalf of charities.
“Pennies for Charity, Where Your Money Goes: Telemarketing by Professional Fundraisers” reports that, in 2011, fundraisers were paid an average of 61.5 cents of every charitable dollar they raised, with just 38.5 cents of the funds going to charity.
The Attorney General also announced that he has commenced an investigation to determine if New York’s charities and fundraising laws have been violated. The investigation focuses on fundraising campaigns that repeatedly result in little or no money going to charitable programs or services. Over a dozen subpoenas have been issued with more anticipated.