OLYMPIA – Companies that collect for charities in Washington state kept about half the money they raised nationwide in 2004, an annual report from the secretary of state says.
Charitable donations funneled through paid fundraisers registered in the state totaled more than $444 million nationally in the most recent fiscal year data for those companies, according to the survey released Tuesday.
That’s the highest revenue total recorded in the past 10 years by Washington’s secretary of state, who registers commercial fundraisers and collects some of their financial information.
| The best and worst
Here are the fundraisers in Washington that forward the most to clients, said Sam Reed, secretary of state. 93 percent – Coinstar 92 percent – The Webster Group 89 percent – Americalist 84 percent – Aspen Marketing Services 80 percent – Univision Marketing Group Here’s a list of the smallest. Negative numbers show more spent than collected. -328 percent – DialogueDirect -13 percent – Richard Norman Co. 3 percent – Gordon and Schwenkmeyer 9 percent – A.C. Telemarketing 10 percent (tie) – Nationwide Fundraisers and Washington Ocean Science Development |
The companies, which solicit donations on behalf of charities for a fee, got about half the total – more than $222 million, Secretary of State Sam Reed said.
Reed’s office could not say how much of the $444 million total came from donors in Washington state.
Nevertheless, Reed warned Washington residents to carefully research a charity and any fundraising agent before giving.
“Too often, money is misused or winds up in the pockets of fraudulent solicitors,” he said. “No amount of enforcement can compare to the common sense and vigilance of consumers before they donate.”
Reed’s annual compilation listed five companies that sent at least 80 percent of their collections to their charity clients, and six fundraisers that passed along 10 percent or less to charities.
The highest actual share given to charity through a commercial fundraiser was 93 percent. The lowest was 3 percent, with two fundraisers showing charity clients in the red.
However, some paid fundraisers may have legitimate reasons for turning over a seemingly small amount to charity. For example, some are hired to find first-time donors for an organization. They expect to spend a lot of money and get a relatively small return, but the charities hope that recruiting new donors will pay off in the long run.
Fundraising companies must disclose some financial information to state regulators, but they are not required to give any certain percentage to charity clients.
Companies may not make false claims about their business and are prohibited from using high-pressure tactics, Reed said. Enforcement of charity laws is handled by the state attorney general.
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