Registered charities in Colorado have done a good job in spending a relatively small portion of money to raise the funds they needed, Colorado officials said today.
“According to the 2007 Annual Report on Charitable Solicitations in Colorado, all registered charities spent an average $10.30 to raise $100 through a variety of means, which is relatively good by industry standards,” said Colorado Secretary of State Mike Coffman at a press conference.
“However, the relatively few telephone campaigns employing paid solicitors cost $51.33 for every $100 raised,” Coffman added. “While this is cause for concern, potential donors should keep in mind that donations raised over the phone account for less than five percent of all donations by registered charities, and that only 224 out of 5,000 charities used paid solicitors in 2007.”
Coffman added that the vast majority of charities are using donations by Coloradans “efficiently and compassionately.”
According to data filed with the Secretary of State’s office, paid solicitors conducting charitable solicitation campaigns in Colorado collected over $187 million in donations on behalf of their clients in 2007.
Of this total, $91 million reached the charitable organizations after expenses for the campaigns were deducted, which represents 48.7 percent of the total donations, down from 50.8 percent in 2006.
Officials said that nothing in Colorado law or regulations requires a paid solicitor to distinguish between contributions raised in Colorado and contributions raised nationally in the solicitation campaign financial report, so the data in the annual report consists of a mixture of national and Colorado-specific results.
According to Coffman, there are currently 4,996 charities registered with the state, 66 registered paid solicitors and 17 registered professional fund-raising consultants.
Coffman was joined by Colorado Attorney General John Suthers who warned that especially at this time of the year, people should be leery of con artists trying to get their money through fraudulent charitable solicitations.
Suthers said that the holiday spirit of giving can quickly dampen if a person gives to a fraudulent charity.
“It is important to understand that the vast majority of charities are legitimate. They are invaluable, providing necessary services in our community to thousands of Coloradans in need,” said Suthers. “Yet unfortunately some individuals who seek to take advantage of our good will. Each year charitable frauds increase during the holiday season.”
Suthers said that one of the most frustrating and most disappointing things is that some of “the charities that are the worst offenders” in terms of those who give least to charity and most to administrative costs are paid solicitors soliciting on behalf of veterans and police organizations.
“It is very unfortunate,” said the Colorado attorney general. “What happens is that the paid solicitors go to these organizations and say ‘It will cost you nothing, we will go out and do the solicitations and we may turn only 10 or 15 percent over to you but that’s money you otherwise wouldn’t have had.'”
“I’m very disappointed that a lot of those organizations unfortunately do contract with these paid solicitors. And people need to be aware when they get a call on behalf of a police fraternal organization or a veterans organization that they need to ask questions such as ‘Are you a paid solicitor?’, ‘How much is going to the charity?’ things like that because unfortunately they are among the worst offenders.”
Suthers offered a number of tips to help ensure that the donations go to the majority of good charities and not to scam artists or others. Among them:
– First, confirm that the charity (and/or paid solicitor) is registered with the Secretary of State by asking for the registration number of the solicitor and the charity.
– Check the charity’s disclosure and financial statements on the Secretary of State’s website: www.sos.state.co.us.
– Ask the solicitor how much of the donation will go to charity.
– Be wary if the charity fails to provide information about finances. Reputable charities will gladly provide the information requested.
– Do not pay in cash – donate by check made payable to the charity.
– If solicited in person, ask to see the solicitor and charity’s identification.
– Keep in mind that some well-known organizations, such as the Red Cross, will never solicit contributions over the phone.
– Beware of unsolicited e-mail. Instead go directly to the organization’s web site, or call to make donations.
Suthers stressed that some scam artists claim to represent organizations that have names similar to large, legitimate charities. He said these con men claim they are collecting for causes related to animals, AIDS, cancer and children.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or Pankratz@denverpost.com
