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Fundraiser's expenses top 84%
SPRING HILL, Dec 03, 2009 (Hernando Today - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
A telemarketing agency collected nearly a half-million dollars on behalf of area fire unions in 2007. It distributed less than 16 percent of that to its affiliates, according to state financial records obtained by Hernando Today.
A public records request with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services showed $479,416.98 in revenue collected by the telemarketing agency Bay Area Council Firefighters and Paramedics.
The nonprofit group randomly calls residents on behalf of the Spring Hill and Hernando County fire unions and other agencies.
Out of the $479,416.98 collected that year, $76,170.66 actually went toward affiliates -- roughly 15.9 percent, according to state financial records. The rest went toward salaries, benefits, supplies, fundraising fees, bills and various other expenses.
Two calls Thursday to the toll-free number for Bay Area Council were not answered. No other number was listed. Its registration with the state recently expired, according to an e-mail from Division of Consumer Services spokesman Terry McElroy.
Professional Firefighters of Spring Hill President Scott Edmisten was asked to relinquish the paperwork that shows how much money his organization received from the fundraising agency and to what charities it donated.
He refused the request.
Edmisten listed the charity organizations his union supports, but he declined to send any documentation about how much is received or disbursed or make it available for review. He said he was under no legal obligation to do so.
"Our stuff is not public record," said Edmisten, who recently was installed as president. "That's not stuff I'm willing to put out in the newspaper."
Edmisten said between $5,000 to $10,000 is collected from Spring Hill residents on behalf of his union each year.
Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, was critical of Edmisten.
"Whether it's a matter of public record or not, if you're raising money for community purposes, those in the community should know where that money is going," he said. "If it's being spent for good causes, you'd think he'd want to brag about it."
Questions regarding the collection tactics of the Spring Hill fire union arose after Ronald A. Wegner, of Hudson, wrote to Tallahassee complaining of an invoice that was mailed to his now-deceased mother, who lived at a Spring Hill nursing home.
"The issue is the 'notice, card, bill, statement,' sent via mail to elderly citizens," Wegner wrote to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
"I have sent you a copy of the 'notice' and it smells like a bill, looks like a bill and misrepresents a request vs. a demand for payment," he stated. "Elderly citizens would be likely to pay this so-called request for donation thinking it to be a bill or demand for payment. I believe this statement to be purposely designed as to trick or deceive an elderly or confused person."
McElroy said Bay Area Council has received two complaints since 2004, including the one recently filed by Wegner.
Edmisten said Wegner is making an issue out of "something that's long been an industry standard."
Wegner's mother received her notice in the mail only because she agreed to it, he said.
"They call you ... If you agree to donate, you get an invoice," said Edmisten. "Somebody had to have called her."
Mary Campbell, of Brookridge, recognized the Wegner invoice when she saw a copy of it in the newspaper Thursday morning.
It was nearly identical to the one she received a week ago, only instead of the Spring Hill Association of Firefighters and Paramedics, it was from the Hernando County Professional Firefighters.
The mailing address and toll-free phone number were the same.
She also remembers the two phone calls she received from the agency representing the union.
"They called me up and said I had donated $30 last year," Campbell said. "I may have, but this year, I told them I could not afford the $30, but I would do the best I could."
She mailed a check for $20. While it was in the mail, her husband received another call from the same group. They asked again for $30.
Campbell and her husband didn't budge, but they were offended.
"I didn't appreciate a second phone call asking me if I had mailed my donation," she said. "It was very intimidating."
Daniel Borochoff, president of the American Institute of Philanthropy in Chicago said it is a common practice for police and fire unions to hire an outside agency to do their soliciting for them.
He said he has learned through many discussions with people formerly employed with those agencies that telemarketers feel energized whenever a senior answers the phone.
"They start pumping their fists in the air because they know they're talking to someone who can be easily convinced to give money," Borochoff said.
He said any police or fire department that hires an outside telemarketing agency to handle its charity collections is making an unethical choice.
"They are choosing to align themselves with a scheme designed to rip us off," Borochoff said.
He also thinks the Professional Firefighters of Spring Hill should have turned over their records.
"They need to disclose it," Borochoff said. "The fact they're not is a sign. People shouldn't even think of giving any money to them without having that information."
Reporter Tony Holt can be reached at 352-544-5283 or wholt@hernandotoday.com.
To see more of Hernando Today or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
http://www.HernandoToday.com. Copyright (c) 2009, Hernando Today, Brooksville,
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