When donations go missing

Let's be very clear about this. There is a difference between fundraisers exercising poor judgment and fundraisers stealing donations. Both types of stories end up here on the pages of Don't Tell the Donor. But make no mistake - this sounds like very serious accusation.

The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps calls itself a "project of the Declaration Alliance," although few MCDC volunteers know what the alliance does or why Minuteman donations are routed through the charity founded and headed by conservative activist Alan Keyes.

Several Minuteman leaders and members questioned the wisdom of ceding control over fundraising to the Herndon-based Declaration Alliance, part of an intricate weave of conservative organizations founded and chaired by Mr. Keyes or tied to longtime Keyes associates working with MCDC.

So, what's the big deal right? They may have sounded a bit crazy. But, everyone knew these volunteers were more of a staged media event than a legitimate border patrol. What's the problem with the "Minutemen" weaving an intricate web of conservative organizations?

Mr. Simcox, in an interview last week with The Washington Times, estimated that about $1.6 million in donations have been collected, all of it handled through the Herndon-based Declaration Alliance, founded and chaired by Mr. Keyes... The Minuteman organization has not made any financial statements or fundraising records public since its April 2005 creation. It also has sought and received extensions of its federal reporting requirements and has not given the Minuteman leadership, its volunteers or donors any official accounting. A financial statement promised to The Times by Mr. Simcox for May was never delivered.

When the reports finally do come out I wonder if we will see Alan Keyes controlled consultants as recipients of this windfall.