Arriving in mailboxes on the same day

I tell you what... if I worked at a large national environmental group and saw that my annual calendar fundraising mailing arrived in mailboxes within days of my two biggest competitors mailing their calendars... I'd be pissed.

These things aren't just bad luck. They are evidence of some poor planning.

Who would you be most angry with? Your list broker who cleared the mail plan (especially if they represented one of the other groups)? Or the creative agencies for not getting better competitive intelligence? Or do you just blame the direct mail gods for your terrible misfortune.

Either way, it makes all three groups look bad. Not to mention... why do I even need my 2009 calendar before September even gets here?

Big Brother winner Adam Jasinski pledges to donate $!00,000

From E! Online:

Former public relations manager Adam Jasinski is the latest winner of CBS’ Big Brother, besting college student Ryan Quicksall.

Jasinsky, who began the competition employed with the United Autism Foundation, was fired during his stay in the Big Brother house for comments he made about autistic children.

The now-unemployed, newly crowned winner takes home a half-million dollar-prize, has pledged to donate one-fifth of his winnings to his former employer.

Since Jasinski won $500,000, his pledge works out to $100,000.

Nonprofit legal humor

I found a cool website recently that shares dozens of humorous anecdotes about nonprofit legal issues. Don Kramer publishes a legal newsletter that has "Nonprofit Law You Need to Know."

I thought this real thank you note sent to a donor was priceless:

The charity sent out its thank you letter to supporters a little more than two weeks after the fundraising event. It read in its entirety as follows:

“On behalf of the [Special] Awards Committee, thank you for your support of the [Special] Awards Breakfast and the important work of the [charity]. Your gift will make a difference in the lives of so many.

“This special fundraising event took place on Friday, [date] with a networking and VIP reception that started at 7:15 a.m. and the Breakfast & Award Ceremony commencing at 8:00 a.m. The breakfast was held at the [name] Hotel, [address], in the Millennium Ballroom.

“It is because of donors like you that we are able to keep our promise [to better the world].”

One can only wonder whether the second paragraph was included because it was such a memorable event that the donors would have forgotten where they had been.

Wow. Talk about a mail merge malfunction!

Donor envelope stuffed with feces

How bad has fundraising gotten the for National Republican Congressional Committee?

The New York Times details the steps being taken by Oklahoma Congressman Tom Cole. The 58-year-old is a year into his term as chairman of the N.R.C.C.

Apparently, when he got there, things were pretty bad.

Many conservative activists have become so dissatisfied with the party’s heresies, particularly on immigration and government spending, that as Cole’s staff took over, the committee’s fund-raising pleas were being ignored and, on at least one occasion, returned in an envelope stuffed with feces.

Ewwwww. That's nasty. I've seen angry donors send back lots of "crap" in those business reply envelopes... but never actual crap!

Worse still, the National Republican Congressional Committee recently discovered, during an internal audit, accounting fraud so extensive that it had to call in the F.B.I., which is now investigating embezzlement by the committee’s former treasurer.

Former Bears coach Mike Ditka faces fundraising questions

Last week, the USA TODAY reported on the financial questions surrounding Mike Ditka's charity fundraising.

Twice this year, pro football legend Mike Ditka has blasted the National Football League and its players union, telling Congress that both groups are "delaying or denying" requests by needy retired players for help.

Ditka formed a charity in 2004 to aid those players. The Mike Ditka Hall of Fame Assistance Trust Fund has collected $1.3 million and netted about $315,000 after expenses. But it has given only $57,000 to former players in need, according to federal and Illinois tax records.

The trust paid more in fees to induce former stars to appear at a 2005 fundraiser than it gave needy ex-players in its first 3 years.

The net looks low because the charity spent $715,000, the bulk of the money it raised, to put on three annual golf tournaments. That figure includes payments of about $280,000 to a Chicago firm that organized the tournaments and at least $65,000 in honoraria to ex-stars.

Ditka is the outspoken former Hall of Fame player and coach for the Chicago Bears. In June, he told a House panel that injured and needy ex-players are "treated like dogs" while the union "does nothing material to help these guys." His charity, he said then, was created to redress "this grave injustice."

The charity, recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a tax-exempt organization, gave nothing to players during its first two years. It aided 10 ex-players in 2006.

Carl Francis, a spokesman for the players union, that Ditka frequently targeted, used the story to point out the potential hypocrisy in Ditka's criticisms.

"At some point it's got to be about more than holding yet another press conference and blasting people," Francis said. "You ought to be announcing 'We just gave away a half a million.' Unless, of course, you didn't."

Now, the former NFL legend is paying more attention.

Ditka said he had paid little attention to his charity's numbers until this year. He has begun cutting fundraising costs and will insist that half of the annual tournament's proceeds be paid out, he said, adding that the trustees have been told to pay needy players first before requiring them to fill out forms.

Daniel Borochoff, president of the American Institute of Philanthropy, a charity watchdog, said the Ditka trust may have underestimated the charity's workload by naming only two volunteer trustees — three fewer than the minimum the institute recommends.

The group, he said, appears to have underestimated the cost of putting on golf tournaments, which are typically among the most expensive types of fundraiser.

This isn't the first time celebrities seemed surprised to hear that lending their name to charity fund can go badly unless you pay attention to the important things - like money.

Now the Chicago Sun Times and others are starting to ask hard questions.

Wonkette publishes Paige Roberts photo

From Wonkette:

Paige Roberts is the Executive Director of the Southeast Mississippi Chapter of the Red Cross (and a former television reporter). She, like Everson, is married with two children, so I’m sure they had lots to talk about after they finished bumping uglies other than the fact that her house was destroyed by Katrina (and that the Red Cross was destroying her marriage). Let’s hope they also talked about what to do if she got knocked up, because two senior officials at the national Red Cross told the NY Times that she’s carrying his child. Like, seriously? How open about your sex life at the office do you have to be for your underlings to know your mistress is preggers?

Mississippi Press names woman in Red Cross scandal

Veto F. Roley at the Mississippi Press is breaking the story that Southeast Mississippi Chapter Executive Director Paige Roberts matches the clues given earlier this week by multiple news reports as to the identity of the woman who had an affair with the former leader of the Red Cross.

Multiple attempts Thursday by The Mississippi Press to reach Roberts were unsuccessful. "You will have to ask her about it," Roberts' husband, Gary Roberts, said when contacted Thursday. He is a municipal judge in Gautier.

A call to Paige Roberts' cellular phone was returned by Kiki McLean, who identified herself as a friend. She referred questions to the American Red Cross national office.

You can read the entire story here.

Paige Roberts was in Washington, D.C., on Thursday to attend a previously scheduled national Red Cross conference. The story goes on to say:

According to the New York Post, which quoted unidentified Red Cross executives, the woman involved with Everson lives in Mississippi, is brunette, lost her home during Hurricane Katrina, is married with two children and is a former television reporter.

According to a 2006 profile in The Mississippi Press, Paige Roberts was a reporter at WLOX-TV 13 from 1993 to 1996 and has two children. She is also brunette. The Robertses' home was completely destroyed in Katrina.

According to Foley's report, Barbara Dumas, chairwoman of the Southeast Mississippi Red Cross chapter, said Thursday that Roberts is still employed.

Nothing drives blog traffic like a sex scandal

And if the scandal involves a high ranking official from one the biggest charities in the country who is forced to resign over an affair with a subordinate... that's going to grab a lot people's attention.

This blog experienced one of the biggest spikes ever from individual Google searches on Thursday. Visitor numbers spiked after rumors swirled that the affair resulted in a pregnancy involving a former TV reporter who is working with a Mississippi chapter of the Red Cross.

All day long, I saw visitors coming to the site for the first time after typing in search terms, such as: "Everson affair pregnant scandal Red Cross," or "Red Cross affair made her pregnant" or "Everson resigns pregnancy affair."

It seems clear to me those spikes came from people who were hunting to find the identity of the unnamed woman in the affair. The Nonprofit Times knows the woman's identity, but chose not to publish it for editorial reasons.

...sources inside the organization told The NonProfit Times that the relationship was not a well-kept secret. In fact, according to a staff member with direct knowledge of the situation, Everson’s inner circle had unofficially warned him he was in dangerous territory with the relationship.

One contact of mine at a well known philanthropy paper told me:

"I'm actually not sure how we would handle the publishing of her name if we did have it -- though I think it's telling that the NY Post actually chose not to publish it."

So - I'm torn between conflicting feeling about whether or not publishing the identity of others involved in the story should be made public. I understand that some private issues should play out in private... and I certainly understand that many co-workers (even subordinates) find themselves in office relationships.

My intern finally tracked down the woman's identity and her picture, but I am not convinced publishing it is the best option. So what do you think?

Should we put it to a vote? Do you think bloggers who have the woman's name, identity, or picture of the poorly kept secret should keep it secret or make the name public?

Maybe we should use our Don't Tell The Donor official poll on the right hand side to cast your vote on what you would like to see happen.

Mississippi belle linked to Red Cross scandal

Several media reports are beginning to shed a little more light on the affair that led to the Red Cross firing their leader on Tuesday. The New York Times tells it this way:

A senior executive at the Red Cross who had been hired by Mr. Everson told board members about Mr. Everson’s relationship — with a married woman who is head of a Red Cross chapter on the Gulf Coast. Mr. Everson met the woman on trips that were part of efforts to restore the Red Cross’s reputation there. She is pregnant, two Red Cross executives said.

The New York Post describes the woman as a sultry Southern belle:

The glamorous brunette, a former TV reporter, is an official with a Mississippi chapter of the Red Cross - a position that put her on the front lines responding to the Hurricane Katrina disaster that leveled her own home.

Neither paper published the woman's name.

"the silliness of the haters"

After months of trying to ignore Ron Paul, the grassroots fundraising strength of Paul's campaign to be the Republicans' nomination for President, have finally attracted enough attention to shift the level of attacks.

Recently, some conservative activist criticized Paul for accepting a donation from a Nevada brothel owner.

Paul's campaign was surprised to see Hof, flanked by two prostitutes, emerge from a limousine outside of Lawlor Events Center this morning. They arrived with MSNBC journalist Tucker Carlson, who has been traveling with Paul for a piece he's writing for the New Republic.

Ok, hang on a minute, this story was already funny enough but then Tucker Carlson shows up a bunch of hookers in tow, thinking this would be a good image for the campaign!

Some have asked, "Does this mean Ron Paul thinks brothels are a good idea?"

Lew Rockwell, former congressional chief of staff to Ron Paul. He runs a blog called the LRC Blog where he posted these reactions to the recent criticism on November 25 at 9:04 AM.

Well, No, it means that many diverse Americans think that perpetual war, a police state, income taxes, and the suppression of free speech and voluntary commerce are bad ideas.

When Christian Rightists demand that Ron return the money, and accuse him of approving prostitution if he doesn't, will we see the silliness of the haters?

It makes a good soundbite at a time Paul is getting lots of negative pressure despite his strong candidacy... but I don't agree that haters are being "silly," I think they are attempting to be strategic. And they have been very successful in that attempt.

Sears sues university over naming rights

Ryerson University in Toronto is celebrating the opening of a new lecture theatre named for clothier Harry Rosen, but Sears Canada isn't too happy about the name of the building.

The Toronto Star reports:

The department store giant is claiming that instead of getting the promised top billing on a building on the downtown campus in exchange for $10 million in donations, it's left with a lousy little plaque in the George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre, named for a guy who forked over half that much.

Sears Canada Inc. is calling for a court order that Ryerson put its name on a building or, failing that, pay an unspecified amount in damages for breaching the contract.

Funky fundraising failures

From Fundraising Success Magazine:

Jon Duschinsky is the director of Ressources non profit, a fundraising consultancy based in Boulogne-Billancourt, France. At the 27th International Fundraising Congress, which took place in the Netherlands last week, he presented a session titled Funky Fundraising Failures, in which fundraisers from around the world talked about their professional non-successes.

To read the entire article, go here.

Giving book not getting attention

It sounds like sales of former president Bill Clinton's book "Giving," have dropped far since its release in early September. The handbook for civic activism was published by Alfred A. Knopf with an announced first printing of 750,000. According to Nielsen BookScan, "Giving" sold nearly 50,000 copies its first week, but hasn't approached that since. For the week ending Oct. 7, only 9,600 copies sold.

Finally got my RSS feed fixed

A special thank you to one of my favorite readers who contacted "a fundraiser" at donttellthedonor@gmail.com to let me know that my RSS subject lines were broken. You should see a change in the way DTTD stories appear from now on. We'll be sending out a special Don't Tell the Donor mug this lucky reader... but the offer goes for anyone else who contacts us about a broken link (or typo) on the website.

Giulani gives back $9.11 and $911 donations

I gave the Giuliani campaign a hard time when I read that a fundraiser was soliciting checks for $9.11 on his behalf. Despite the fact that the campaign blamed it on "young people," I thought it was a tasteless politicization of a national tragedy.

Late today the Wall Street Journal published a report that the campaign is actively returning eight checks to individual donors for $9.11, and one returned contribution of $911.

Donors received a letter with their returned donations stating, “Unfortunately we must return your contribution. We do not solicit or collect financial support that is indicative of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.” It was signed by Giuliani campaign treasurer John Gross.

Dodd offers refunds after fundraising gimmick goes awry

It appears one of the most creative presidential fundraising ideas of the campaign has taken a terrible (not to mention embarrassing) turn for the worse.

Earlier this week Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) announced he was going to randomly select a donor to join him at an upcoming Boston Red Sox playoff game.

Unfortunately, it appears no one on the campaign's fundraising team checked with Major League Baseball to see if this gimmick was even legal. Just minutes ago, donors received this email:

We have some bad news.Major League Baseball has asked the campaign to end our contest you entered to get a chance to go to a Red Sox game with Chris Dodd.Apparently, Post-Season tickets are different than regular season tickets -- they are owned by the League and the MLB has their rules. If you made a contribution hoping to win the tickets, we want to provide you the opportunity to get a refund for your entry.If you wish to be refunded, reply to this email asking for a return of your donation and we'll make it happen. If you choose to not to have your contribution refunded, please know that your support will go towards our media and ground campaigns in Iowa and New Hampshire, while fighting to restore the Constitution and end the war in Iraq. Once again, we apologize for our error.Sincerely,The team at Chris Dodd for President

Talk about embarrassing... this email is the definition of the kind of thing fundraisers don't want to have to tell their donors.

UPDATE: Ben Smith at the Politico has more:

Major League Baseball scuttled the plan, Dodd spokesman Hari Sevugan confirms. They'll be offering refunds to contributors who were in it for the baseball, rather than for the face time with Dodd.

"This isn't quite Bucky Dent or Aaron Boone, but we are disappointed nonetheless. Senator Dodd was looking forward to spending a night watching the Red Sox take on the Indians at Fenway Park, but unfortunately Major League Baseball's rules are such that the contest cannot continue. We will still be cheering on the Red Sox every step of the way to the World Series, and look forward to inviting someone to spend a day on the trail with Chris Dodd," Sevugan said in an email.

Isn't quite Bucky Dent? They are right about that... it's more like those Nigerian scammers who tried to swindle me into buying a fake computer on eBay.

Guiliani email links to dead website

The Washington Post today ran a story about how the Republican presidential candidates are lagging behind their Democratic counterparts when it comes to fund-raising.

Overall, Republican presidential candidates trailed Democrats in fundraising by nearly $100 million -- a gap that is unprecedented in 30 years.

Some Republican leaders said yesterday they are trying to determine whether the drought is merely a short-term setback -- the result of an unpopular president and a field of presidential candidates that has failed to capture the party's imagination -- or whether the Democrats' mastery of the Internet has changed the fundraising landscape.

Perhaps one of the reasons can be found in this funny blog post from Sarah Lai Stirland at Wired's Threat Level who points out that the Guiliani sent out a fundraising email today with a donation link to a dead website.

Ouch. It's hard to raise money when you make your donors jump through hoops.

Giuliani Party Seeks $9.11 Per Person

Rudy Giuliani's campaign is asking backers to participate in a national house party night on Wednesday.

A State Department adviser under President Reagan named Abraham Sofaer is having a fundraiser at his Palo Alto, California - but unfortunately for Guiliani the donor caused a controversy today when the Associated Press reported that the party aims to raise $9.11 per person.

Sofaer told the AP he had nothing to do with the "$9.11 for Rudy" theme and instead he blamed it on the kids by saying, "there are some young people who came up with it."

The International Association of Fire Fighters accused Republican Rudy Giuliani of exploiting the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and called the fundraiser an abuse of the image and symbols of the 2001 attacks. Others called the event "shameless."

Michigan F.O.P. makes a terrible call

Grand Rapids police officer Bob Kozminski was killed in the line of duty on Sunday, July 8, 2007.

The Michigan Fraternal Order of Police is stirring up controversy by using the officer's death as part of a cold calling fundraising campaign. Callers apparently ask potential donors if they are aware that a Michigan police officer from Grand Rapids had been killed and was 29 years old and left behind a 3 year old daughter.

WZZM 13 News in Michigan talked to the Kozminski family and learned that even the officer's sister and mother both received the fundraising calls!

The family said they wished they would have been asked about using Bob's death to raise money. They would not have given permission because they say they don't have the time to research every fundraising firm.

The chapter's President, Sgt. John Kirkpatrick, says they have a fundraising firm that makes "cold" calls and they use a script to solicit donations. He says, "It makes reference to officers killed in the line of duty. Most recently we started using the script that makes reference to the Grand Rapids officer that was killed in the line of duty...although we do not use his name."

In their defense, the Michigan F.O.P says they donated about $2,000 to the Kozminski fund shortly after Bob's death in July - and they will suspend the calling... but how could they be so stupid to not even use a suppression on the family before calling.

Jerry Lewis raises over $63 million; drops F-bomb on live television

When you are on television for a 21 and a half hour live telethon, a national television audience can forgive you if you get tired... but will they forgive Jerry Lewis for calling someone (or something) an "illiterate faggot" during the 18th hour of his broadcast?

Some gossip blogs have raised the question whether Lewis actually said, "fatty" instead. Either way, it's a major on air faux pas. You can watch the video for yourself here.

Lewis reps did not have a comment for TMZ about the slip, but according to the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Jerry Lewis 42nd Labor Day Telethon set a record of $63,759,478 in contributions and pledges.

The telethon does not use a lot of "A-list" celebrities (this year included: Ed McMahon, Jann Carl,Tom Bergeron, and Alison Sweeney), but it did rely on MDA's largest national sponsor, the International Association of Fire Fighters, to present checks representing the agency's year-round fund-raising efforts in the record amount of $25 million.

You gotta hand it to Jerry... even though there are critics of some of the marketing tactics, that's a lot of money to raise. Let's see when/how he issues an apology for using what I consider hate speech.

UPDATE: At 8:20pm, we saw that Jerry Lewis issued this apology:

"I made a joking comment to a member of my production team," he said in a statement issued to CNN. "I apologize to anyone who was offended. I, obviously, made a bad choice of words. Everyone who knows me, understands that I hold no prejudices in this regard. In the family atmosphere of the telethon, I forget that not everyone knows me that well; that something like this would distract from the true purpose of the telethon pains me deeply."