By DON THOMPSON
SACRAMENTO
Professional fundraising firms collected more than $370 million from Californians in 2007 but sent less than half that amount to the charities the money was intended to benefit, according to a report released Wednesday by the state attorney general’s office.
The firms, which receive a percentage from each donation or a flat fee as payment, kept the rest.
In all, $162 million – or less than 44 percent of the total collected in California – made it to the charities.
“Some fundraising campaigns are wildly successful and others are profound disappointments,” Attorney General Jerry Brown said in a statement.
His office releases the report each year based on reporting by the 730 commercial fundraisers registered in California.
In some cases, the costs were greater than the money raised, with charities ending up paying more money than they received.
The American Diabetes Association Research Foundation, for example, wound up with a net loss after paying more than $3.9 million to Futuremarket Telecenter Inc. of Corpus Christi, Texas, according to the report. Spokeswomen for the fundraiser and the Virginia-based charity did not respond to e-mail and telephone messages Wednesday.
Other losers included the American Veterans of World War II, based in the Central Valley town of Tulare, and the Santa Ana-based Association for Firefighters and Paramedics. Both received just 10 cents on the dollar for the money they spent on five separate professional fundraisers.
The California League of Conservation Voters had just a 3 percent return from Los Angeles’ PZ Associates. The Children’s Cancer Fund of America had less than a 5 percent return from Missouri-based Bee LC.
Yet the percentage of money going to charity is improving overall, according to the 300-page report.
Commercial fundraisers collected $37.5 million more last year than in 2005, with a corresponding $5.4 million increase in money that reached charities.
Successful efforts included donations to the March of Dimes Foundation and the Alzheimer’s Association.
The March of Dimes received more than 70 percent of the $15.9 million in contributions, while the Alzheimer’s Association received 72 percent of the $1.2 million given to that cause.
The report notes that most charities do not use commercial fundraisers to bring in money.
Brown said donors should consider charities carefully to make sure most of the money reaches the cause for which it was intended. Donors should ask how their money will be divided between the charity and overhead costs, he said.
