Raffle Ethics
All:
As we all know, there are various raffles involving Porsches, Mercedes and the
like as the top prizes. This diatribe is over the ethics demonstrated by some of
the folks who run these things.
For the disclaimer part, this is all my opinion only. It appears that all the
raffles operate within the legal guidelines defined by the IRS and the 501 (c)
(301) charity rules. My issue is strictly with the ethics of these operators.
I for seven or so years have bought a raffle ticket to a group that originally
benefited Aids research. The prize either a Porsche 911 or Boxster. Currently,
there is a group that helps a humane society that also has a Porsche as its
raffle prize.
I noticed that the name of the group was very similar to a known humane society,
but not the same. I made a few phone calls just to see what percentage of the
funds went to a charitable group and what went to fund raising. The 800 number
in the ad went to an order service that only took a credit card and processed
the ticket. They did give me a phone number for information that was to the
Delaware Humane Society. The Delaware Society knew nothing of the raffle. I
called back the main number, and received a different number for the fundraiser.
The man at the fundraising company I spoke with, said that after their expenses
a portion went to the Maryland humane group. The whole thing started to "smell"
funny.
The checking into the Aids raffle was more enlightening. I had tried about a
year ago to get the percentage of fund raising of this group. I kept hitting
dead ends on the phone calls, so I gave up. This year, I get another flyer for
their raffle for a 911. I started making the phone calls again. I tried looking
for the chairpersons' names and phone numbers. Using the Internet, I tried
searching for either partner's name in the white pages. Since theirs is an
unusual spelling there should not be too many listings. No matches found. I know
the dealers who supply the cars to the raffles are not going to cut off their
twice yearly sale of a car at MSRP. So I did not even bother using them as a
resource.
I had remembered from the year's previous attempts for contact, that they were
based in Ft. Lauderdale, even though there nothing is listed in their flyers for
about being there. At least I got a human being, who could take my number and
have someone get back to me. No thanks.
Just for laughs, I contacted my state's Attorney General's Charities department.
The man I spoke with was very enlightening. He knew of the Aids group. He
mentioned how they had been asked (forced?) to change part of their name of from
"research" to "relief". He said he had been unable to every verify any person or
group that had received moneys from this raffle. If the paperwork is filled out
correctly, a ham sandwich could be a charity.
The AG's person said that it came down to this: If one dollar is contributed to
an Aids group, they have satisfied the legal requirements.
I spoke with the most recent winner of the Aids raffle. He was somewhat
horrified to hear that they may not be as they say. Both he and I felt that we
were contributing to a good cause. It offends me to find out that the money paid
to these raffles really pays the "salaries" of the raffle administrators.
Bottom line? Contribute to a group that you know is legit. I spoke with the
editor of Panorama (Porsche Club of America monthly magazine). She felt the same
way about accepting an ad from one of these groups (the less than ethical kind),
but if they meet the legal requirements to the state or feds, they had to take
the ad. In the mean time, she has set up a raffle for another truly legitimate
charity group that did return some nice moneys directly back to that charity.
--
Matt Murray
mailto:mattm@nassau.cv.net
Sorry for double posts for those on multiple lists.
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