We shop in the GTA everyday and like most people when we see people that need help - we give or do what we can. This is what these people are using in order to take our money while we think we're helping charity. The company I refer to is called Quantum. They operate under several hundred "franchise" names in the United States and are now in Ontario under the name of ShiningTree International Promotions. They set up table at local Wal-Marts, Canadian Tires, Zellers stores and the like, proclaiming to fundraise for DARE Canada or Make a Wish. Each time I see one of them I ask questions and are met with hostility and varrying answers. 5% goes to charity, 20% goes to charity, 35% of their merchandise (2 items on the table) profit goes to charity while the other 10 items are profit for the company??? Is this right? Do the stores even know what they're invovled with? Brief online searching has shown countless job ads for them wanting to recruit. THEY pay their reps on commission only, it comes from the donation $$.
Plus, NADIA MOHAMMED, MARY JARVIS & KEITH CERTO - the so called owners of the business live together in a rented house in Toronto and aren't Candian citizens, were exposed in the US (in forums like this) and came to Canada where no one knew them so they could recuit... how is any of this helping the charities?
Where Does Your Donation Dollar Go?
NBC 10 Investigators Get Complaints About Well-Known Nonprofit
Sometimes what looks like a good charitable cause is really something else, Cahn reported, adding that she was frankly surprised to see a well-known national organization involved when the NBC 10 Investigators went undercover.
"If I make a contribution or I buy a gift then what? " asked Cahn, wearing a furry hood. "The proceeds go back into the program, " replied a woman asking Cahn to buy a toy to help D.A.R.E. America but unaware that she's a reporter. "... Proceeds go back into the D.A.R.E. program."
Who wouldn't want to help the Drug Abuse Resistance Education Program? The national nonprofit organization trains police officers to teach kids about the dangers of drugs and alcohol. Sounds good, right?
"Only 5 percent of all sales went to D.A.R.E., " said a woman who asked NBC 10 to protect her identity.
"Only 5 percent? " Cahn asked, to which the woman replied, "Yeah."
She said they may look like D.A.R.E. volunteers, but they're paid employees of a local company called Grand Slam Events Marketing. Grand Slam is part of a national company called Quantum. And she used to be one of those employees asking for your dollar.
"They told us whatever we sold or raised we get 35 percent of it. And then, if we moved up, we got an extra 10 percent off that, " the woman said. "Most people thought probably D.A.R.E. was getting all the money, and if they didn't ask, we didn't tell."
"How much money goes to D.A.R.E.? " Cahn asked the person in the mall.
"I don't know. That I'm not -- I don't know, " the person answered.
"It just don't make any sense to me. But none of this money is going to schools, our local schools, " said Montgomery County Sheriff John Durante.
Durante said he runs dozens of local D.A.R.E. programs, and he's appalled that national D.A.R.E. America is fundraising like this.
"They're deceiving people. They think they're giving to local D.A.R.E.s, " Durante said.
"I'm appalled, too. I'm appalled that we have to resort to this type of fundraising. But it's a reality of life if you're a nonprofit organization, " said Jim McGivney, a regional director of D.A.R.E. in Washington, D.C.
McGivney admits they have been struggling to raise enough funds. He said D.A.R.E. America has given Quantum the right to use the D.A.R.E. name. In return, he believes they get not 5 percent but 20 percent of every dollar the company makes.
"I think, you know, 20 percent profit margin is pretty good, " McGivney said.
"Is it good for the consumer who thinks they are giving all this money to D.A.R.E.? " Cahn asked.
"Well, the consumer is getting a product for it, " he answered. " At the same time they are helping out a program."
"You raise the money, you take your cut and then they get 20 percent? " Cahn asked at the Grand Slam Quantum office in Norristown.
"Yeah, pretty much, " replied Kara Clouse, who runs the office.
"And you get 80 percent? " Cahn followed up.
Clouse proudly showed NBC 10 the kind of money her company has raised for D.A.R.E. and the national office of Toys For Tots.
"We have representatives that go out there and work really hard in the cold and the rain to do something good, " Clouse said.
"They're doing something good for themselves, " said Theresa Haenn, local president of the Association Of Professional Fundraisers. "They'not doing something for the public good. They're not doing something good for donors."
Haenn said she thinks this kind of fundraising is actually "unethical, because that's misleading the donor."
In fact, a spokesman at the national office of Toys For Tots foundation said it "will not renew its contract with Quantum next year... because of so many complaints." Vice President of Operations Brian Murray said, "We'd rather have our reputation than the donation."
"We never could say it was a donation. You always had to twist the words so it seemed like you weren't lying, " said the woman who spoke to the NBC 10 Investigators.
Which is why she said after two weeks she quit.
"We don't usually explain all that to most people, but since you're so (inquisitive, " said the person trying to sell Cahn a toy.
"Well, the reason I'm (inquisitive) is I'm a reporter, " Cahn said.
"Oh, are you? " asked a man standing by the woman's side.
We all need to be asking more questions when we give to charity, Cahn said. NBC 10 has learned the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office is now asking questions about this situation, Cahn reported.
Quantum Marketing did not return any phone calls.
If you want to make sure your donation dollar is going where it should for D.A.R.E. or any other organization, click on the links to the right.
To donate to the local D.A.R.E., call 610-278-3331.
Ex ds max-er
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
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