Be wary of telephone solicitors

We all get them.  They are telephone solicitations wanting you and me to contribute to a cause; a police function, fire department benefit, efforts to prevent this or that, a campaign against the ACLU – whatever. They might ask you to listen to a taped message from a spokesperson representing the cause. Sometimes I feel a little guilty for not contributing.

Recently I received such a call from someone who said " I am so-and-so, a paid caller, from such-and-such foundation." Can we count on your contribution of $75 or $100 (and up). The word "paid" caught my attention. A light bulb went on in my brain. I asked the man, "What percentage does your company get for soliciting and what percentage does the foundation get?" He was caught off guard and stuttered a second or two. "Er, let me check," he said. Some little time later he answered, "our company gets 87 percent." "But the more you contribute the more the foundation gets." That left 13 percent for the foundation. The more I contributed, the more his company got.

I received a call today from a solicitor and I asked her the same question. The woman stuttered and said, "Let me check on that." After clicking her computer for a minute she said, "They get 78 percent." I am not sure if she meant her company or the foundation got 78 percent.

The point is, this is your money. Find out who you are contributing to and who gets what share of it. I suspect that most people who ask for contributions are working for a company that is paid for its services.

I also tell them to send me info by mail. I do not make any commitments over the telephone.

Sam Y. Perkins
Bristol, Va.