PPF earned its worst charity ranking, according to the Times and CIR, by spending more than 32% of the $37.7 million it took in over a 10-year period from 2002-2012 on fundraising fees. Jeff Brandes said he intends to introduce legislation to close that loophole. The charges against the four PPF managers were later dropped, as the 1999 Florida law prohibiting felons from soliciting on behalf of a charity only applied to “professional fundraising consultants,” not call center employees. “It seemed like the people who did real well were the guys that did time.” “It wasn’t a hush-hush thing, but I thought it was weird they were getting people’s credit card numbers,” said James Campanelli, 22, who worked at a PPF call center in Florida for nine months before leaving in July 2011. But with subpar vocational training at most prisons, many former offenders are desperate to work in call centers and withhold information about their criminal records.Īccording to a former PPF telemarketer, however, his co-workers were open about their prior convictions. Those arrested included James Paul Williams, Jr., 61, and his son, Jason Robert Williams, 34, a convicted sex offender.įlorida state law bans charities from knowingly hiring fundraisers who have been convicted of fraud and other felonies related to financial crimes. Officials with Florida’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services raided PPF’s call centers on Septemand arrested four managers in charge of the operations after determining several felons had been hired as telemarketers. The list of dubious charities includes the International Union of Police Associations, AFL-CIO (ranked 5th worst) American Association of State Troopers (7th worst) United States Deputy Sheriffs’ Association (16th worst) and the 20th worst – the Police Protective Fund (PPF), an Austin, Texas-based charity with fundraising call centers in south Florida. The benchmark used for selecting the worst charities was the percentage of donations spent on fundraising, salaries and other organizational expenses, compared with the amount spent on programs and services to further their mission. Of America’s 48 worst charities, ten – or just over 20% – are affiliated with law enforcement groups, according to a joint investigation by the Tampa Bay Times and the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR). Ten Law Enforcement Groups Among Worst Charities in America Share: Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on G+ Share with email
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |