Telemarketing Just Scams?
Has a telemarketing caller contacted you to donate to a Pro-life cause? Most of us think telemarketing is one of the rudest uses of the wonderful technology of phones and databases. I get several calls a month, sometimes a week, from donors and friends who have been contacted and they want to know if these callers are even legitimate organizations. Most of the telemarketing organizations in question seem to be coming from the East Coast and several have been from the Midwest.
In the past, I have spent a great deal of time tracking down the organizations only to find that they are either not legitimate non-profits or that they are professional telemarketing firms contracting to pro-life organizations or lobbyists and a very small percentage of the money actually gets used to help women in crisis pregnancy.
At first it was hard for me to believe — and it still infuriates me — that there are people in the world that profit off the misfortune of the innocent unborn and women in crisis. The telemarketing firms obtain lists by voter registration or conservative groups that may or may not keep donor records confidential. Then they seem to catch you just when you’re sitting down to dinner with your family. These are reasons that I always make sure organizations I work with never sell, share, or trade confidential donor lists and database information. And telemarketing is never used in my own donor relations. Many may argue that it increases revenue for the struggling non-profit, but at what expense? I can’t stand it when I am called at home with appeals to my emotional support of the Life issue. The one that upsets me the most is when they call and it’s a recorded message! You called me and I’m not even important enough to speak to a live person? These are some of the reasons that I am always suspect of the legitimacy of any organization that calls me. But, having done some research on these pro-life calls in the past, I now have good reason to question the pro-life telemarketing claims.
The good news is their efforts generate interest to give to the pro-life cause and for that I am grateful. Just today, my wonderful and wise missions pastor approached me after church. He had been contacted by a telemarketer asking to give to the pro-life cause. He said, “I wanted to give to support Life, but I got to thinking about it, and I don’t regularly support a pro-life organization now. And I need to be doing that. How can I get started?”
To save time from researching each and every call, my advice is simple:
• Pray about it. If you have not been regularly giving to the outreach ministry of reaching women at a point in their life when they are most apt to be seeking life and death answers and making decisions of a new life in Christ Jesus, then pray about how you should be involved in this ministry.
• If you are led to give to the group that has called you, take some basic precautionary steps. Ask them to send you a packet of information about their organization. This should include proof of their non-profit 501c3 status - which is their determination letter from the IRS stating they are a legitimate non-profit and your gift will be tax deductible. If they are a non-profit they will have a tax ID number that can be looked up on the Internet on the IRS web site. Copies of 990s are public record. These are the annual tax returns filed by non-profits that list how money was spent into three categories: administration, fundraising, and program expense.
• When in doubt, give locally to a known entity. Every month, Good News, Etc. publishes a list of pro-life organizations in San Diego County. Call your local pregnancy resource center and begin supporting the direct services offered right here in your own back yard. Every organization is struggling financially to continue offering free pregnancy tests, food, formula and diapers to women who have chosen to carry their child to term. There are wonderful adoption option programs that need your help, and post abortion recovery programs for women hurting from the wrong choices. These organizations could desperately use your financial support and you can trust that they are legitimate and they are stretching your dollar to be the best stewards they can be. I guarantee it!
Be wise in handling telemarketing calls of any kind, especially those claiming to help the weakest of our society. !