Fundraiser for Police Group Used 'Deceptive' Tactics: Attorney General

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Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette said Thursday he intends to take court action to stop a Utah telemarketing company from using what he called “deceptive, unsavory and aggressive” solicitation tactics to extract charitable contributions that Michigan residents have said they never agreed to make.

Schuette said in a statement that he will ask for a court-issued cease-and-desist order against Corporations for Character, a professional fundraiser based in Murray, UT, that has been making fundraising calls in the state for the Michigan Fraternal Order of Police.

He said that an investigation, launched after a consumer complaint, revealed 23 violations of the state’s Public Safety Solicitation Act, which requires that all professional fundraisers making solicitation calls be licensed by the attorney general. The notice concentrates on three of those alleged violations, and the fundraiser has 21 days to resolve the issues addressed in the notice, or face civil action in court.

The complainant alleged that she had not agreed to give money to the police organization, yet received a pledge form in the mail asking her to remit her $15 pledge. A recording produced by Corporations for Character confirmed the woman never made the pledge, Schuette said.

In all, the Attorney General’s Office reviewed 850 call recordings. Schuette said the 23 violations fell in four categories:

• The call recipient received a pledge form from Corporations for Character falsely stating that the call recipient had pledged;
• The call recipient did not pledge but was sent an informational pledge form with a form showing a pledge amount and a due date;
• The call recipient’s spouse agreed to pledge, but the form was addressed to the non-pledging spouse stating falsely that that person had pledged; and
• The call recipient was elderly or otherwise unable to understand and was taken advantage of by the professional fundraiser.

Schuette also reminded Michiganders that some telemarketers keep 85 percent or more of each donation. He encouraged donors to research their own charities and to give directly to the charity they have selected. More guidance is found in the attorney general’s 2015 Professional Fundraising Charitable Solicitation Report.

He also urged residents to be more proactive in protecting themselves.

“You also can help by protecting yourself — research the charity before you give — and reporting suspected violations to my office,” he said. “Trust your gut.”