American Diabetes Association Outsources Fundraising

[MineralMan]

This afternoon, I got a phone call from someone with a deep Indian accent. After several questions, I finally understood that the call was part of a fundraising campaign by the American Diabetes Association. I hung up.

Think about it. The ADA has outsourced its fundraising to a telephone boiler room in INDIA. With millions of people having recently lost their jobs, this represents an insult that cannot be ignored. Imagine having just been laid off from your job and getting a call asking for donations from someone you can barely understand. Someone from India, who has taken yet another job away from an American worker. Just imagine!

Ladies and gentlemen, this must stop. When you get such a call, hang up at once. Then, go to the web site of the organization represented by this outsourced company. Send someone an email, explaining that they will receive no funds from you until calls are made by American citizens.

We've all had about enough of companies and organizations cutting off employment for American citizens. Tell these companies and organizations to cut this crap out!

I couldn't find an email address for the CEO of the American Diabetes Association, so I emailed their PR firm and asked that my email be delivered to him. I also pointed out that I had blogged this disgusting story. You can do the same, if you're of a mind to.

From my blog at http://www.osomin.com

[MrPerson]

1. They should sell candy door to door.

[Deja Q]

2. Sad, but inevitable. Meanwhile, globalists say we're all interdependent...

yet not pointing out they choose ONE country for job X, a different country for job Y, and so on - it's just migration and what's cheap. Not what's effective. (and if it was globalization, not one American job would have been lost in the process.)

[MineralMan]

3. Not inevitable, I think.

If their fundraising fails to meet expectations, and people tell them why, perhaps they'll reconsider their fundraising strategies.

[peacetalksforall]

4. Yes, it doesn't have to be. I'm writing tonight.

Edited to add - they don't seem to have an e-mail for comments. There is an 800 number.

1 800 342 2383
I'm going to try asking for Customer Relations, if not that, Public Relations or the head of Fund Raising.

[MineralMan]

10. Thank you. There's an email in a later post

with the title "Try This."

[Deja Q]

12. I hope so.

K&R

[leftstreet]

5. What exactly does the American Diabetes Association do?

Serious question.

What do they do with all their fundraising money?

Revenue
Primary Revenue $213,464,233
Other Revenue $17,788,111
Total Revenue $231,252,344

Expenses
Program Expenses $167,769,323
Administrative Expenses $8,999,753
Fundraising Expenses $49,018,265
Total Functional Expenses $225,787,341

Payments to Affiliates $0
Excess (or Deficit) for the year $5,465,003

Net Assets $75,442,790

http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3251

[JerseygirlCT]

7. Fundraising costs about 30%

Not great, but not bad as these things go, either.

[MichiganVote]

9. They send us endless shit in the mail to "fundraise" among out neighbors.

Most of our neighbors don't contribute. So we called the nearest office and said 'Why do you keep tapping us to send these to our neighbors when you can see they don't contribute?' Answer: Wed don't care, we just want the promo materials out.

Our answer: Take our name off your list.

[JerseygirlCT]

16. They really said that to you?

Wow. They've obviously got some very stupid people working there...

[MichiganVote]

21. Yup. Sure did.

[JerseygirlCT]

22. I wonder if this is a problem with the giant

non-profits - especially maybe the diseases... I know for darned well that none of the places I've worked would ever, ever be so flippant with a donor - potential or current. What did they hope to achieve with a response like that? Mystifying.

[MichiganVote]

23. Guess they thought we wanted to be part of their marketing plan. Have to find a diff. pair/stooges.

[JerseygirlCT]

6. Try this:

Rick Johnston, Vice President, Constituent Relations: [e-mail]
Chief Exec is John H. Graham, IV. I'd guess his email follows the same pattern...

And yes, it makes you wonder. They must be saving enough money on the deal (outsourcing your telemarketing is always expensive, and few bigger charities do it themselves) to make up for the flak I'm sure they're getting. And really, in the fundraising biz, you don't want to piss off potential or current donors!

[MineralMan]

8. This is the first campaign I've encountered from them

that used outsourced call centers. My wife and I have donated in the past to this organization. We won't any longer.

[JerseygirlCT]

15. They need to hear from you. And if you don't get a satisfactory

answer, then there are plenty of other organizations who would be most happy to accept your generosity.

Years ago, Special Olympics starting phoning us incessantly. Over and over, within a few weeks span. I told them, over and over, that I don't respond to phone calls, and wanted off their list. Fine, they'd say - but they buy lots of lists, apparently, and don't clean them well at all. So the calls kept coming. I haven't donated since. Good organization in many ways, but I was caring for a sick person at home, and I did not want those calls.

I still get their mail - many duplicates. Apparently, they can't be bothered to merge/purge their mailing lists, either!

[MineralMan]

18. When I get multiple calls from a charity,

I insist on speaking to a supervisor. I tell the supervisor that I do not wish to hear from them again, and that if I do, I will publicize their spamming. Then I give them the URL of my blog. That always works. Always.

[JerseygirlCT]

19. LOL - this was a bit before the advent of blogs

But even speaking with a supervisor a few times didn't get them to clean and merge/purge their lists.

(I'm a fundraiser myself, btw, though not a caller, thank goodness. I worked with callers who helped me make my own goals, though. We actually hired people ourselves. And trained them, and oversaw them ourselves. Tough to set up a shop, but much, much better control over the calls and the messaging. Our donors got to the point where they happily awaited their annual call from a particular caller or another. They enjoyed the contact! That's when you know it's working right.)

[Deja Q]

11. I looked at your blog; I didn't find the article.

:(

I'll keep looking as I want to send it to a number of people and spread interest.

[MineralMan]

14. Oops. I wrote it, then posted here, but didn't publish the update.

It's up there now. Thanks for the heads up.

[ddeclue]

13. Are you SERIOUS?

OMG!

How could they be so stupid?

:argh:

[MineralMan]

17. Who knows? I've decided that I will not

do any business with any company that outsources. It won't be easy.

In the meantime, I'm investigating ways to contact customer service for companies with which I have to do business that bypasses the outsourcing.

The guy who made a recent service call for Comcast Cable told me that I could call 222-3333 and get customer service located in my area. I don't know if that is a universal number, but it's worth a try. Their Indian customer service is useless.

[JerseygirlCT]

20. We had that run around from Sirius recently

Calls routed to the Phillipines, and they wouldn't even give us a US mailing address, not to mention a phone number to call. Very frustrating.