Truly shameful behavior by leadership, regulators; this terrible company

by Gary Snyder

The company was accused of 430 violations. 

It owes the IRS more than $15.5 million and the state of Michigan more than $1.1 million.

It kept as much as 80 cents out of every dollar it collected for the charities it did telemarketing for.

Last month, even though the Attorney General said “Michigan law requires honesty of our professional fund-raisers. We will not tolerate those that abuse the name of this office to deceive donors.” He settled with the company for a meager $45,000 for misleading senior citizens in their phone pitches. A mere slap on the wrist.

Now the Southfield (MI)-based Associated Community Services, one of the largest charity telemarketers in the U.S., has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

As if sticking it to the intended recipients of multiple charities was not enough, it intends to do the same to 39 creditors including AT&T, the cities of Dearborn and Southfield, Ricoh, PNC Bank, Oakland County, a Missouri law firm and a Syracuse, N.Y. headphones company.

Congress, state attorneys' general other regulators and charity leadership have failed to step up and control this detestable behavior. 

Nonprofit Imperative gathers its information principally from public documents...some of which are directly quoted. Virtually all cited are in some phase of criminal proceedings; some have not been charged, however. Cites in various media: Featured in print, broadcast, and online media outlets, including: Charity Navigator, Vermont Public Radio, Miami Herald, National Public Radio (NPR), Huffington Post, The Sun News, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Wall Street Journal (Profile, News and Photos), “Betrayal”, (a movie), NBC (on Charity Fraud…TBD), FOX2, ABC Spotlight on the News, WWJ Radio, Marie Claire, Ethics World, Aspen Philanthropy Newsletter, Harvard Business Review, Current Affairs, Charity Navigator, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, St. Petersburg Times, Board Room Insider, USA Today Topics, Accountants News, Newsweek.com, Responsive Philanthropy Magazine, New York Times, Portfolio Magazine, The Virgin Islands Daily News, NANKAI (China) BUSINESS REVIEW, National Religious Broadcasters newsletter, The Charity Governance Blog, American Chronicle, Palm Beach Post, Detroit Free Press, Oakland Press, Nonprofit World, Socially Responsible Business Forum, PNNOnline, Ohio Nonprofit Resources, Nonprofit Good Practice Guide, Nonprofit Startup Guide, Nonprofit Blog, National Coalition of Homeless Newsletter, Finance and Administration Roundtable Newsletter, MichiganNonprofit.com, CORP! Magazine, Crain’s Michigan Nonprofit, ncrp.org, PhilanTopic, Nashville Free Press, Nonprofit Law Blog, Seniors World Chronicle, Carnegie Reporter, Assoc. of Certified Fraud Examiners Examiner, msnbc.com, Worchester (MA) Telegram and Gazette, Carnegie Corporation of America, EO Tax Journal, Wikipedia: Non-profit Organizations; Parent: Wise Austin, Accountants News, Veterans Today, Answers.com, Far-roundtable, #Nonprofit Report, nonprofithelpnews, nonprofit news; National Enquirer, Northwest Herald, The HelpWise Daily, The #Nonprofit Report, Wikipedia (Nonprofit Organization), Answers.com, Nonprofits: On the Brink (2006) Silence: The Impending Threat to the Charitable Sector (2011)