For-Profit Companies Asking For Money
Target 4: Are Charitable Donations Helping Cause?
Mike Jackson, NBC4 Columbus, June 4, 2003

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- More than 80 percent of all money raised by charities comes from individuals, meaning people are generous to causes they believe in, Target 4's Mike Jackson reported.

But how do you know how much you're really helping the cause?

The following is a Target 4 alert on how a for-profit company may ask you for money in the name of a nonprofit organization.

With so many elements involved in fund raising, some charities turn to marketing companies.

That's the case of the Florida-based Child Protection Education of America. This nonprofit group has a contract with a for-profit company called Thunderbolt Distributing and HR Promotions.

Some Central Ohioans feel the efforts of Thunderbolt to sell products in the name of a charity are easily confused with a local nonprofit organization aimed at the missing children's effort.

Do you remember Cody Stepp? The Columbus-area youngster reported missing several years ago?

Bret Vinocur doesn't want you to forget Cody and the thousands of other children who are unaccounted for.

That's why he formed findmissingkids.com, a local nonprofit organization. But he says T-shirts sold by a marketing company doesn't do enough in the efforts of helping missing children.

" I will not solicit or accept money from an individual, end of story," Vinocur said. "I don't do it for money, (it's) not my goal.

They're actually not going to give anything away without getting cash, plus there's nothing to helping to promote or find missing children."

" I'm a teacher, an advocate for children all over the place, so it was very upsetting," Dublin teacher Ryan Sebastian said. "It was almost an insult to me personally."

Sebastian was not alone. A health food store owner purchased a T-shirt and later learned that only 50 cents of the $10 purchase price would go to charity.

" It's disrespectful to kids, disrespectful to the parents, to the people that put the money into the charity, just to humanity," Jason Dhir said. "It's a sad thing people have to make phat cash of something."

The people selling the shirts work for Thunderbolt Distributing and HR Promotions with an office in Whitehall. Thomas Reid confirmed that 5 percent of the T-shirt sales goes to the charity, but refused an on-camera interview. He referred Target 4 to Child Protection Education of America.

Executive Director Vince Dinova said his organization is to assist in publicity for parents of missing children with pictures and to promote the issue of missing kids with workshops and fingerprint kits.

Dinova said he had 27 other marketing companies around the country selling items, with his organization getting 5 percent of the sales.

Donations to any effort is a personal choice.

Consumer advocates suggest you do your homework and think with your head when you donate with your heart.