Nearly Half of Donations in Wash. Kept by Solicitors, Report Says

Slightly less than half of the $376-million solicited on behalf of nonprofit groups in Washington State in the past year ended up in the hands of the charities, according to a new state report.

The amount raised by commercial solicitors rose $42-million from the year before, an increase of 13 percent. The percentage turned over to the nonprofit groups dropped slightly, from 49 percent to 45 percent.

Sixteen of the 88 commercial fund raisers registered with the state returned 15 percent or less of the money they raised to their nonprofit clients, compared with 17 of 82 solicitors the year before.

Lawyers and trade-association officials who represent commercial solicitors have long criticized the reports put out by state agencies, saying they are incomplete and misleading.

Sometimes campaigns focus on education more than fund raising, and in some cases they are designed to find new donors for future campaigns, the critics note.

The Washington report, issued jointly by Secretary of State Sam Reed and Attorney General Christine Gregoire, acknowledges that the amount of money raised in campaigns and not turned over to charities may include many expenses other than the fees paid to the commercial solicitors, such as the cost of making phone calls or sending out printed fund-raising materials.

The report, “The Commercial Fundraiser Activity Report,” is available free on the Washington Secretary of State’s Web site, http://www.secstate.wa.gov/charities/2003reports.aspx, or by calling the Secretary of State’s office at (360) 902-4151.