How Commercial Solicitors Rank on the Amount of Income Provided to Charity

January 1, 1970 | Read Time: 5 minutes

The ratings below were computed by The Chronicle using a statistical analysis that took into account the percentage of total donations that went to the nonprofit organizations and the size and type of nonprofit organizations for which the campaigns were conducted. A score of 50 is average.

Fund-raising company	Total gross income	Total to charity	Median percentage of gross income to charity ^*	Chronicle score
Levy Pazanti & Associates (Los Angeles)	$20,358,678	$15,855,626	79.7%	101.1
Mutual Funding (Fredericksburg, Va.)	$2,806,107	$1,588,010	57.5%	97.0
Volunteer Fund Raising Dimensions (Dale City, Va.)	$3,198,992	$1,722,021	53.7%	92.5
Events Unlimited (Los Angeles)	$23,974,664	$16,529,007	64.1%	85.2
MZA Events (Los Angeles)	$23,857,335	$16,518,048	68.6%	82.7
Hudson Bay Company (Golden Valley, Minn.)	$2,584,875	$1,431,833	70.3%	75.7
Pallotta Teamworks AIDS Vaccine Ride Office (Los Angeles)	$61,287,296	$35,771,186	58.5%	75.2
D&D Telemarketing (Ronkonkoma, N.Y.)	$2,059,023	$851,864	40.7%	70.7
Aria Communications (St. Cloud, Minn.)	$9,528,248	$6,855,681	68.6%	67.8
Phone Bank Systems (East Lansing, Mich.)	$4,608,026	$3,156,547	66.8%	67.6
Lester Telemarketing (Branford, Conn.)	$6,928,853	$4,953,123	65.7%	66.9
Capital District Callers (Schenectady, N.Y.)	$2,982,777	$1,115,300	38.4%	66.4
Fund-raising company	Total gross income	Total to charity	Median percentage of gross income to charity ^*	Chronicle score
Fundraising & Communication Services (Minneapolis)	$7,090,509	$4,650,624	56.4%	66.3
Statewide Publications/Trooper Publications/Police Publications (Falmouth, Mass.)	$11,167,624	$3,780,858	35.0%	65.7
Haines & Company (North Canton, Ohio)	$7,700,074	$4,228,649	47.4%	65.4
IDC (Henderson, Nev.)	$12,680,828	$8,033,209	60.8%	64.9
Royalty Services (Queensbury, N.Y.)	$2,894,194	$829,509	29.2%	63.8
Gordon & Schwenkmeyer (El Segundo, Calif.)	$2,574,596	$1,052,409	47.1%	63.4
Dialamerica Marketing (Mahwah, N.J.)	$4,776,577	$2,389,948	52.0%	62.1
Tele-Response Center (Philadelphia)	$22,421,344	$8,375,751	30.4%	61.4
Outreach Center (Pittsburgh)	$2,834,924	$1,678,738	60.0%	59.2
Life-Tel (Milwaukee)	$3,370,585	$2,094,754	61.4%	59.0
Smith Company (Washington)	$2,292,745	$1,039,318	44.8%	58.9
Weiser & Associates (Pasadena, Calif.)	$2,807,309	$1,844,749	61.1%	58.6
Fund-raising company	Total gross income	Total to charity	Median percentage of gross income to charity ^*	Chronicle score
Organizational Development (West Palm Beach, Fla.)	$4,331,891	$1,686,372	40.0%	58.4
Heritage Publishing Company (Sherwood, Ark.)	$59,959,278	$17,078,720	28.2%	57.3
Suffolk Productions (Lindenhurst, N.Y.)	$5,763,944	$1,854,649	30.0%	57.1
Telecoomp (Rochester, N.Y.)	$5,656,022	$4,078,630	62.7%	56.3
TransAmerica Marketing Services (Vienna, Va.)	$12,517,664	$9,370,435	46.6%	55.1
Fund-Raising and Management Counsel (Atlanta)	$3,259,729	$2,603,630	57.1%	55.1
The Development Center (Philadelphia)	$13,408,712	$8,722,460	59.2%	54.8
S&M Enterprises (Waterbury, Conn.)	$2,075,195	$708,172	30.0%	54.7
Telefund (Santa Barbara, Calif.)	$4,557,623	$2,286,520	43.1%	54.5
C.T. Maher Promotions (Shelton, Conn.)	$2,511,593	$800,114	30.3%	54.1
HolMac Telecommunications (Yonkers, N.Y.)	$2,813,677	$902,249	32.0%	53.7
Fund-raising company	Total gross income	Total to charity	Median percentage of gross income to charity ^*	Chronicle score
Public Interest Communications (Falls Church, Va.)	$41,226,351	$20,653,960	43.5%	53.5
InfoCision Management (Akron, Ohio)	$43,287,615	$22,028,053	45.3%	53.4
MDS Communications (Tempe, Ariz.)	$30,445,925	$11,403,613	49.5%	53.3
Futuremarket Telecenter (Irving, Tex.)	$57,054,265	$26,839,680	37.9%	53.3
R.G. Lapenta Associates (East Granby, Conn.)	$5,942,422	$1,905,489	30.6%	53.2
Telesystems Marketing (Houston)	$17,753,010	$5,671,793	30.0%	52.5
Campaign Headquarters (North Tonawanda, N.Y.)	$3,641,569	$1,122,946	31.0%	52.4
Share Group (Somerville, Mass.)	$53,503,875	$27,867,633	44.3%	52.3
Great Lakes Communications/New Boston Communications (Boston)	$25,365,626	$14,658,246	43.6%	52.0
Stephen Winchell & Associates (Arlington, Va.)	$36,878,262	$14,192,383	23.4%	51.6
Fund-raising company	Total gross income	Total to charity	Median percentage of gross income to charity ^*	Chronicle score
Olympia Publishing (Little Rock, Ark.)	$5,006,133	$1,825,241	30.0%	51.1
MSGI Direct (Venice, Calif.)	$26,446,937	$15,258,773	59.4%	49.8
Uni-Fund (Sarasota, Fla.)	$2,230,555	$666,819	30.0%	49.3
Angeles Communications (Glendale, Calif.)	$4,533,855	$2,226,250	48.9%	48.0
TCI America (Seekonk, Mass.)	$4,437,457	$1,300,127	30.0%	47.7
Integral Resources (Cambridge, Mass.)	$20,902,688	$7,387,969	33.1%	46.9
Island Marketing Concepts (Levittown, N.Y.)	$3,487,238	$974,364	30.0%	46.6
Pinnacle Productions (Lexington, Ky.)	$3,033,580	$839,138	28.8%	46.5
Facter Direct/Gift Planning Direct (Los Angeles)	$41,560,564	$17,586,189	37.6%	44.2
Genesee Development and Research Group (Rochester, N.Y.)	$6,730,811	$1,890,020	23.8%	44.1
Jadent (Salem, Ore.)	$6,318,251	$1,738,576	26.3%	44.0
Harris O’Malley Marketing (Woodland Hills, Calif.)	$4,515,117	$1,627,171	34.2%	43.9
Fund-raising company	Total gross income	Total to charity	Median percentage of gross income to charity ^*	Chronicle score
National Promotional Services (Lindenhurst, N.Y.)	$3,638,924	$749,568	20.0%	43.8
B&B Presentations (Lynchburg, Va.)	$4,607,412	$1,272,118	25.6%	43.5
Gotham Productions (Scotia, N.Y.)	$6,281,299	$1,713,803	25.0%	43.4
Marketing Squad (Rochester, N.Y.)	$2,791,724	$552,955	24.9%	42.5
Direct Response Consulting (McLean, Va.)	$59,955,624	$21,021,572	16.2%	41.8
Professional Advertising Directors (Flanders, N.J.)	$2,431,031	$590,941	23.8%	40.7
Regency Communications (Fort Worth, Tex.)	$9,342,583	$2,692,263	33.9%	40.6
Reese Brothers (Pittsburgh)	$146,300,729	$29,973,502	27.2%	39.4
Elida Entertainment (Charlotte, N.C.)	$3,344,853	$582,885	17.0%	38.2
CJW (Port Clinton, Ohio)	$3,211,970	$757,054	23.4%	38.2
Ruffalo Cody & Associates (Cedar Rapids, Iowa)	$4,632,516	$2,645,881	57.1%	38.1
Show Promotions (Englewood, Ohio)	$5,559,048	$1,244,867	20.8%	37.4
Fund-raising company	Total gross income	Total to charity	Median percentage of gross income to charity ^*	Chronicle score
MEC Group (Lexington, Ky.)	$2,797,496	$534,945	19.3%	36.1
Phillip J. Samano & Associates (Northfield Center, Ohio)	$5,255,087	$1,222,063	21.5%	35.8
Stage Door Music Productions (Waterbury, Conn.)	$15,933,722	$3,369,771	20.0%	33.8
Telcom Enterprises of Ohio (Birmingham, Ala.)	$12,986,591	$2,411,112	19.9%	33.2
TBS Productions (Campbell, Calif.)	$3,859,873	$682,561	17.5%	33.0
Callan Publishing (Bloomington, Minn.)	$15,941,463	$3,216,335	20.0%	32.2
Xentel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)	$25,154,977	$4,875,827	20.3%	32.0
Americom Group (Worcester, Pa.)	$9,692,336	$1,688,514	16.5%	31.0
Civic Development Group (Edison, N.J.)	$100,405,748	$17,202,832	15.7%	30.0
Didham Consulting Services (Toledo, Ohio)	$2,068,417	$423,121	20.9%	29.5
Fund-raising company	Total gross income	Total to charity	Median percentage of gross income to charity ^*	Chronicle score
American Trade and Convention Publications (Milwaukee)	$39,815,072	$4,812,641	10.6%	29.3
Family Entertainment Group of California (Brentwood, Calif.)	$2,309,075	$362,575	15.6%	28.3
Community Funding Company (Charlotte, N.C.)	$2,497,290	$371,772	15.0%	27.6
All-Pro Telemarketing Associates (Fairfield, N.J.)	$9,827,544	$1,440,100	15.0%	27.0
Contract Communications (Virginia Beach)	$4,708,679	$768,334	16.0%	26.5
Allan C. Hill Productions (Sarasota, Fla.)	$3,781,987	$508,118	13.3%	25.1
North American Charitable Services/U.S. Marketing (Santa Ana, Calif.)	$7,139,154	$865,225	10.9%	24.5
Nationwide Fundraisers (Naples, Fla.)	$3,346,296	$343,828	14.2%	23.0
LAS (Washington)	$16,358,810	$2,395,602	11.5%	22.7
Midwest Publishing (Phoenix)	$22,485,631	$3,244,661	14.8%	22.4
Non-Profit Telemedia (North Little Rock, Ark.)	$24,352,301	$2,318,149	11.4%	22.2
North American Acquisitions (Costa Mesa, Calif.)	$5,579,875	$511,979	10.1%	21.2
Rambret (Glendale, Calif.)	$5,492,336	$559,999	11.2	14.9
Network Management Press (Encino, Calif.)	$6,780,912	$458,920	7.0%	11.2
* Half of all fund-raising campaigns provided more than this percentage; half provided less.
Note: Some companies may operate under different names in other states.
SOURCE: Data from California, Connecticut, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

HOW MUCH DIFFERENT TYPES OF GROUPS RECEIVE FROM SOLICITORS
Type of nonprofit group	Median percentage of funds raised that go to charity *
Colleges and universities	62.0%
Public broadcasting	59.6%
Arts	48.5%
Advocacy	42.5%
Environmental	35.1%
Humanitarian	31.5%
Health	30.0%
Religious	28.4%
Public safety	25.2%
Fraternal organizations	25.0%
Youth	23.1%
Schools	22.9%
Handicapped	20.0%
Human services	18.2%
Service organizations	17.0%
Veterans	16.7%
* Half of all fund-raising campaigns provided more than this percentage; half provided less.
SOURCE: Data from California, Connecticut, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia

ALSO SEE:

» Calling Solicitors to Account

» How the Fund-Raising Companies Were Ranked

» For Small Charities, the Options Are Few and the Risks Are High

» Government Regulation of Fund Raisers: Far Trickier Than It Seems

» Winning Back Lapsed Donors: When Breaking Even Pays

» Experts Offer Tips for Charities on Hiring a Commercial Fund Raiser

» Charity’s Founder Learns the Hard Way About Perils of Unscrupulous Solicitors

» How Much Different Types of Groups Receive From Solicitors

» Organization Size: How It Affects The Sum Charities Receive From Solicitors

ORGANIZATION SIZE: HOW IT AFFECTS THE SUM CHARITIES RECEIVE FROM SOLICITORS
Type of organization	Median percentage of funds raised that go to charity*
Less than $1-million in annual revenue	29.2%
$1-million to $9.99-million in annual revenue	33.6%
$10-million or more in annual revenue	42.3%
* Half of all fund-raising campaigns provided more than this percentage; half provided less.
SOURCE: Data from California, Connecticut, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia