May 6, 1999 | Read Time: 2 minutes
The State of Minnesota has charged a Louisiana charity and its fund-raising company with using deceptive tactics to raise money through telephone appeals for terminally ill children.
In the suit, Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch said that telephone solicitors for Gecko Communications, which made calls for Wishing Well Foundation USA, located in Metairie, La., misled Minnesota residents by making them think that the charity was located in Minnesota, that a large portion of their gifts would help grant wishes for children in the state, and that the charity was really a better known organization.
The lawsuit charges that Wishing Well Foundation has spent very little money, if any, to help terminally ill children in Minnesota and does not have an office in the state.
Officials at Gecko Communications did not return phone calls seeking their comments.
Matthew Brown, a lawyer for Wishing Well Foundation, said that the charity has never attempted to mislead anyone into making gifts. “If what the Attorney General says is true, then obviously the company didn’t stick to their obligation, which is that they are not supposed to make any kind of inaccurate statements, not make any misrepresentation,” said Mr. Brown. He added: “We haven’t verified or investigated at this point to be sure one way or another. But we don’t want that happening any more than the state does.”
Mr. Hatch also said that solicitors for Gecko Communications, which has offices in Iowa and Missouri, told potential donors that 80 per cent or more of gifts would be used for granting wishes for children. In reality, the attorney general said, the company’s fund-raising contract with the charity provided that Gecko Communications take 80 per cent of gifts brought in while the charity kept the rest.
The lawsuit also said that solicitors for Gecko Communications, during conversations with potential donors, failed to disclose that they were professional fund raisers and the name of their employer, as state law requires.
Mr. Brown said that Wishing Well Foundation canceled its contract with Gecko Communications on April 15, before the Minnesota Attorney General filed the lawsuit. He said that the charity, which was founded in 1995, made that decision because it wanted to use a less costly method of raising money and because it had saved up “a fair amount” of money for granting wishes.
Financial records filed by the charity show that the group raised more than $3.5-million in 1996 and 1997, and spent $45,214 during those years to grant wishes. The organization also counted as program expenses more than $710,000 in costs that stem from telephone appeals and mailings.
