American Diabetes Association - Fund-raising

Fund-raising

The ADA is America's leading 501(c)3 nonprofit charity providing diabetes research, information and advocacy.

The ADA raises most monies themselves and their overall fundraising expenses are 28.5%, with 71.5 cents of every dollar raised being used for research and programs. However, they engage telemarketers at very large costs in order to bring new donors into their rolls. In one instance, the ADA entered into contract with InfoCision, a telemarketing firm that works closely with nonprofits, whereby only 15% of the expected funds raised would be given to the ADA with the other 85% being kept by the telemarketing firm. Furthermore, the telemarketers are instructed to lie to prospective donors regarding how much of their donation will go to the ADA. When questioned by NBC's Lisa Myers about this campaign, a representative from the ADA expressed no regrets saying in part that "this program is a teenie weenie part of what they do; it's about bringing more people into the organization," and stating that the program was not misleading despite the fact that prospective donors are being lied to regarding what percentage of their donation will be going to the ADA. As for what the ADA's response would be to donors who feel duped, the representative said that the ADA would say "thank you for the gift, it's making a difference, every single penny makes a positive impact."