This case study profiles a 95-year old woman and the many unsolicited charitable claims she receives. You decide. Are these companies behaving ethically?

1. Case History: 95 Year-Old Woman You decide. Are these companies behaving ethically?

2. Her Life

3. After 2 strokes, she has trouble reading and writing, but pleads her case, thinking someone cares. Handwritten Note of 95-Yr-Old Woman* *Note written on the back of a return envelope to the Alliance for Retired Americans. This group sent her a bogus National Issues Survey, then requested a donation. Back of Contribution Envelope “They just took the $100 I used to put on the lessons. Now the persons took the $100 away so my Socity (social security) raise something dirt. I worked for 77 yrs. And fought the girls and the boys left when she did and I’ve raised them all.** Now Social Seuirty almost gone live the last $100 gone as ‘raised my rent!’” ** This woman’s mother died when she was 19 years old. She cared for her 8 brothers and sisters from that moment on.

4. In just a 10-day period, she received 52+ solicitations, each telling her she had won something. She had not.

5. In every case of “winning” she was asked to send a donation. Her note says “I left all my yrs, I waited to 77”. She’s trying to say that she worked until she was 77 years old. These organizations use convincing tactics.

6. Hero of the Month is a bogus charity, among so many. Many of these operations seem to have a St. Louis address.

7. Why so many solicitations from St. Louis? St. Louis St. Louis

8. The elderly come from a time when the U.S. mail was a trusted source and tailored printing was impossible. This woman’s name was here Phony personalization promotes undeserved trust. And here

9. “You’ve Won” Notices Always Look Real Many elderly can no longer process information accurately. They read the words, but do not understand their meaning. Every notification is AUTHORIZED and every prize is OFFICIAL. Most prizes are for about $7,000. $25K is a monumental sum to the children of the Great Depression.

10. Who wouldn’t want to: Help a Child with Cancer? But this is not a legitimate charity. The organization achieves charitable status by giving a small amount to charity and the rest to “Administration”; i.e., to line the pockets of a few. Name Was Here

11. Typical “Prizes” Are these prizes awarded? Maybe; But ... $7,077 is a small price to pay for a 1-month take of $2 million or more.

12. The Cost[actual values for this case] This woman lives on monthly Social Security of $1799 plus a pension of $386/month. Her rent is over $1,700 per month. In January she wrote 53 checks to lottery-based “charities”, mostly for $5. She wrote 37 more such checks in February 2010. She spent $571 in those 2 months alone on bogus charities because she thought she’d won a lottery. That’s $3,426 per year

13. What are the costs of deception and unethical behavior for our parents and grandparents? (The stakes are more than financial as anyone caring for an aging parent knows.) There are approximately 38 million individuals in the U.S. aged 65 and over. Think about this ...

14. Help protect those who are susceptible to phony claims.

15. How the well-respected site, Charity Navigator, rates the charities mentioned in this document. Citizens to Protect Seniors’ Social Security Headquarters (bogus, not listed) Hero of the Month (bogus, not listed A Child Forever (bogus, not listed) Alliance for Retired Americans (bogus, not listed) North Shore Animal League America Overall Rating (1 star ); Efficiency Rating (1 star) American Foundation for Disabled Children Overall rating (2 stars) Efficiency rating (0 stars) Protect Cure (bogus, not listed) Circle of Friends for American Veterans (bogus, not listed) http://www.charitynavigator.org/