This is the second in a series of posts diving deep into the detail mentioned in the complaint by the Federal Trade Commission and all Attorneys General against four named cancer charities.
My goal is to highlight some of the information that I think is of particular interest to the wider nonprofit community.
I perceive the attention paid to the complaint is drying up. Before discussing the FTC complaint, want to mention one interesting article of late:
6/1 – Suzanne Perry at Chronicle of Philanthropy – $187-Million Fraud Case Puts Charities on the Defensive – Article has reactions to the FTC and 50+ AGs going after the cancer charities that were so far over the line.
My description of the comments are they range from wondering what took the regulators so long to whether this is just a start. Article points out there has been regulatory action against some members of this group for a long time (over 20 years with CFOA) but that doesn’t seem to have deterred additional problematic efforts.
One focus on the article is the limited staffing at the AG offices which limits how much they can focus on the charity sector. Various industry sources comment on the limits of self-regulation.
Back to the FTC complaint, which can be found here. It is a public document. I assert journalist status, so will quote the document at length.
Here is the summary of the organizations’ activities, as interpreted by the FTC: (more…)