I used to contribute and now I get 4 calls a day. I should just pick up and decline. I've done that once adn the calls stopped for a few months (until the next drive).
If you receive a call from 415-503-5565 and happen to miss it, don't worry -- the San Francisco Symphony fundraising organization will call you back, over and over and over, and will never leave a message, and they will keep calling until you answer and talk to them and have them tell you how important it is to donate lots of money to them. Try finding a way to stop the calls -- Good Luck !!!
I’m writing to bring to your attention some troublesome fundraising activities currently underway by people who are representing themselves as the “Friends of the San Francisco Symphony.”
On the afternoon of October 6, 2010 I received a call on my cellphone from a woman who appeared to be raising money for the Symphony. At the beginning of the call I asked her very directly if she was from the Symphony and she responded in the affirmative. However, after we conversed for a while it became apparent that she was not with the Symphony at all but instead with the “Friends of the Symphony.” Because she hadn’t been very honest and kept avoiding my request that she explain her relationship to the Symphony itself, I declined to respond to her appeal and instead donated on-line in the amount of $175. This was my first donation to the Symphony (beyond ticket subscriptions), so I’m still a little unfamiliar with the organization and how it functions.
My hesitancy in donating money to not-for-profit organizations over the phone stems from the fact that at times organization hire professional fund raisers who do, indeed, raise for their clients but who also skim off up to 90% of what they raise to cover their call-center operators and operations and of course make a profit for their owners. I wish for any money that I donate to go directly to the organization.
On February 15th at 4:06 pm I received a call on my cellphone from 415-503-5565. When I answered the phone, the person calling audibly hung up. On February 16th at 5:19, the same thing happened. On February 17 at 7:22, the same thing happened again. (Each of these audible hang-ups occurred on or before the second ring.) In order to determine who was calling I did a search at “800notes.com” observing the list of people who complained about hangups from the San Francisco Symphony and thus decided to call the number.
The person who answered (a woman) took my name and said “someone will call back.” A man did indeed call back. I was disappointed to learn that he was aware of the date and amount of my donation back in October. (I would expect that the Symphony would have kept this information confidential. I assume this person probably had my credit card information as well?) This man, like the caller in October, also declined to explain the relationship between the “Friends of the Symphony” and the San Francisco Symphony proper. Although he apologized for two of the three hang-ups, he didn’t really have a response when I asked him how hanging up on Symphony contributors could possibly be an effective fundraising technique—he was much more concerned with giving his “used car” type of fast-talking spiel than answering any questions that I had. I told him in no uncertain terms that I did not wish to receive any more calls.
In summary, I have three major concerns and/or questions:
What is the nature of the “Friends of Symphony?” Clearly they are more than simply a donor level designation or a nice group of volunteers making phone calls to assist an arts organization. The man who called this evening spoke of “supervisors” and was obviously calling from a boiler-room call center. I cannot find any information about this organization on the Internet beyond the minimal information on the Symphony website. Who operates this company? Who are their employees?
Do professional fundraisers receive a portion of the proceeds donated to the Symphony on-line as well as over the phone? Since the man who called this evening seemed to have all my personal information, I’m now concerned that even on-line donations are subject to some sort of sharing agreement with outside fundraisers. Is there a way to donate money to the Symphony and know that it will actually go the Symphony and not rude professional fundraisers?
My final question would be: Why would a fine arts organization like the San Francisco Symphony want to stoop to such crass and ineffective fundraising tactics? The man who called this evening stated that the Symphony was suffering from the most significant budget shortfall in its history. This quite naturally makes me even more hesitant to donate any money at all, if the organization is actually on the verge of collapse as he described during the call.
If this is how the Symphony chooses to raise money, I am certainly not surprised to hear that the organization is suffering financially.
In the meantime, I expect to enjoy tomorrow night’s concert and I will await your response.