Report: Charities Using Telemarketers Reap Little Cash

November 16, 2009, Newsday — Long Islanders who receive solicitation calls for charity should know this: Only a fraction of each dollar they give through such calls actually reaches the charity.

That's the conclusion of an annual report released Monday by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office. The report, "Pennies for Charity," found that in 2008, Long Island nonprofits that used telemarketers to solicit funds received only 24.57 cents out of every dollar raised. The rest went to the for-profit telemarketers making the solicitation calls.