Question about Outreach Center

Not a scam...
Just a lie.
Another group called Cars 4 Causes just got hit big time for this type of "Fraudulent business practice".
They will take the millions that they spend in pay-per-click, billboards, newspaper, radio, yellowpage and other advertising off the top.
Then claim that they are returning so much to the community. In fact all they have done is taken all of their own program expenses or (overhead) and skimmed it off the top, then taken an additional 10%.
Included in what they take off the top is money for towing, salaries, legal fees spent defending themselves everytime they are sued and to pay attorneys to keep bad press out of the news etc.
The outreach center spends such a ridiculous $$ figure on ads it would make you sick.
Charity is big business nowadays..
There very few organizations that actually do return large percentages to the community. My family donated to and became involved with a group after we gave a car to them and found out that not only did they "re-furbish" it for the road, but also spent and additional several thousand dollars to put in a lift and medical oxygen system for a small disabled child and their family.
We found this out because we found the family at the same parking lot, same town we live in and spoke with them.
Good group, all volunteer and spends very little on advertising.
They run about 8% overhead including all costs.
Yeah, groups like the outreach center and cars 4 causes are scams BIG Time.
***Almost forgot! EDIT!!!
If a charity says that they give other charities and they have all of them posted and collect donations for them...
It is called a "referral" charity and your dollars that are supposed to go to help others are merely being filtered away through the pockets of these scam artists.
***Almost forgot! EDIT!!!
Man! Almost forgot again!
www.boatswithcauses.org
or
www.onlinecardonation.org
Good people. they go the extra mile. No hidden fees, profit etc.

Thanks for the response. Can I ask that you fill out your profile with some more information? Or could you contact me directly via my profile?

I need to confirm that you are what you claim to be or we will have to delete your message. If you are on the level, which I think you are, then I would like to help promote the sites you mention so they have a better chance to be found than those other "fake" organizations.

Thanks,
Chris

P.S. This is old, but I found it interesting:

Aug 24, 2006 10:15 pm US/Central
Law Enforcement Investigates Alleged Charity Scam
Kars-4-Kids Allegedly Using Unlicensed Towing Companies

(CBS) NAPERVILLE, Ill. A catchy radio jingle features children singing, “1-877-Kars-4-Kids, donate your car today.” But the Kars-4-Kids charity has caught the attention of law enforcement authorities who are investigating one of the largest alleged car donation scams in U.S. history.

“We have called (Kars-4-Kids) 24 times since our investigation started,” says Commander Craig Baner with the Illinois Commerce Commission Police. Baner says his team of investigators uncovered hundreds of documents tying Kars-4-Kids to unlicensed towing companies in Illinois.

The documents were discovered in January when ICC police raided towing companies in Naperville and Wheeling. The raids followed a CBS 2/Naperville Sun investigation that exposed felons running towing operations and profiting from charity car donations. The series of reports exposed how the operations O’Hare Kars and Royal Auto and Towing stiffed 187 different charities out of at least 4,237 donated cars worth millions of dollars. More...

To Whom It May Concern:

After receiving a phone call from a person regarding the post upon this website, and after perusing said website, there are some points that I would like to address:

Just to let you know, I’ve worked for the Outreach Center since its inception in 1998, so I am more than qualified to answer any questions you may have regarding any issues at all.


[font face='Arial' size='2' color='red']“I just learned about this "company", Outreach Center that claims to take money from the sale of donated vehicles and give 90% to charities. Outreachcenter.com”[/font]


The Outreach Center has never claimed, now or in the past, that we take the money from the sale of the donated vehicles and gives 90% to charities. Furthermore, nowhere on our website, www.OutreachCenter.com, does it state that we give 90% of the funds we receive from the sales of our vehicles to charities. Our breakdown is 50/40/10; 50% towards the advertising, 40% to the charities that we do sponsor, and 10% is for administrative costs.

[font face='Arial' size='2' color='red']“When I spoke to them on the phone, they said that when a car is donated, a towing company picks it up and sells the car or the parts. They keep their towing fee and then send the rest to them. Their expenses are only 10% of the money they receive. I was told that the towing company only keeps their towing fee out of the money, but when I asked what would happen if the towing company did not report the full amount, she sounded like the thought had never occurred to her!”[/font]

I’d like to know the name of the representative that you spoke to that told you this information. Your information in the first two sentences is wrong.

We work with over 400 different AUCTIONS and JUNK/SALVAGE yards nation-wide. Here’s how it works: depending upon the year, make, and model, as well as the mileage, mechanical, and body condition, it gets sent to either our AUCTIONS (Insurance Auto Auction chain being one of the Auctions we use, look them up at www.iaai.com), or to one of the JUNK/SALVAGE yards we have a relationship with.

As for the AUCTIONS, they take out their selling fee, their towing fee, and a titling fee, and then we get the proceeds from the sale, which amounts to 90% of the sale price after such fees are taken out. We get receipts from our AUCTIONS to verify this.

In regards to the vehicles that are sent to JUNK/SALVAGE yards; honestly, most of these vehicles would not go to an Auction as they are not operable or not worth fixing due to damage to the vehicles body or major damage to the engine/transmission, and the cost of repairing is too high. Also, we are not involved in repairing vehicles, since we do not sell vehicles ourselves. We get a referral fee for the vehicles sent to the JUNK/SALVAGE yards.

[font face='Arial' size='2' color='red']“This sounds like a poorly run operation at best, and a huge scam at worst. They list letters from organizations that have received money, but most are old dating back up to 8 years ago, and the amounts are not very impressive.”[/font]

I don’t know when the writer checked out our website last, but if it was in January of 2007, then they would have seen major contributions to both the United Way and Scholarship America, two charities that we have pledged to give $10,000.00 a month for the next two years. Some of our letters, yes, do go back a bit, but we are now constantly updating our lists to reflect what we have given to different charities in the past, as well as for future charitable donations.

I feel that this posting is unduly disparaging toward the Outreach Center and was written only to garner more support for other charities at the expense of our charity, which is a legitimate 501 (c) 3, Federally recognized charity. If you want to get to the truth of the matter, I’d recommend calling and speaking with me directly at 718-758-3700, should you have any questions regarding the legitimacy of our organization. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Brooke McKay
Manager of Finances

[font face='Arial' size='3' color='red']The documents were discovered in January when ICC police raided towing companies in Naperville and Wheeling. The raids followed a CBS 2/Naperville Sun investigation that exposed felons running towing operations and profiting from charity car donations. The series of reports exposed how the operations O’Hare Kars and Royal Auto and Towing stiffed 187 different charities out of at least 4,237 donated cars worth millions of dollars. More...[/font]

Also, we were one of the charities that O'Hare Kars did stiff out of donated vehicles...just to let you now that small fact.

Sincerely,

Brooke McKay
Manager of Finances

OUTREACH CENTER SCAM NEWS!
Car donation scam!
If this person is for real it is further proof that
Organizations such as the Outreach center have no business "Doing business"!
While sure, it may be a great way for large companies to take advantage of the fact that the Organization spends 50% of monies that should be going to charitable programs on advertising for even more money to flush down the toilet it still constitutes a HUGE abuse of the Publics trust.
They should be ashamed.
Money or assets donated to charity have no business being spent at such a rate on advertising.
Why do you spend so much on promoting your "charity"?
So you can get charitable donations directed to your program instead of others?
If you were running a For profit business you would be out of business.
Luckily for the Outreach center they are not.
Not so lucky for those wanting to help others. And because the general public does not ask questions like " are you really going to take 50 cents out of every dollar that I give you to help those less fortunate just to advertise for more? And then there are additional expenses?
Is it true that only 40 cents out of every dollar actually goes to the charity and is even diluted further at that point?
How in the HELL is advertising "Charity"?
Especially 50 cents on the dollar?
Crooks and theives!
If only the average Donor had the presence of mind to ask and understand these questions.
These "middlemen" are simply a good excuse for some charities to not bother with dealing with these types of donations.
Just because you have a charitable distinction and have "raped" the system of millions that are meant to help those in need does not make you any more right...
It does not make you "Charitable".
Just because you give a token amount out to at least appear reputable does not make you so.
It simply makes you more obscene.
It is called "Criminal sophistication".
A well thought out scenario designed to convince the general public that they should feed you instead of those who cannot feed themselves.
It is in the interest of basic decency that programs such as the Outreach center should be avoided. It is a scam and if this individual is who they say they are they have provided valuable information that further proves this.
Shame on the Outreach center!
Donate to a Volunteer organization or at least one that respects your charitable gifts enough to process them on their own.
After all, I am sure it is much more important to put up a Google sponsored ad and pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees instead of using that money for food, shelter, clothing, basic care, medical needs etc. of a small child, or a battered Woman forced to live on the street.
Or to provide care for a disabled veteran who placed his life on the line to allow you the freedom to continue to take from real charities.(I am sure that was not his original intent)
Just how much money do you people spend on advertising every year?
Sponsored ads, paid links, billboards, print ads, radio etc.? Just how much is it. Tell us so we know how many people could have actually been helped while you have helped yourselves?
How much in salaries?
There are too many Organizations out there that are striclty volunteer and do not eat up charitable dollars this way?
The fact is that most of these car donation charities that serve to take in donations for other charities are just providing a niche for this "Fleecing of America" that many real charities have come to accept in order to not hassle with car donations.
Still, it does not make it any less of a scam.
There are actually real charities out there providing this service for other charities that are not spending 50% on advertising.
By the way, the previous poster has listed that their program expenses are 60%! Advertising is overhead!
Get real!
If it quacks like a duck...
Or in The case of Cars4causes.net and the Outreach center... quacks like a scam!

I went to guidestar.org to look up their 990, and it wasn't posted. According to guidestar, they don't have to file with the IRS because they are a church. I would be very interested in how they allocate their money.

It is true that certain religious organizations do NOT and are NOT required ti file for 501(c)3 status. They can very legally operate under the religious Non-profit corporations law.
Nothing wrong with that.
I did however not know that the outreach center was "considered as church.
Even more upsetting that a faith based organization should operate this way.
They are really very irresponsible, very corrupt or just purposely running in such a way as to cheapen the charitable gifts that are given to them.
Why?
Who knows.
It is obviously a "cash cow" for them.
I would hate to see how much they are paying themselves to operate this program.
Crooks no matter how you look at it.

mondocam, are you sure that you should be defaming an org without presenting hard facts. If you say they are "crooks," where is your proof in hard copy? Do you have a link to a news article stating they are "crooks?" I know that I would never donate a vehicle directly to a company like this. 50% is a big allocation of money to spend on advertising.

You did read the response from the organizations representative did you not?
I am quite sure that any of us that see something wrong should never try to "sugar coat" it.
To not have the spine to speak the truth when faced with it makes us part of the problem.
I was raised to have a social "spine" and when outraged... speak out!
The opposite is called apathy.
There is no defaming anyone who claims to take such obvious advantage of the public.
I mean what I say and say what I mean!
I have years of experience in this area and have no problem speaking the truth. I know that there are many who find this "politically incorrect" and in such cases I would suggest that those individuals wake up and realize that the only way to make a positive change is to speak out.
If you did read the previous posts and really understood what you were reading you would notice that prior to the 50% in advertising, the 10% in program costs, there was still a 10% figure thrown out there by the Outreach centers vendors.
So you see nothing wrong with a faith based organization running in this fashion, under the religious non-profit corporations law, under the meaning of IRS section 501(c)3, that for the most part garners funding through non-related(to their alleged operation)business,
focusing more on financial growth than any type of ministry, and operating with the most horrific of expense ratios...
I could go on.
You cannot figure out what is wrong with this?
Do you have even the most basic understanding of the facts presented by the representative from their own organization?
It appears not.
Yes, I should be outraged and anyone with any sense of decency should feel the same way.
I feel equally sorry for those who do not.
Not sit by and watch as these wrongs continue.
By the way there is no defamation in stating one's own opinion, especially when basing that opinion on public record.

Calm down buddy, I am not taking an opposing stance to you, I am just trying to be the voice of reason. If you say they are crooks, prove it. So far all you have done is based all of your arguments on personal opinion. While I agree with you on your points, I am requesting proof to back up your statements as I am interested in finding out more about this company since their website doesn't give much info.

Mondocam, at the risk of sounding curt, I have to say that in your most recent post, this is the only thing that sounds like anything representing a logical complaint:

...prior to the 50% in advertising, the 10% in program costs, there was still a 10% figure thrown out there by the Outreach centers vendors.

Unfortunately, I'm unable to find what you're referring to in BRMOUTREACH's post. But at least it sounds like you're trying to present a fact of some sort.

The rest of what you say:

To not have the spine to speak the truth when faced with it makes us part of the problem. I was raised to have a social "spine" and when outraged... speak out! The opposite is called apathy.

There is no defaming anyone who claims to take such obvious advantage of the public.

I mean what I say and say what I mean! I have years of experience in this area and have no problem speaking the truth. I know that there are many who find this "politically incorrect" and in such cases I would suggest that those individuals wake up and realize that the only way to make a positive change is to speak out.

So you see nothing wrong with a faith based organization running in this fashion, under the religious non-profit corporations law, under the meaning of IRS section 501(c)3, that for the most part garners funding through non-related(to their alleged operation)business, focusing more on financial growth than any type of ministry, and operating with the most horrific of expense ratios...

I could go on.

You cannot figure out what is wrong with this? Do you have even the most basic understanding of the facts presented by the representative from their own organization? It appears not.

Yes, I should be outraged and anyone with any sense of decency should feel the same way. I feel equally sorry for those who do not.

Not sit by and watch as these wrongs continue.

By the way there is no defamation in stating one's own opinion, especially when basing that opinion on public record.

... does not seem to have any factual basis whatsoever; rather, you are merely making appeals based on sweeping generalities. Simply suggesting that things are obvious or that we should be able to figure it out on our own is not sufficient. You must understand that we (i.e. the TechSoup community) do not know who you are or why you should be considered to be qualified to speak out against this organization in such a manner.

Please, if you have any facts that support your criticism of this organization, share them. If you do *not*, then please discontinue your diatribe.

Dear mondocam,

There's a world of difference between disagreeing with someone's business model and having evidence that they are operating a criminal enterprise. If you have hard evidence of criminal activity, please post it. Otherwise, please back off. You have more than adequately voiced your opinions about Outreach Center's services.

Robert

No thank you...
I think that we all have the right to voice our opinion and apparently you are of a mind that this type of rampant irresponsible and unethical behavior is acceptable.
It is not Sir.
Simply because something is "legal" does not make it ethical...
It also does not make it right.
I will not back off.
That is akin to asking me to be less responsible, less decent and much less ethical.
This in itself is a very bad thing.
There are already others being called to task for this type of questionable behavior.
Why would you ask that others not be offended, angry, disgusted etc. at this type of practice.
It speaks volumes about you Sir.
Your title notwithstanding, I am unimpressed at the apparent lack of decency that you are displaying.
I will get back to you later...

You have your opinion and you have expressed it. Repeatedly. I think everyone got the point awhile ago.