In the last couple of weeks our household began to get calls, often several times a day, from 412-622-7387, showing as "PUB INTEREST CM" in the Caller ID. They never left a message, and they obviously ignored our voice mail message telling solicitors not to call our number anymore (probably because these outfits use robocallers, but this does not absolve them from their responsibility not to call those who request not to be called).

I did some research, and found out many people have reported harassment from this number. The outfit's name is Public Interest Communications, Inc., with offices in Falls Church, VA, Pittsburgh, PA and Salt Lake City, UT. Their specialty is doing telemarketing for nonprofits. Their President is Kenneth Whittaker, 703-847-8300. Some folks on the Web suggest emailing him may get you off of their list.

You may be on the Federal Trade Commission's National Do Not Call Registry. This offers limited protection, since Congress put a number of loopholes in the law. It does not cover political solicitations at all. "Charities are not covered by the requirements of the national registry. However, if a third-party telemarketer is calling on behalf of a charity, a consumer may ask not to receive any more calls from, or on behalf of, that specific charity. If a third-party telemarketer calls again on behalf of that charity, the telemarketer may be subject to a fine of up to $11,000." (From information on the Do Not Call site - of course, you would have to take the telemarketer's call to know what charity had asked them to harass you.)

Companies like Public Interest Communications are in business for profit. Their concern is not the cause, but using any means to maximize how much they get out of the people they call in order to maximize their revenue. So it is not surprising that they use tactics that most charities would never use in contacting their supporters directly.

I think we should care not just what an organization's stated purpose is, but how it conducts itself. Subjecting supporters to harassment from businesses like Public Interest Communications seems to me to be a clearly unethical practice. Accordingly, we should refuse to support such charities.

Public Interest Communications publishes a partial list of clients on its Web site. I went through the list, noted the ones I support, and communicated to each of those groups that I would no longer support them, and why. I recommend others do the same. If charities understand that the public cares how they are treated, and pays attention to it, they may be more careful to be ethical in their fundraising.

Here is the partial list of clients of Public Interest Communications:

• African Wildlife Foundation
• Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association
• Alzheimer's Disease Research
• American Civil Liberties Union
• American Institute of Architects
• American Society of Landscape Architects
• Amnesty International, USA
• Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence
• Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence
• Charter Financial Analysts Institute
• Child Watch of North America
• Chesapeake Bay Foundation
• Christian Appalachian Project
• Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation
• Comic Relief
• Common Cause
• Defenders of Wildlife
• Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
• Democratic National Committee
• Doris Day Animal League
• Environmental Defense Fund
• Habitat for Humanity International
  (says it stopped using them 2 years ago and is asking them to remove it from its list of clients)
• International Campaign for Tibet
• International Rescue Committee
• Metropolitan Opera
• Mothers Against Drunk Driving
• National Audubon Society
• Nation Magazine (The)
• National Trust for Historic Preservation
• National Wildlife Federation
• North Shore Animal League of America
• Oceana
• Ocean Conservancy (The)
• Organic Consumers Association
• OXFAM
• Public Citizen
• Rails-to-Trails Conservancy
• Southern Poverty Law Center
• Teachers College of Columbia University
• Trust for Maryland Vietnam Veterans (The)
• UC-Berkeley, Boalt Hall-School of Law
• UC-Berkeley, College of Engineering
• UC-Berkeley, Haas Business School
• United States Fund
• US Ski and Snowboard Team Foundation
• Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation
• WETA
• Wilderness Society (The)
• WNET
• World Wildlife Fund

Really this is probably.because these outfits use robocallers.
-------------------

Malshi.


Have you seen this? I wish there were more companies like this out there that were interested in making a difference! http://www.aboveallopportunities.com/100.html