Posted on 11/12/2004 7:24:21 AM PST by wallcrawlr
WASHINGTON, D.C.--Carmen Bakken, 88, of Cambridge, Minn., proved her party loyalty this year when she got a stream of fundraising letters from the National College Republicans.
She sent 91 checks totaling $42,985.
Told of the extent of her donations, she said, "Oh, my goodness! I don't think I gave so much. I don't remember the name College Republicans. I thought what I gave to was a national Republican company."
Similar accounts from other senior citizens in Minnesota and nationwide have put Eric Hoplin, the St. Olaf College graduate who chairs the College Republican National Committee, on the defensive about its record $8 million fundraising this year.
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
But they raised funds for Republicans, she thought she was donating money to the Republicans and the money went to Republicans.
What's questionable about raising money for the cause you say you are raising money for?
I remember when my Grandpa started writing checks to anyone who asked him for money. He was in his late 80s then. My Dad and my uncle took the checkbook away from him. Gramps wasn't happy at first, but his money did afford him a nice two year stay at a top care facility before he passed away.
I read the article and I'm not sure what the problem is here. The CRNC sent out letters, truthfully identified their organization, and people sent money back. Anything wrong with that?
Did she think she was sending money to Halliburton?
Aren't they a "republican company?"
/saracasm
80% of the money they raised went to the mass-mailing outfit.
Something's just not right.
Fundraising letters frequently ask everyone for more money than they have/can afford? It's not the College GOP's fault that people are giving.
These aren't questionable tactics, they are standard tactics. As anyone who has ever donated knows, once you send in a contribution, you are on a list and get many more solicitations. I gave $50 to Bush-Cheney and got requests from Senatorial, Congressional, Legal and local committees.
For some weird reason I cannot fathom, my name and address has got on the mailing list of Amnesty International, Democratic National Committee, Planned Abortionhood and dozens more liberal, leftist organizations.
My standard technique is to send back their prepaid envelope with a little message: YOU SUCK!
I remember my mom in her late 70's. She went to the bank and changed her account number. Then she forgot and tried to cash a check with her old account. She didn't have the money. Heck! She blamed everybody in the family saying we had robbed her. It took forever to convince her she had done it herself.
Well, gosh and golly gee. Based on this horrible information we should have a 'do-over' of the national election for no good reason at all.
We'll hear more of this crap like about how a Reep dropped a toothpick out a car window and due to that assault on the environment Kerry should have won the election.
Utter nonsense so typical of the left.
I was looking at that also.
It would appear that they spent 6 million to clear 2. Is it the norm that 75% of the money raised goes to the mass marketing firm? Are these numbers even accurate?
I don't think the College Republicans are guilty of deceptive practices, only guilty of a really bad business model.
That is normal for mass mailing fundraising.
another reminder that I'm in the wrong line of work.
The first is the claim that 80% of the donations went to the firm handling the solicitations. If these people are giving their money to a cause, more than 20% of their giving should benefit the cause. If the College Republicans really allowed themselves into such a bad deal, the people who made that deal should be fired.
The second is that the reporters didn't look for examples of similar problems with Democrats. I'm certain that if they looked around, they'd find Democratic lobbying groups that sent a similar number of solicitations to old people and received similar donations. It's sad when old people lose their judgement, and someone should be managing their finances when they reach this state. However, the problem is not a Republican problem.
Otherwise, the article admitted that many of the people received what they wanted for their donations. They wanted to give to see Republican victories on election day, and that's exactly what happened.
Bill
I sent back some democrap stuff and told them to keep there CRAP
The College Republican National Committee is a national Republican 'company.'
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