CNN 2012-06-20

 "Keeping Them Honest" now. With yet another troubling case of a charity that is asking you to open your wallet for a good cause but where the money actually,  where it actually goes is a completely different story. Now over the past couple of weeks, if you've been watching, we've been taking a very hard look at some veterans' charities. Charities for disabled veterans, in particular, that have taken in tens of millions of dollars in donations but used almost none of it to directly help those veterans. CNN's Drew Griffin has been investigating one of those charities, the Disabled Veterans National Foundation, the DVNF, for years now. They've raised nearly $56 million in the past three years. $56 million. And not one dime¹ that we've found has actually gone directly to help disabled veterans. Now you may remember Drew's attempts to talk to the president of that group? It's been met with resistance to say the least. There, she just shut a door in his face. Drew's reporting on the DVNF has gotten a lot of attention. Many of you have been outraged², you've twitted us about it. You've e-mailed us about the story. It's also gotten the attention of the Senate Finance Committee which has launched an investigation³ into the DVNF. Drew is going to join us shortly in just a couple of minutes with an update on that investigation. The million-dollar question is, if the DVNF isn't spending your donations on directly helping⁴ veterans, where is all that money going? 

 

As far as we can tell, up to the 10th floor of this Manhattan office building through a company called Quadriga Arts. A company that specializes in fundraising. And as far as we can tell, Quadriga Arts knows a lot about fundraising for itself. 

 

So Quadriga Art. That's the name you need to remember. Quadriga Art is this company that essentially⁵ gets paid to build mailing lists for groups like the DVNF. And that's where the money trail took, Drew. Now following the trail was one thing. Actually getting answers at the end of it, that was another thing entirely⁶. 

 

Yes, it's Drew Griffin. G-R-I-F-F-I-N. 

 

Yes. He is not here. … ? 

 

I'm trying to reach Mr. Schulhof. 

 

He's not in. 

 

Oh, he's not in.

 

In the course of investigating the DVNF, Drew uncovered yet another veterans' charity called the National Veterans Foundation that takes donations but uses only a very small percentage to actually help veterans. The connection you ask? Well, both veterans' charities use that same fundraising company, Quadriga Art. And now, tonight, Drew has uncovered yet another charity. This time a group that's supposed to help animals that has a similar money-losing connection to: you guess it - that same direct mail organization, Quadriga Art. Here's Drew. 

 

In Montreal, like every big city, the needs of the local SPCA was great. Abandoned dogs and cats needed help and the money to help them was running out. So in 2005, what seemed like a great opportunity came knocking. A private fundraising company called Quadriga Art proposed a major expansion. Montreal's SPCA would become the Canadian SPCA, Quadriga Art would send fundraising mailers across all of Canada. The deal was done and the money started rolling in. But there was a big problem. Practically every dollar that came in, according to Montreal's SPCA's new executive director, was going directly into the coffers of Quadriga Art. The fundraising bill is so large that after three years the Montreal SPCA, despite receiving about $13 million in donations, was in the hole more than $4.5 million.

 

How do you get in debt to a fundraiser? 

 

By incurring⁷ expenses and not having a plan for getting out of it. It was not a smart decision on the SPCA's part. And we let Quadriga create strategy for us. 

 

The strategy was simple. Quadriga Art would send out pleas for money on behalf of this shelter, include tote bags and other gifts made by Quadriga Art's Chinese factory. But the cost far exceeded the donations and the SPCA was locked into this contract for seven years. 

 

The fundraising operation was so upside down for the Montreal SPCA that they actually still owe Quadriga Art nearly $2 million. And Quadriga has even taken out a lean (?) on this animal shelter. 

 

It's a lot of money. It's a lot of money but it's a lot less than the $4 million we owed them seven years ago. 

 

Quadriga Art and its president, Mark Schulhof, pictured here in an ad for an unrelated charity, have repeated refused interview requests to explain its unique process of raising money. A public relations firm explained that the cost at the beginning and raising funds by Quadriga involved long-term strategies to develop donor⁸ list, creating databases that would eventually pay off. 

 

A spokesman told us, quote, "This has been a proven model for 50 years, despite being criticized by some charity watch groups." But at the Montreal SPCA, when the Quadriga Art contract has been running for nearly seven years now, the results have been a disaster. 

 

Will you sign with them again? 

 

Probably not. 

 

And that is hardly the end of this story. 

 

Mr. Barnoti? 

 

Speaking. 

 

My name is Drew Griffin. I'm with CNN. 

 

Yes. 

 

Meet Pierre Barnoti, fired by the Montreal SPCA board only to emerge as the founder⁹ of a new U.S.-based charity - SPCA International. From his home in Montreal in a rarely staffed office in New York, Barnoti and Quadriga Art have designed a new charity, to tug¹⁰ on the heartstrings with its signature program called Baghdad Pups. The stated goal, reuniting vets¹¹ and their war pets. But you're going to be stunned¹² to find out just how this operation works.

1 dime   

n.（指美国、加拿大的钱币）一角

参考例句：

• A dime is a tenth of a dollar.一角银币是十分之一美元。
• The liberty torch is on the back of the dime.自由火炬在一角硬币的反面。

2 outraged   

a.震惊的，义愤填膺的

参考例句：

• Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
• He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。

3 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

4 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

5 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

6 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

7 incurring   

遭受，招致，引起( incur的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Many of the world's farmers are also incurring economic deficits. 世界上许多农民还在遭受经济上的亏损。
• He spoke to the Don directly, taking a chance on incurring Michael's ill will. 他直接向老头子谈自己的意见，这显然要冒引起迈克尔反感的风险。 来自教父部分

8 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

9 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

10 tug   

v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船

参考例句：

• We need to tug the car round to the front.我们需要把那辆车拉到前面。
• The tug is towing three barges.那只拖船正拖着三只驳船。

11 vets   

abbr.veterans （复数）老手，退伍军人；veterinaries （复数）兽医n.兽医( vet的名词复数 )；老兵；退伍军人；兽医诊所v.审查（某人过去的记录、资格等）( vet的第三人称单数 )；调查；检查；诊疗

参考例句：

• I helped train many young vets and veterinary nurses too. 我还帮助培训了许多年青的兽医和护士。 来自互联网
• In fact, we've expanded mental health counseling and services for our vets. 实际上，我们已经扩大了退伍军人的心理健康咨询和服务。 来自互联网

12 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。