Posted on 03/01/2011 4:26:36 PM PST by mnehring
PHOENIX -- A tea party organization based in Mesa, Ariz., which has collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations, spent nearly half of its budget on marketing its own name, according to Federal Elections Commission documents.
Those records, obtained during a CBS 5 News investigation, also show the organization spent no money to directly support tea party candidates.
The website, JoinTheTeaParty.us is registered to a nonprofit corporation in Mesa. When CBS 5 News reporters contacted the director of that company, they were referred to a Washington, D.C., attorney, who said the personnel in Phoenix were too busy to sit down for an interview.
CBS 5 News began its investigation into the company after receiving a phone call from an East Coast tea party activist who said nobody within the tea party movement he had spoken to had heard of the Mesa organization.
The caller also told CBS 5 News it did not appear the organization was spending any of its donations to support tea party priorities.
Among the findings of the CBS 5 News investigation, the organization spent $181,000 on Google, Facebook and other websites for advertising. As a result, when CBS 5 producers typed the phrase, "tea party," into the Google search engine, the first paid advertisement that popped up was for JoinTheTeaParty.us.
Additional digging into the organization's background revealed the director of the nonprofit also has ties to companies that collect and sell people's personal information. Todd Cefaratti is listed as the director the the nonprofit, as well as a company known as reverseleadclub.com.
At a recent tea party rally at the state Capitol, no tea party supporters approached by CBS 5 News had heard of the wesbite.
An e-mail written to CBS 5 News from Washington attorney Dan Backer stated that the site develops and distributes daily information on local and national tea party events. Backer also wrote that the website does not share the names or personal information of its donors with any other commercial interests.
Several donors to the site contacted by CBS 5 News said they were under the impression they were joining the official tea party when they donated to the website. The populist tea party movement is not an official national political party.
Click here to see the Federal Elections Commission report which documents the finances of “JoinTheTeaParty.US.”
A class action suit for fraud would not be inappropriate.
Long Standing Federal Programs Rated as Failures by the White House
Don't rely on the MSM "filtered for Idiots" version. Read it yourself.
Did you click the wrong thread? :->
Clearly a liberal criminal enterprise created to smear the right while making a little cash.
Todd Cefaratti from Gilbert AZ who owns the business Glengary Inc. You may be on to something. His name is coming up associated with several data collection companies like reverseleadclub.com. Glengary Inc is an internet marketing company.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2577608/posts
Aside from his work as a marketing consultant, Todd Cefaratti performs as Executive Director for the nonprofit organization TheTeaParty.net. Operating one of the most popular websites devoted to the Tea Party cause, Todd Cefaratti strives to involve more people in the political organization and clear up misconceptions about the Party’s philosophies, goals, and overall mission to promote limited federal government, more states’ rights, and an increased sense of personal responsibility and civic duty. Through the site, Todd Cefaratti signs up tens of thousands of people every week and coordinates national events and tours, some featuring important conservative pundits such as radio host Rusty Humphries. Before entering the business world, Todd Cefaratti attended the University of California Los Angeles on an academic scholarship and studied economics. Subsequently, Todd Cefaratti attended the University of California Irvine for a postgraduate degree in marketing.
Not all of the nearly 3,000 groups – and counting - that are part of the TEA Party movement are political action committees that are legally allowed to donate to candidates. In fact, MUCH more money went into education and outreach in the last election than went to actual candidates. And for good reason – the $5,000 maximum a PAC can give is nowhere near as important as bringing more volunteers and voters to the movement! TheTeaParty.net is a 501c4 organization; it can’t legally give any money to candidates. Our goal is to use the contributions we do receive – from less than 10% of those who use our many free online resources to get involved in the movement - to constantly bring more people into the movement. That means broadly marketing our name and message to as wide an audience as possible. The proof is in the pudding – as of this month, we have brought 80,960 people into the movement and connected them to state & local TEA Party groups nationwide. We give individuals the tools to get involved, and get others involved, in the movement. If each of those people had donated just $10 of their money to a candidate or group of their choice as a result of our introduction, we would have helped bring in a lot more money than we’ve spent bringing them in. That’s a success. -Teresa
Todd Cefaratti has also posted replies on same topic on another thread. Here is the link to read those responses:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2577608/posts
-Teresa
And I posted this on that other thread as well - perhaps you can provide this information:
I’ve been a conservative activist for over a decade. Was out in the streets protesting long before the Tea Party came to pass. I’m glad to see all of the new blood, but I also know that with new movements comes new opportunities to fleece people.
Also, I’m not asking anyone for donations. You are. So you have a much higher standard to meet here to explain where those donations are going than I do to explain my conservative bona fides.
And I’ve worked for a non-profit in the past. It actually raked in some good money and paid good salaries. Non-profit means nothing to what those within it can make from it.
So there have been some serious allegations levelled here. And I really haven’t seen anything that you’ve posted that significantly addresses those allegations. How much of your budget goes towards salaries? Towards marketing? Towards advertising for donations? Towards fundraising?
Versus how much goes towards the sponsorships and activism you speak of?
Doesn’t have to be a complicated accounting - just simple line items will do. Salaries. Marketing. Fundraising costs. Activism. As percentages of your budget.
Also, if you have it, a link to any filings you may have made publicly to support those percentages.
Prove the critics wrong. I am more than willing to evenhandedly review the evidence. Present some that is more than talk. Give us the kind of numbers that are routinely used to evaluate the efficiency of charities and non-profits in how donations are sued.
OK, an additional question - do any of the companies contracted for these marketing costs have any fiduciary or other direct relationship to the principals in TheTeaParty.net?
BTW, 50 percent is a HIGHLY suspicious number. You can bury a lot in marketing costs.
“.....................but it doesn’t appear that anyone was fooled for a minute.”
Michiganders are obviously smarter than Zonies.
Be careful of ANYone who has his hand out...
Beware the prophet who profits.
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