heatguy
06-29-2005, 02:14 PM
im certain this place is a fraud.. i need to figure out how to report a fruad charity.
Stuttering Foundation of America,
3100 Walnut Grove Road,
Suite 603, P.O. Box 11749,
Memphis, TN 38111-0749
http://www.stuttersfa.org
and the sad part is they are very mainstream and likely recieve millions annually in donations.
==========================================
Stuttering Foundation of America,
3100 Walnut Grove Road,
Suite 603, P.O. Box 11749,
Memphis, TN 38111-0749
http://www.stuttersfa.org
They cl on their website to be "the largest - and the first - nonprofit charitable organization in the world working towards the prevention and improved treatment of stuttering."
However i cannot find them in either in the Tennessee List of Registered Charities:
http://www.state.tn.us/sos/charity/co-reg.pdf
or the Tennessee List of Exempt Charities:
http://www.state.tn.us/sos/charity/co-exempt.pdf
despite the fact that they are not listed there, i "was" able to find them through guidstar and locate their 990 forms:
http://www.guidestar.org/pqShowGsReport.do?npoId=580439
What throws up red flags for me inparticular is the cost of certain expenses and how funds are distributed.
for example:
Maintenance of a website and toll free hotline: 99,902.00$
IT services: 56,700.00$
(wow expensive hosting :P ) --------------------->156,602.00$ total
i dont know if you visited the site, but it could have been made by a 12 year old.. its just a simple html page, no flash or scripting or anything..and its the same page they have had for nearly a decade now.. as you can see by using the way back machine internet archive its been relatively unchanged since Dec of 98:
http://web.archive.org/web/*/www.stuttersfa.org
then to further make those IT values suspect, when i emailed her asking for some intel about the audit page she replied with a 9.00$ a month @aol email account...
now if i had paid 153,000.00$ on internet services, why would I have the contact email on my 1/8 million dollar website be an @aol account?
next, when doing a whois search on their web domain, the information provided is erroneous.
phone numbers like 999-999-9999 and 123-123-1234..
I would imagine as a non-profit, disclosure of valid and correct intel would be a prerequisite.
on their index page:
"We are the largest - and the first - nonprofit charitable organization in the world working towards the prevention and improved treatment of stuttering, reaching over a million people annually."
HOWEVER, on their audit page it clearly states:
The Stuttering Foundation of America is a private operating foundation which expends its funds on its own programs and does not make grants to other institutions.
I would imagine its hard to work twords the prevention and improved treatment of stuttering when all of your money never makes it to a single research project.
Taking a peek at their "2003" 990 tax form over lunch, their bottom line was 7 million plus, including everything..
the ONLY payouts to medical professionals in the actual field of stuttering was 10,000.00 dollars!!
And not to any one place or individual. It was made all in 50.00$, 75.00$, and 165.00$ payments to individual speech pathologists as if to appear as though a large number of donations was made.
So not one single doctorate or research scientist in the field of stuttering ever recieved a single dime, and no one single speech pathologist ever recieved more than 165.00$.
sooooo, 7,000,000.00$ - 10,000.00$ = FRAUD...
next, in order to be a 501(c)3 non profit ,the members of the board and founders cant make earnings or profit from the endeavour as stated here:
RS exemption requirements for 501(c)3 tax exempt status: none of the earnings of the organization may inure to any private shareholder or individual. . he organization must not be organized or operated for the benefit of private interests, such as the creator or the creator's family, shareholders of the organization, other designated individuals, or persons controlled directly or indirectly by such private interests. No part of the net earnings of an IRC Section 501(c)(3) organization may inure to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual. A private shareholder or individual is a person having a personal and private interest in the activities of the organization
however!! looking at the tax form she pays herself a healthy 64,500.00$ a year out of donations for her supposed 40 hr a week services.. and she also pays for her car and car insurance with donations!
I am a stutterer for some 30+ years, and each and every day i pray for progress in this field. This site is extremely mainstream in the stuttering and many many people as ive seen from their tax forms donate heavily and often.some in the order of 150k plus each. The thought that this money may be doing nothing more than lining the pocket of some individual is quite infuriating,espeically under the guise of a non-profit...
Any information or assitance you could offer in investigating/reporting this matter would be greatly appreciated.
Stuttering Foundation of America,
3100 Walnut Grove Road,
Suite 603, P.O. Box 11749,
Memphis, TN 38111-0749
http://www.stuttersfa.org
and the sad part is they are very mainstream and likely recieve millions annually in donations.
==========================================
Stuttering Foundation of America,
3100 Walnut Grove Road,
Suite 603, P.O. Box 11749,
Memphis, TN 38111-0749
http://www.stuttersfa.org
They cl on their website to be "the largest - and the first - nonprofit charitable organization in the world working towards the prevention and improved treatment of stuttering."
However i cannot find them in either in the Tennessee List of Registered Charities:
http://www.state.tn.us/sos/charity/co-reg.pdf
or the Tennessee List of Exempt Charities:
http://www.state.tn.us/sos/charity/co-exempt.pdf
despite the fact that they are not listed there, i "was" able to find them through guidstar and locate their 990 forms:
http://www.guidestar.org/pqShowGsReport.do?npoId=580439
What throws up red flags for me inparticular is the cost of certain expenses and how funds are distributed.
for example:
Maintenance of a website and toll free hotline: 99,902.00$
IT services: 56,700.00$
(wow expensive hosting :P ) --------------------->156,602.00$ total
i dont know if you visited the site, but it could have been made by a 12 year old.. its just a simple html page, no flash or scripting or anything..and its the same page they have had for nearly a decade now.. as you can see by using the way back machine internet archive its been relatively unchanged since Dec of 98:
http://web.archive.org/web/*/www.stuttersfa.org
then to further make those IT values suspect, when i emailed her asking for some intel about the audit page she replied with a 9.00$ a month @aol email account...
now if i had paid 153,000.00$ on internet services, why would I have the contact email on my 1/8 million dollar website be an @aol account?
next, when doing a whois search on their web domain, the information provided is erroneous.
phone numbers like 999-999-9999 and 123-123-1234..
I would imagine as a non-profit, disclosure of valid and correct intel would be a prerequisite.
on their index page:
"We are the largest - and the first - nonprofit charitable organization in the world working towards the prevention and improved treatment of stuttering, reaching over a million people annually."
HOWEVER, on their audit page it clearly states:
The Stuttering Foundation of America is a private operating foundation which expends its funds on its own programs and does not make grants to other institutions.
I would imagine its hard to work twords the prevention and improved treatment of stuttering when all of your money never makes it to a single research project.
Taking a peek at their "2003" 990 tax form over lunch, their bottom line was 7 million plus, including everything..
the ONLY payouts to medical professionals in the actual field of stuttering was 10,000.00 dollars!!
And not to any one place or individual. It was made all in 50.00$, 75.00$, and 165.00$ payments to individual speech pathologists as if to appear as though a large number of donations was made.
So not one single doctorate or research scientist in the field of stuttering ever recieved a single dime, and no one single speech pathologist ever recieved more than 165.00$.
sooooo, 7,000,000.00$ - 10,000.00$ = FRAUD...
next, in order to be a 501(c)3 non profit ,the members of the board and founders cant make earnings or profit from the endeavour as stated here:
RS exemption requirements for 501(c)3 tax exempt status: none of the earnings of the organization may inure to any private shareholder or individual. . he organization must not be organized or operated for the benefit of private interests, such as the creator or the creator's family, shareholders of the organization, other designated individuals, or persons controlled directly or indirectly by such private interests. No part of the net earnings of an IRC Section 501(c)(3) organization may inure to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual. A private shareholder or individual is a person having a personal and private interest in the activities of the organization
however!! looking at the tax form she pays herself a healthy 64,500.00$ a year out of donations for her supposed 40 hr a week services.. and she also pays for her car and car insurance with donations!
I am a stutterer for some 30+ years, and each and every day i pray for progress in this field. This site is extremely mainstream in the stuttering and many many people as ive seen from their tax forms donate heavily and often.some in the order of 150k plus each. The thought that this money may be doing nothing more than lining the pocket of some individual is quite infuriating,espeically under the guise of a non-profit...
Any information or assitance you could offer in investigating/reporting this matter would be greatly appreciated.