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   Consumers should be cautious about donating money to seven
charities that have used the same company in St. Louis County to help them run strikingly
similar fundraising sweepstakes across the U.S., the St. Louis Better Business Bureau (BBB)
warns. The charities are based outside Missouri, but receive donations at the same Kirkwood,
Mo., post office.

Donors in California and Wisconsin have told the BBB they believe the sweepstakes letters,
prepared with the help of the fundraising consultant 0 
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of
Ballwin and Kirkwood, are misleading. They say the mailings make it seem they already had
won cash prizes or were on the brink of winning. The BBB said Internal Revenue Service annual
990 reports show that several of the charities have spent a high percentage of their contributions
on fundraising.

Michelle L. Corey, BBB president and CEO, said the IRS reports raise serious concerns about
the effectiveness of the charities.

³We feel it is critical for donors to know just how much of their contributions are going for a
charity¶s programs and how much is going for overhead expenses like fundraising costs and
officials¶ salaries and benefits,´ Corey said. ³When most of a charity¶s income is used to pay
fundraising costs, consumers have to ask whether that charity is the best place for their money.´

The charities with ties to Precision Performance Marketing are:

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of Sarasota, Fla., which operates the programs
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of Schereville, Ind.
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of Niceville, Fla.
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of Pompano Beach, Fla.
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of Falls Church, Va.
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of Orlando, Fla.

All of the charities signed contracts with Precision Performance Marketing.

Five years ago, Precision Performance Marketing was at the center of a controversy that led to
the resignation of %
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 . Board members of Reach Our Children said at that time that Lovell never told them
that his wife was a co-owner of Precision Performance Marketing, which had been paid $3
million to assist Reach Our Children with fundraising from 2003 to 2005.

Missouri secretary of state records show that 
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of Ballwin has been
president of Precision Performance Marketing since its formation in 2003. Until recently, David
Lovell¶s wife, Nancy, was vice president. In April 2010, David Lovell replaced his wife in that
position.

Jim Judge, director of the BBB's Charity Information Service, said IRS records for several of the
charities tied to Precision Performance Marketing indicate only a small amount of past
contributions have gone to programs the charities were set up to help.

x Disabled Police Officers Counseling Center reported total contributions of $562,000 in its
2008 IRS 990 report, the most cent available. Of that, $478,000 went to pay fundraising
expenses. The charity said about $66,000 of that total went to its charitable programs, or
about 12 percent. Of that, about $14,800 went to counseling, less than 3 cents of every
dollar contributed.
x National Cancer Assistance Foundation reported contributions of about $405,000 in
2009, with $367,000 of that total going to pay independent contractors. The charity
reported that $44,000 went to program services, or about 11 cents of each dollar donated.
x Autism Spectrum Disorder Foundation reported contributions of about $1.2 million in
2009, with nearly $1.1 million of that raised through Infocision, a telemarketing
company, and Precision Performance Marketing. Of the approximately $877,000 raised
by Infocision, nothing went to the charity. Of the $203,000 raised through Precision
Performance Marketing, about $38,000, or 19 cents of each dollar, went to the charity.
The total for both contracts was about 3½ cents for each dollar raised.

In recent weeks, an 84-year-old woman in Dana Point, Calif., received sweepstakes solicitation
letters from each of the charities. The letters offered cash prizes ranging from $6,184 to $7,414,
but said she could win only by returning the forms.

A Nov. 16 sweepstakes mailing from the Autism Spectrum Disorder Foundation reads:
³OFFICIAL DOCUMENT. EXPRESS NOTICE FOR CASH AWARD.´ The woman¶s name is
typed into the space marked, ³Recipient¶s Name´ and ³Six Thousand Nine Hundred Twenty Six
Dollars´ is typed into the space marked ³Cash Award.´ The letter continues: ³I ASSURE YOU I
WILL PERSONALLY WRITE YOU A CHECK FOR $6,926 if you send your form in and
follow the official rules.´ The letter asks for a donation, but notes that no donation is required to
win. The reverse side includes information about autism.

The solicitations from the other six charities are similar and the rules at the bottom of each entry
are nearly identical. Each asks that the entry form and donations be returned to a post office box
at 343 S. Kirkwood Road in Kirkwood. The post office is the same one formerly used by
Lovell¶s Reach Our Children at the time Precision Performance Marketing was operating a
sweepstakes for that charity.

Records with the Illinois attorney general show that Precision Performance Marketing has signed
three-year contracts for fundraising consulting with six of the charities. Under the agreements,
Precision Performance Marketing is prohibited from soliciting on behalf of the charities, ³or ever
have custody or control of any proceeds contributed´ to the charities. Laws in several other states
also bar fundraising consultants such as Precision Performance Marketing from having custody
or control of contributions.

One of those contracts is with Circle of Friends for American Veterans. The charity¶s president,
Maj. Brian Hampton, told the BBB that Precision Performance Marketing¶s law firm in Kansas
City assured him that the contract was legal, but he said, ³I don¶t like it.´ Asked how much his
charity was receiving from the contract, he said, ³It¶s not good. I¶m just not comfortable with it. I
think I¶m going to have a µcome to Jesus¶ meeting with my board (about the contract).´

In addition to the three-year contracts with the six charities, Precision Performance Marketing
was hired on a month-to-month basis as a consultant for Child Watch of North America,
according to its president, Don Wood. Wood said Precision Performance Marketing charges 41
cents for each sweepstakes piece mailed. He said the company is responsible for mailing
between 25,000 and 30,000 pieces a month, 12 times a year.

On its website, www.precision123.com, Precision Performance Marketing describes its

sweepstakes fundraising program as ³designed to elicit not only the greatest number of donor
responses, but generate the most donations possible. The messages vary in approach, but all
involve a sweepstakes giveaway.´

Lovell founded Reach Our Children in 1994 and grew it into a $5 million-a-year national charity
before his resignation in March 2006. In 2005, the BBB warned about donating to Reach Our
Children, citing potentially misleading sweepstakes offers.

A woman from Racine, Wis., told the BBB she felt misled by several of the recent sweepstakes
mailings, including solicitations from Children With Hairloss, Children¶s Cancer Dream
Network and Autism Spectrum Disorder Foundation. She said she made several small donations
to the charities and was inundated with more mailings.

Of the seven charities, National Cancer Assistance Foundation appears to be the most recently
created. Paul DeBonis is president of the charity. Children¶s Cancer Dream Network, a program
of DeBonis¶ charity, has the identical name of a program used by Lovell¶s old Reach Our
Children charity.

A website lists DeBonis as chief operating officer of a Florida company called Living Naturally.
A brief biography on that site says he was former chief financial officer and chief operating
officer of Full Circle Solutions in St. Louis. Missouri records show that Full Circle Solutions has
used the Ballwin address at 474 Mark Wesley Lane that is now used by Precision Performance
Marketing. In 2004, Full Circle Solutions also was using the same Kirkwood address ± 12166
Old Big Bend, Suite 100 ± used by Lovell¶s Reach Our Children and its Children¶s Cancer
Dream Network. The Old Big Bend address also is used by Precision Performance Marketing.

Despite e-mails and phone calls to the seven charities, only Wood, Hampton and DeBonis
responded to requests for information from the St. Louis BBB. (Children With Hairloss did
respond to the BBB¶s Wise Giving Alliance which evaluates national charities. That charity did
not meet seven the alliance¶s 20 Standards for Charity Accountability).

DeBonis initially said his cancer charity got involved with Precision Performance Marketing on
the recommendation of an associate in the charity arena. He referred other questions to Precision
Performance Marketing.

In a later e-mail, DeBonis said his charity has been pleased with the work of Precision
Performance Marketing. He also said, ³We don¶t have the time or resources to address local
Better Business Bureau inquiries.´ Officials with Precision Performance Marketing did not
respond to a request for information.

The BBB offers the following tips to consumers solicited by charities:

x Read any charity sweepstakes offers carefully. Do not be misled by mailings indicating
you have already won or are a contest finalist. This may simply mean the winner is
chosen from those who receive solicitations or who respond to mailings.
x U.S. Postal statutes do not allow a sweepstakes to require consideration (such as a
donation) in order to participate. Donors and non-donors should have the same chance of
winning.
x Learn all you can about a charity before contributing. Ask for written information on how
much of your contribution will be spent on program services and how much will be spent
on fundraising, management and other expenses.
x In some cases, direct mail and telemarketing can be expensive. If you have concerns
about the expense of a charity¶s campaign, consider donating directly to the charity.
x Check with the BBB for a Reliability Report by going to www.bbb.org or calling 314-
645-3300. For a charity to receive BBB accreditation it must meet 20 Standards of
Accountability covering everything from governance to fundraising.