InfoCision Stadium on the Today Show

[Zipgrad1990]

Anyone notice they showed the Akron football stadium this morning on the Today show? The news was about telemarketers contracting from charities for business. It did not put telemarketing companies in the best light when doing this since they were receiving 75%+ of the revenue and less than 25% went to the charity. A representative of one charity said she did not have a problem with this however. My only issue is when someone asked one of these telemarketers (who I do not believe was InfoCision) how much the charity received the telemarketers flipped the numbers and claimed the charity got 75% when in fact it was the telemarketing company that did.

InfoCision was highlighted in the story and the reason they showed our football stadium was because they said InfoCision is doing pretty well to be able to pay for the naming rights of a stadium.

[ZachTheZip]

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/49000523#49000523

[Zipsrifle]

Wow, this is all over the news and does not put UA in a good light. NPR seemed to go out of their way to make a point of how much UA benefits from Infocision. It made me frustrated that we "benefited" from such a thing, but with most things I see in the media, I wondered what spin was being put on this to make a good story.

Here is a scenario I though of:

Nowhere in this piece does it mention how much money it COSTS InfoCision to make the calls on behalf of the charities. Lets speculate that Infocision pays $8/hr for someone in Akron to call for a charity. On average, the person contacts 20 people an hour and has a 5% success rate on actually getting donations. The average donation for everyone who does donate is $15. When you factor in the additional costs for that one person in Akron, I can see where it would cost InfoCision $12 just to get one $15 donation every hour. That's 80% of the DONATION!! GASP!!!!

Now, this is PURELY hypothetical, I have NO idea what it costs to do this type of thing and I would hope that InfoCision cuts charities a break in some way. Maybe instead of a 10% profit from working with them they get a 5% profit or something.....

[zipseuph]

Nowhere in this piece does it mention how much money it COSTS InfoCision to make the calls on behalf of the charities.

[Hilltopper]

I'd like to know how they got permission to film from the inside of the stadium. Someone from the admin at UA should have vetted NBCs' motivations before agreeing to let them film.

[jupitertoo]

Wow, this is all over the news and does not put UA in a good light. NPR seemed to go out of their way to make a point of how much UA benefits from Infocision. It made me frustrated that we "benefited" from such a thing, but with most things I see in the media, I wondered what spin was being put on this to make a good story.

Here is a scenario I though of:

Nowhere in this piece does it mention how much money it COSTS InfoCision to make the calls on behalf of the charities. Lets speculate that Infocision pays $8/hr for someone in Akron to call for a charity. On average, the person contacts 20 people an hour and has a 5% success rate on actually getting donations. The average donation for everyone who does donate is $15. When you factor in the additional costs for that one person in Akron, I can see where it would cost InfoCision $12 just to get one $15 donation every hour. That's 80% of the DONATION!! GASP!!!!

Now, this is PURELY hypothetical, I have NO idea what it costs to do this type of thing and I would hope that InfoCision cuts charities a break in some way. Maybe instead of a 10% profit from working with them they get a 5% profit or something.....

I know several people who currently work at InfoCision or who have worked there in the past in mid-level management. It's, um, an EXTREMELY profitable business model. They don't cut anyone much of a break. But that's the nature of that type of business - they're no different than any other call-center sweatshop operator.

[GP1]

I know several people who currently work at InfoCision or who have worked there in the past in mid-level management. It's, um, an EXTREMELY profitable business model. They don't cut anyone much of a break. But that's the nature of that type of business - they're no different than any other call-center sweatshop operator.

You got that right. Their billing per completed call, at least around ten years ago, was making them around sixty dollars per hour while normal companies were making around thirty five.

Basically, info inion makes money for itself while developing donor bases for their clients. They started out doing this for religious groups scaring little old ladies out of twenty five dollars at a time. It later branched into other types of fundraising where they still scare people out of money with hyper inflated rhetoric.

The management of the company is a strange breed. Gary Talylor had a sort of cult following within the company. Honestly, I think a lot of the groups they deal with are cults themselves, but that's another discussion. The upper management of the company all lives next to each other out in bath. I know someone who called it a compound It's very cultlike. I think that's the way they want it.

Our stadium was built with very strange and dirty money.

[uhgrad2002]

You got that right. Their billing per completed call, at least around ten years ago, was making them around sixty dollars per hour while normal companies were making around thirty five.

Basically, info inion makes money for itself while developing donor bases for their clients. They started out doing this for religious groups scaring little old ladies out of twenty five dollars at a time. It later branched into other types of fundraising where they still scare people out of money with hyper inflated rhetoric.

The management of the company is a strange breed. Gary Talylor had a sort of cult following within the company. Honestly, I think a lot of the groups they deal with are cults themselves, but that's another discussion. The upper management of the company all lives next to each other out in bath. I know someone who called it a compound It's very cultlike. I think that's the way they want it.

Our stadium was built with very strange and dirty money.

I've been conflicted about this ever since the naming rights for the stadium were granted. On the one hand, I absolutely detest telemarketing. On the other hand, Infocision puts a lot of money into things like the UA stadium. The stadium in Copley is another one they put money in. I justified it to myself by thinking that the money they spend on the community pays for the annoyance factor of how they earn it. That was before I learned that they lie about how much the charities are getting. That part I cannot gloss over.

I have a steadfast rule that I never EVER respond with a commitment to a telemarketer call. Even if I know it is coming directly from a group I support I insist that they mail or email me information and I will decide at my own time whether to respond or not.

[NewZipsFan]

I'd like to know how they got permission to film from the inside of the stadium. Someone from the admin at UA should have vetted NBCs' motivations before agreeing to let them film.

Just wondering -- because it is a public university - maybe they have to give permission to film inside?

[skip-zip]

Wow, this is all over the news and does not put UA in a good light. NPR seemed to go out of their way to make a point of how much UA benefits from Infocision. It made me frustrated that we "benefited" from such a thing, but with most things I see in the media, I wondered what spin was being put on this to make a good story.

Here is a scenario I though of:

Nowhere in this piece does it mention how much money it COSTS InfoCision to make the calls on behalf of the charities. Lets speculate that Infocision pays $8/hr for someone in Akron to call for a charity. On average, the person contacts 20 people an hour and has a 5% success rate on actually getting donations. The average donation for everyone who does donate is $15. When you factor in the additional costs for that one person in Akron, I can see where it would cost InfoCision $12 just to get one $15 donation every hour. That's 80% of the DONATION!! GASP!!!!

Now, this is PURELY hypothetical, I have NO idea what it costs to do this type of thing and I would hope that InfoCision cuts charities a break in some way. Maybe instead of a 10% profit from working with them they get a 5% profit or something.....

I don't think it's bad for UA at all. They clearly state that it was simply a donation from Infocision for Naming Rights to the stadium. I'm just mad that they showed probably the most unimpressive camera shot of the stadium, looking across to the visitor side. They should have shot from the opposite side.

Just keep one thing in mind here. Yes, this might be an expensive method to garner donations. But, as someone who's been on the other side, keep in mind that most of the bigger charities do many other things to raise money that do NOT involve high costs to obtain. And many of them are indeed able to report that a high amount of the total money they bring in is sent back out in benefits. This is merely one method of getting donations.

[Dr Z]

Just wondering -- because it is a public university - maybe they have to give permission to film inside?

Filming in certain public places still require some permissions. I would guess filming inside the stadium required such a permission.

[lance99]

I know several people who currently work at InfoCision or who have worked there in the past in mid-level management. It's, um, an EXTREMELY profitable business model. They don't cut anyone much of a break. But that's the nature of that type of business - they're no different than any other call-center sweatshop operator.

The Beacon also did a really long article about Infocision.

Link

[zen]

Guys, this is how the media works.

They are on a rail because it's election season.

[Big Zip]

Tell me something...why isn't the media concentrating on the companies who use these call centers? Obviously they have found it beneficial.

[GP1]

Filming in certain public places still require some permissions. I would guess filming inside the stadium required such a permission.

I would think so as well. The worse thing UofA could have done was to decline the request for filming. If they decline, it could have been worse. UofA has done nothing wrong. They just took a bunch of money that used to be property of little old ladies and built a football stadium with it.

[Lee Adams]

Several ugly issues here.Info apparently has worked its way inside the University. Uof A students are apparently trained by Info personnel about working in call centers. Its not just the involvement w/the stadium naming rights. One other thing was pointed out in the story was that solicitors were apparently lying to potential donors about what percentage of the funds raised the charity itself actually was able to keep. During the story they played a recording of an Ohio AG investigator making a call and apparently being lied to by a solicitor. One of the administrators of one of the charities admitted the charity did not get the majority of the funds. And,in some cases the charity or non-profit if you will had to pay Info. People can believe the story or not. This is not a ne issue and fits with revalations that have come up in the past.

The charity/non-profit wants to get names/phones of potential donors for future use. Of course the donors aren't told. One of the administrators admitted that if they told donors that the non-profit/charity wasn't getting most of the money,nobody would donate.

A number of years ago United Way got bound up in this issue. They had to start revealing what percentage of funds that were raised was actually going to the charities under the United Way umbrella.

Best thing to do if it bothers you is to not give to non-profits/charities that use outfits like Info. to solicit funds.

I didn't read this in the ABJ.

[GP1]

Several ugly issues here.Info apparently has worked its way inside the University. Uof A students are apparently trained by Info personnel about working in call centers. Its not just the involvement w/the stadium naming rights. One other thing was pointed out in the story was that solicitors were apparently lying to potential donors about what percentage of the funds raised the charity itself actually was able to keep.

Working inside the University is certainly a concern. I think a company built off of evangelical cults tied to a public institution is a problem.

As far as lying.....maybe. They are stating a fact that relates to the overall fundraising for the non-profit. When a non-profit hires InfoCision to fundraise, the VAST majority of the money raised will go to IC. Of all the money the non-profit raises, around 20% will go to administrative costs. Are they lying? Not really. Is it distasteful and almost lying?....Heck ya!

Lastly....Enjoy Lot 9....Brought to you by little old ladies giving $25 at a time....

[Dave in Green]

If anyone really wants to donate money to a charity without some third party raking a profit off the top, they should pick the charity they believe is most worthy and send their donation directly to the charity. Responding to a cold sales call makes no more sense for donating to a charity than it does for buying a product or service, sight unseen.

[GP1]

If anyone really wants to donate money to a charity without some third party raking a profit off the top, they should pick the charity they believe is most worthy and send their donation directly to the charity. Responding to a cold sales call makes no more sense for donating to a charity than it does for buying a product or service, sight unseen.

They aren't taking advantage of sane people. They take advantage of true believers and little old ladies.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Lastly....Enjoy Lot 9....Brought to you by little old ladies giving $25 at a time....

If their money doesn't build a stadium, it's just going to go into some crooked church's bingo fund or a slot machine in Windsor...so I am happy they gave it to InfoCision.

[tbozeglav]

Money is money. To call our stadium funded by dirty money is absurd and short sighted. Theyre a legitimate business who, while not operating under what many consider the best of business practices, do their business legitimately. It's not like the money we received came from illegal activities of any kind... I get it though - we all wanted the stadium's naming rights to be bought by First Energy, Goodyear, Bridgestone/Firestone...

I interviewed at Infocision this past spring for a senior internship. Everything about it sounded great and the interview went well, up until they handed me a paper that said (which they reiterated) that they only pay interns $10/hr. I about laughed in their faces... Their interview process was also... interesting. Only cool part of the interview was seeing that awesome scale model of the stadium in their lobby.

[GP1]

If their money doesn't build a stadium, it's just going to go into some crooked church's bingo fund or a slot machine in Windsor

Now wait just a minute there Mr. Kangaroo...I resent you belittling my dreams and ambitions of having my own religion (for tax purposes of course) with the express purpose of starting a huge gambling operation.

[g-mann17]

Now wait just a minute there Mr. Kangaroo...I resent you belittling my dreams and ambitions of having my own religion (for tax purposes of course) with the express purpose of starting a huge gambling operation.

That plan works better if you are a Native American.

[zipseuph]

Infocision also works with Verizon Wireless, Rogers (Canadian cellphone company), Time Warner, and other commercial business's. Don't get washed up in media hype, and actually take a look at ALL the facts.

[zippy5]

If anyone really wants to donate money to a charity without some third party raking a profit off the top, they should pick the charity they believe is most worthy and send their donation directly to the charity. Responding to a cold sales call makes no more sense for donating to a charity than it does for buying a product or service, sight unseen.

Or just do some research and look at a 990.

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