The Company that is making these calls for the Shriners used to be called Cunningham and Moore, but it now goes by the name Agente Communications; even though many of the older callers still use the name Cunningham and Moore on the phone. Their main phone number is 972-702-8600. If you call that number, someone in the processing department will answer the phone and you can ask to speak to whoever you need to, and they will transfer you. They do call nationwide, raising money for many of the local Shriners. Some people may call this a Shriner scam, Shriners scam, or Shriners telemarketing scam. I'm just going to list some of the facts as they stand to the best of my knowledge in 2013 and let you be the judge as to how you feel about your donations to this company calling for the Shriners.

The actual truth is that they have "cold callers" and "tap callers". A cold caller is a person who starts out with the company or who has been there a while and hasn't proven their sales ability yet. A cold caller basically calls cold off from a lead list that is organized by zip code. Cold callers call people who have never donated before (however, some of the numbers may include those who have but just by chance) in the hopes that they can get a donation. Once a cold caller gets a person to commit to giving a donation that donor then becomes a tap. A tap is basically a lead of a person who has donated before, a prior donor for the company. These taps, leads, are stored in a different database from then on out, and on your receipt you will see your tap number in the upper left or upper right hand part of the receipt. All the older receipts used to end with either just a number, or the letters top or bull depending on how valuable a donor you were. now they took the letters of and they end with no letters or just the letter t or b so donors would stop asking what that meant. Now a tap caller is a caller who has proven their sales ability and only calls taps, which are prior donors. Again there are different levels of taps depending on how valuable a donor you are: there are "room taps", "top taps", "bull taps", and even taps in what is called "the premier database".

As far as pay for callers is concerned, all callers are guaranteed to get $10 and hour as a base or commission, whichever is higher at the end of the week. The caller gets 35% of every "cold sale" made. So that means that if you have never donated to this company before then you are a cold sale and the caller gets 35% of your donation. As far as taps are concerned, the caller gets 20% of every "tap sale" made. Again, that means that if you have donated to this company then you are a tap sale and the caller gets 20% of your donation. Unfortunately it gets much worse sounding than that though, because most callers are not good enough on the phones to commission at the end of the week, so they just make the $10 per hour. What that means to you is that if a person only raised $800 in donations for the whole week, and that person worked 40 hours, then that caller made a paycheck of $400; and, therefore, that caller alone got 50% of your donation. Keep in mind that that is just the pay to the individual caller and there is a whole office of staff, office rent, etc, etc,.

So you may be wondering how much the top callers at Agente communications make? Well, there are about 5 bulls at this time at Agente Communications. A "bull" is what they call their very top callers. A few of these bulls consistently pull paychecks of $4,000 to $7,000 each and every week. Yes, you read that correctly, and I did not typo and add an extra zero by accident. I have repeatedly and first hand seen their paychecks and seen their weekly tmr report, which is a report off the donations they brought in. So for you big donors out there, listen up: if you donate $1,000 to a shrine circus or hospitals, then that caller you are on the phone with is guaranteed top get 20% of your thousand; again, factually if you donate $1,000 to a shrine circus or hospital or even a shrine golf tournament, $200 of your $1,000 check is going right into the pocket of the caller that is on the phone with you. Believe me I know I have been that caller many times.

So there are some of the facts as far as pay is concerned with the company called Agente Communication, formerly called Cunningham and Moore. I am thinking about starting a website describing the full range of my knowledge of this company in the hopes of giving donors a more informed decision of where their money is going. I will do so if some of you who reply on here would think you would be interested in seeing a website fully detailing this company and how it is run to the best of my knowledge. just reply to this message with your opinion.

By as I said this company calls over many parts of the country for local Shrines, raising money for their circus' and also hospitals, as well as the shrine charity golf tournaments. Here is a short list of many of the local Shrines that we called for while i worked there, along with the local Shrine name, its location, and the caller ID number that may have been in use at that time (keep in mind they change these numbers frequently to keep donors on their feet:

Hella Shrine Ciircus  (Dallas) and Shriners Hopsitals 972-702-2955 (however they have a few more numbers and i don't have them written down.

Al Amin Shrine Circus (Kingsville, Victoria, Hidalgo, Beeville, Alice, and Corpus Christie, Texas) 361-225-2584

Abou Ben Adhem Shrine Circus (Springfield, MO) not sure of the caller id number

Alcazar Shrine Circus (Montgomery, AL) 334-264-1104

Al Chymia Shrine Circus (Memphis, TN) 901-387-0448

Alhambra Shrine Circus (Chattanooga, TN) 423-892-9266

Al Menah Shrine Circus (Nashville, TN) 615-262-2502

Alzafar Shrine Circus (San Antonio, Seguine, Laredo, Texas) 210-892-0006

Beja Shrine Circus (Green Bay, Neenah, Shawano, Waupaca, and other cities, WI) 920-497-0079 and 920-494-3401

Ben Hur Shrine Circus (Austin, TX) 512-646-0025

Elf Khurafeh Shrine Circus (Lansing, Flint, and Saginaw, MI) 810-686-7411

El Kahir Shrine Circus ( Cedar rapid, Iowa City, Mason City, IA) 319-804-1750

El Karubah Shrine Circus (Shreeveport, LA)  not sure of the number off hand

El Maida Shrine Circus (El Paso and Odessa, TX) 915-351-3794 and 915-351-3566

Jerusalem Shrine Circus (Thibodeaux and New Oleans, LA) 985-725-9333

Kaaba Shrine Circus (Davenport, IA) 563-359-6354

Maskat Shrine Circus (Wichita Falls, TX) 940-766-3700

Karem Shrine Circus (Waco, TX) 254-420-0091

Orak Shrine Circus (Richton Park, IL) 219-886-9650

Rizpah Shrine Circus (Bowling Green, Owensboro, Hopkinsville, KY) 270-843-0340

Suez Shrine Circus (Midland, San Angelo, and many other cities, TX) 325-949-0009

Tripoli Shrine Circus (Milwaukee, Antigo, Fond Du Lac, Sheboygan, Union Grove, West Bend, WI) 414-443-0441, 920-497-0079

Zelzah Shrine Circus (Las Vegas, NV) 702-366-9150

Zuhrah Shrine Circus (Minneapolis, MN) 612-379-1011

OK that is a list of most of the Shrine Circus' that this company has called for while i worked there. Oh and by the way they also call for the AMVETS over many parts of the country, and the Dallas Sherifs posse (which they are currently using as a sponsor for Christmas supplies since they lost the Jaycees contract for it). So if you donate to the Shrine Circus or hospitals through this company then you will become a tap, and you will be called for the AMVETS or any other charity that this company holds a contrat for in your area. And, yes, the pay structure is the same for these other charities also.

So there you have it. That is the facts as I know them to the best of my knowledge at the time of this writing. I still want to make a free website that exposes all the rest of this company as well as the lifestyle of the top callers there and how your precious donations are spent (Such as the one who feels that it is necessary to wear several thousands of dollards worth of clothes every day and has multiple expensive vehicles that are all customized). I hope this message on this board proves valuable to those who are thinking about making donations to the Shriners through this telemarking company.

Do not call our place of business. Such solicitation calls are expressly prohibited.

dont bet on it!  when I worked there,they would call the same list for each campagn they happen to be calling for. Lets see, amvets,shriners, food pantry, well, you get it? It dont matter to them where they beg as long as their making money, I mean Cristene is making money. He"s the guy who runs the sweat house, and his butt kissing sidekick, briane.  These guys could 'nt sell a tire tube on the titanic without their TAPS. thats the list of names, amounts given, and addresses of those who have given in the past. some 4 to 5 times a year. Even if you gave once and cant do it again, you will regret you ever did. they will make sure of that. Never call you again? dont bet on it. that would be a first.

I Don't want any call from this number, please

I live in Minneapolis and I just got a call from Bill Johnson -- "hey, I have a question for you, please call me at 612-379-1011".  Thankfully I came here to learn more before calling back -- I won't be.

called and swore at my daughter

They call our office all the time; asking for the owner.  When I ask who is calling I get "Charles Moore" and when I ask from what company I get "it's a personal matter" - my boss has me voicemail them and they just hang up - incredibly rude - if he' just say he's with the Shriners I could tell him we already contributed. Now I know.  I went ahead and blocked their number this morning; problem solved for me.

It's the Zuhrah Shrine Circus (Minneapolis) looking for sponsors.

Yep, it's fundraising for the Shriners.

Recieved call at 7:45 pm (5-5-09)  They didn't leave a message.  Called the number back today (5-6). A "Sam" answered & he had no idea what I was talking about.  I suspect the true number calling is being masked or spoofed by the tele-marketing firm placing these calls.  I'm considering calling the Shriner's local office to complain.

Keeps calling does not leave message. When dialing the number back there is no answer......

On behalf of the Shriner's. Very rude when you question who they are and why they are calling. I flagged the Caller ID as a solicitor so do not answer any more. Often times they'll call back right away instead of using the Directory to reach whoever they want to speak too. A bunch of jerks, definitely avoid if you can!

Received a call from Mike Wilson on my business number requesting a call back. It seems that they are requesting purchasing tickets for some kids to attend the shriners events that can be gotten at the local store for free. I ask for a mailing about the caller and event which never arrived.

Thanks so MUCH for posting the Shriner's local number. I am in Minnesota and I have been getting calls from them for the past 2-3 years. I used to admire the Shriners for the work they do, but at this point if the calls don't stop, I will start speaking out against them.

I just said as much in a phone call to the number that was posted. The fact that they are exempt from the MN and Federal DNC lists doesn't matter. I wish that damn loophole was closed. DNC should mean DNC!

Be polite, but call and complain.

Cunningham and Moore is apparently contracted by the Zurah Shrine Circus in Minneapolis to solicit funds. If you need to contact the Shriners about Cunningham and Moore's behavior, the Zurah phone number is #612-871-3555. They have called our business customer service line more than once after being specifically told not to call again. Also, after told the first time that we do not accept phone solicitations, they rudely interrupt and claim that they're not soliciting - which they clearly are! The Shriners are a good non-profit organization and I believe deserve better fund raising representation than Cunningham and Moore is providing.

I called the number back on my caller ID.  I asked them to remove me from their list.   I had to ask twice what they do.  He said they are not telemarketers.  The are event coordinators.  I told him this was a residence and not a business.  I gave them my phone number and told them to remove it from their list.   They said they don't use a list.  I also told him I was looking on the internet at these comments left about the calls from that number.  And I did let him know that some comments referred to this as a scam.  Hopefully they won't call again.

This number belongs to Cunningham and Moore, a paid call center in Texas.  They are essentially telemarketers for hire.

Cunningham and...
They call on our main business number and never leave a message

Would like them to stop.

They let the phone ring four times, so they hung up just before I answered.
I returned their call but no one answered, though I let the phone ring eight times.

when called they say they are from shriners and want $$$$

Asked me to leave check under doormat!!!  Sounds like a scam

rEPEATED CALLS from  "And. Cunningham" .  Leaves no message.

Who is this caller? I didn't answer the calls.