Thank you, Donna, I am removing my check from my mailbox and cancelling my pledge.

Thanks

I'm so sorry about your mother. I lost my father and grandfather to Alzheimer's .  These people should not be bothering your mother. However, I did research the charity. It appears that they gave sizable grants to research institutions and millions of dollars in cancer drugs.

On 4/13/14 I received a called form the "Breast Cancer Research and Support Fund." After the high pressure pitch I agreed to send $15, but I didn?t feel comfortable about the organization. After going to their web site and not finding any details about their budget and being unable to find any legitimate reviews/ratings of the organization, and their unwillingness to respond to an inquiry from the Better Business Bureau (http://www.bbb.org/charity-reviews/national/s ... ompano-fl-23205) I?ve decided not to donate and I?d recommend that you avoid this organization.

The Breast Cancer Research and Support Fund has been calling my 90 year old mother and sending her numerous solicitations--to her address and also to mine. She has Alzheimer's disease and is also a heart patient. The cost of her care exceeds her income. She is so vulnerable to these requests and wants to send them checks. Since I do her bills and paper work, I decided to find out more about this fund, especially since I have breast cancer, just had surgery in March 2014. After reading this blog, I decided to reply to it. It makes me so angry that there are people out there who scam the elderly and others--their intentions are greedy and evil. How can they live with themselves?
Of course I talked to mom about this, but with her Alzheimer's, she does not remember--they continue to call her and she continues to get these official looking solicitations. I have asked them to remove her name by phone by calling the toll free number 855 284 6749 (left message, since no one answered) and I also a mailed in request.

I have proposed that the Sun Sentinel newspaper in Fort Lauderdale do an expose on this organization. I am going to contact them about this.

Thanks to Donna I am not going to send a check or a reply. My Mother had breast cancer and I thought I was doing something good I will only donate locally now . Thanks for your hard work on this

no and I understand and I prefer to donate locally but help as I can
   either church or any organizations but I think we are all free to do what we want
but I return some of the many blessings that God gives us each day. take care

Sounds like you are part of that organization.  Why should I call them when THEY are telemarketers who refuse to give the BBB information?????

I have donated many times, and have plenty of reason to investigate before sending money because many of these organizations are fake but I call this organization and I realized that was not what the web. I believe that helping these ladies I felt very well they appreciate it very much and now I want to visit  pompano. so i  recommend you and  i think that"s better call  the organization,  I did  and I"ll  continue helping them.
may GOD BLESS a people who support this cause. i recommend call them..

Thanks so much for posting this. I just received a similar call and said I would donate $20. When another person came on the line for verification, I asked the name of the organization again. I said I wanted to check them out on the web and the woman said "Fine." and hung up quickly without taking my address to send me the information..

My experience has been similar to Donna's. I've received a few calls from this outfit. I've asked it to stop calling me. Each time it calls it asks for "Harold." I respond there is no "Harold" at my number. Tonight I asked for the caller's name and was told it was "Darlene Lewis." "Darlene" told me "she" was with "Courtesy Call" in Las Vegas. I asked for a Tax ID number and received no response.

I told "Darlene" I would again report her outfit to the FCC, federal and state no-call lists.

While the story from the person who works for "Courtesy Call" is unfortunate, she needs to understand that people like me do not appreciate our privacy being repeatedly invaded by suspect fundraisers who have been asked to stop calling.

Thank you!  Was trying to get more info on this "charity" after I got a call from them and agreed to donate.  Their website doesn't indicate how they distribute funds, so I was scouting around for more data and spotted your letter.

Since the federal government now requires insurance companies to limit how much they can allocate to expenses, shouldn't it do the same for so-called "non-profits" that qualify for tax breaks?

Again, thanks.  Just pitched the BCR&SF lettter into the trash.

I know for sure they are a SCAM. When you get calls like that always ask: How do they disperse the funds raised?? How does the $$ get to the poor women?? Do they apply?? Does the organization go around and find women they give the $$ to?? Do they give out grants to organizations that help women like that? etc etc and if they don't have an answer you know they are BOGUS. It is a very sad state of affairs. I wish something could be done to these kind of organizations.

I received a call from Breast Cancer Research and Support Fund a few weeks ago. I almost never pick up my home phone unless I recognize the number on my caller ID, but because it was around the holidays and I was expecting to receive calls from family abroad, I picked up. The man on the phone was very pleasant and convincing and I agreed to pledge $35. Once I received the form I decided I should look into this charity. I checked the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) website because they list thousands of charities with detailed stats, then Charity Navigator. Neither of them showed any hits. When I Googled it, I saw that BBB had reported it hadn't received their information. Finally I came across this site. I contribute quite a lot to charities, mainly through CFC, but this is one that is definitely off my list.

Thank you all so much for your input.

Thanks for your story, Almosthomeless. Hope you have found a better job.

Got a call from a woman who said she was with the Breast Cancer Research and Support Fund from a woman at 702-906-0275.  She wanted me to make a one-time donation of $15 or something.  I said, "I don't know of your organization.  Let me look you up online right now."  She gave me the organization's url, www.bcrsf.org/.  She hung up before I could even look them up.  According to the Better Business Bureau, as of today, 1/18/2014, the BBB said, "This Charity did not provide requested information. As a result, the Better Business Bureau cannot determine if it meets standards."

Do a little research.  Registered with the South Carolina Sec. of State's office as a "Charity"  Financials listed for 2012:  Total Revenue = $7.47 mill, Program expenses = $4.2mill, Fundraising costs = $3 mill, for a total expense of $7.43 mill,  Leaving net assets at a whopping $60 K.  

Also, "My father was a physician in NY and grew up knowing first hand the importance of prevention as well as proper treatments."  Father was sued for malpractice multiple times.

These guys have a very convincing telephone approach that reels you in very quickly.  DON"T SEND THEM ANY MORE $.    

this is a scam. i bot this condo in 2004 and a member of my family lives there. we are suing mr. sailors for fraud

I too got a call from the Breast Cancer Research & Support Fund for a $15 pledge.  When I got the call and was going to use my credit card to pay for the pledge, the caller said that I couldn't pay by credit card and suggested I call them upon receiving the sponsor confirmation in the mail.  When I got their confirmation in the mail, I thought it strange that their envelope did not have their return information on the envelope (blank envelope).  The return envelope also was a blank envelope.  I decided to google them and 800notes.com appeared.  I am relieved that I did not send in my pledge and want to thank you all for enlightening me on this "scam" organization.  I also checked the BBB site and because this "charity" either had not responded to BBB requests for information or has declined to be evaluated in relation to BBB Standards for Charity Accountability only confirmed to me that BCRSF is not legitimate.

Dear Almost Homeless,
I'm so sorry about the abuse of the other replier.  I don't understand that level of snarky cruelty.  You've provided an honorable service, saved us from falling for the scam, and I truly wish you success in finding honorable, fulfilling work,  You clearly deserve it.

It's a scam.

When I got the call from Concord, NH I asked about Prostate and testicular cancers, as the "ladies" wanted to count on my contribution. When I asked about male cancers they hung up. Meaning it's a liberal feminist collections.
Mind you I don't contribute to unsolicited callers anyway, and am amazed how many people fall for this ploy.

I thought I'd check it out before I sent any money. Will not after I read the post.

Thanks for the good work!  You just saved me some $ which I will send to a more worthy charity--if you can even call the BCRSF a charity.

Add me to the list of people who landed here after receiving the pledge in the mail. I even told them when they called that I would send them a donation pending looking into their organization. Well, I looked, and didn't like what I read.

Thanks to those who did the heavy lifting.

Into the shredder.

I was writing out my check to the BCR &SF when I decided to Google it.  So glad I did.  I am printing this page and putting it in the reply envelope.  Thank you!

Got their call this morning.  Since I am a 75-year old breast cancer survivor I probably listened longer than I would normally do.  While listening to her talk I Googled them and saw in the first link that they hadn't responded to a Better Business Bureau request...end of call!

After receiving a call from and giving to the Breast Cancer Research & Support Fund I also received a call from the U.S. Firefighters Association.  Since both came from Courtesy Call I decided to do a little research online before writing my check to the Firefighters Assn.  Found this site and a really good article that I am posting a link to below.

http://newtoseattle.wordpress.com/2013/05/28/dubious-charity-playing-in-seattle-scores-a-dubious-hat-trick/

I have got to STOP being so damn naïve!

it is easy to get legalized for a nonprofit but breast cancer research is just one charity the company Courtesy Call contacts people for. The other is the Police and Firemen and they have dozens of charities they call for. dont be scammed, these so called nonprofits keep most of the money! Very little goes to help the people in need! Jim must work for courtesy call...folks you should research Courtesy Call...very eye opening.

Shame on them.  Pledged $50, got the pledge letter in the mail and, before sending any money, found this site.  Thanks to all who did the research.