I get a call from this number once a day for the last month! I have never answered.  I feel like my privacy is being invaded. I never asked the ACLU to call me when I donated money.  I thought this was a good and respectable group and now I know differently!  I'm never giving them another dime of my money again and I'm going to burn the shirt they gave me.  As for you Bob, I don't care if you feel like it's for a good cause.  Making everyday unwanted phone calls does not justify anything just because you think it's for a good cause.  My life is being irritated by your everyday phone calls and that is uncalled for. I wish I had your personal phone number so we could all call you everyday and beg you for money! I have so bills I need to pay, which is for a good cause too! Can you help me? I doubt it.  Get a real job instead of one you sit on your a** all day bothering hard working people.

I got a call from this number and was relieved to find out it is the ACLU, I have sent money to help stand up against the NDAA, and restore some Civil rights that have been walked upon.

Thank you for that post.  It is truly enlightening to hear from the "other side".

do not call me again

Tom,
Your attempt to cloak your business with integrity fails in the face of the nature of the complaints with your company.  I am getting calls on my cell for my husband!  We have never given your organization either of our cell numbers, so you have clearly purchased a list somewhere.  Moreover, most of the time, like some of the other folks above, I get the call and no one is on the line.  Is the call made just so you can document large numbers of calls made on behalf of the ACLU, regardless of whether your employees actually speak to anyone?  This is really bad news for the ACLU, because not only might you be over-reporting calls made, but in the meantime you are ensuring there are a lot of people out there who will never donate to the ACLU.

I answered because it looked like a number I knew - big mistake. They kept saying they were calling on behalf of an organization to which I belong. I asked what organization that might be and again he was polite but kept pressing for a name, without giving an organization name. He was taken aback by the return questioning until I reminded him who called and that no name would be forthcoming until he answered. Hopefully, they won't call back after being told "no answer, no name and I hang up in 5 seconds if you don't respond - and don't call back".

I am sick of getting calls all day long from this number.  I figure if they want me to call back, they should leave a message!

Tom, Tom, Tom... I have answered the phone, told your person I am an ACLU employee and to take me off the darn call list. I tried to shorten the call, but still the person made me listen to the spiel even though I work in the department the spiel was about...before taking my "no I'm not renewing with you over the phone" as my final answer. Yes, I really work for the ACLU and my lapsed membership is my business. Now months later, you're calling me again. I refuse to answer your calls. I am soooo freaking annoyed.

Nope. As soon as I realize it people like YOU I give the phone to my six year old. He just loveds playing phone. No swearing please. :)

You're repeated calls every single freaking day of the week lower my impression of the ACLU. And I will never donate money to you. You waste my time and expect money. That's just stupid.

3rd party profiteers like you make me sick. Thanks to this web page, I have raised my complaint with the ACLU, which I support. A couple more calls from you scum and that support will END.

Tom,

It is not true that you "have no way of knowing whether you love (and there are many of you who do) or hate receiving calls."  The DNC list is an excellent signal.

If you truly cared about the people you call and your employees who speak with them, you would use the federal and state DNC lists to filter your own list, even if you are not legally obliged to.

There's even a middle ground: run an experiment.  See how well successful renewals correlate with phone numbers on the lists.  I suspect you'll find that numbers on the lists are much less likely to be receptive to your calls.  If I'm right, then you would save your customers' time and millions of households' aggravation by voluntarily complying with the DNC lists.

So, you say you hate telemarketing calls, the ones that seem to come in bunches all day long.  You know it?s those blasted telemarketers because you can see those strange area codes show up on your caller ID one after another, adding up, until eventually there might be fifteen calls from the same area code over a week?s time.  Sure, it?s not always the exact same number but it?s always that same foreign area code from places you know you don?t have any friends or relatives.

Well, as the CEO of one of those firms you love to hate, let me tell you how to make those calls stop.     You may ask yourself why am I telling you how not to receive these calls?   Well, the answer is simple.  At my company at least, we really don?t have any interest in bothering those of you who genuinely don?t want to receive calls on behalf of a favorite charity.   So here is all you need to do to get these calls to stop:

1.      Answer the phone.  Yes, I know it sounds counter-intuitive but if you ignore these calls or just let them go to voicemail, you are inadvertently inviting even more calls.

You see, the telefundraising industry does not generally get your name out of the phone book. Rather, they are provided with your name by an organization you support.  But as a result, there are usually a limited number of supporters to reach to achieve the goals the organization has set for the firm.  Reaching as many of you as possible becomes imperative.   To reach even half of the names provided, often requires attempting that person once or twice a day for as many as  thirty days.  The calls will keep coming until either the campaign runs its course (generally 30 days or so) or until you answer the phone and either pledge a gift or elect not to.

2.     If you also want to avoid receiving calls in the future, by answering the phone and speaking with a live representative, you now can instruct the person who has called you to place your phone number(s) on their ?internal? Do Not Call List.  (Non-profit organizations and the telefundraising companies that work on their behalf are exempt from the rules pertaining to the National Do Not Call List so registering on the National list will not prevent you from receiving these calls).

When you request that your name be placed on the company?s internal Do Not Call List and/or the organization?s Do Not Call List, the company and the non-profit are obligated to not call you for five years.

PS ? ask politely.  These are human beings making these calls, often young people just trying to earn a meager living or at a firm like mine, genuinely trying to do good work on behalf of important non-profit organizations.  It?s not their fault that you are receiving unwanted calls.  But they have the power to make these calls stop by coding you as someone who wishes to be on the company?s Do Not Call List.  Don?t give them an incentive by attacking them or verbally abusing them to accidentally/on purpose enter your information incorrectly.

Ok, so now you know how to make these calls stop.  But, before you eagerly await your next telemarketing call just so you can tell the firm to leave you the Hell alone, let me ask you to consider one important thing:

If you genuinely support the work of a charity or non-profit organization, a call from a respectful, well informed caller can provide you with your only opportunity to actually interact personally with someone representing that organization.  It is your chance to ask questions (can?t do that when the organization sends you a letter), give your opinions and become better informed about the organization?s work, how they are using your donations, and what their priorities will be going forward.   Organizations find your feedback very valuable so by engaging with a representative, you are doing your favorite charity a lot of good.

That said, if organizations, or people like me, are asking you to actually accept these calls, it?s our responsibility to do a better job of hiring and training callers who are well educated and well spoken.  It?s also imperative that the company employing these representatives allows callers to take their time to really talk with you.  Far too often, telefundraising companies are trying to complete calls as quickly as possible and pressuring callers to move from one call to the next because it saves money.  It?s time everyone recognized that making supporters listen to some stranger read a script in their ear is no fun for anyone.  Having a spirited conversation, on the other hand, can be truly formative.  So, rather than refuse to take these calls, consider simply insisting that your favorite non-profit hire firms committed to informing and cultivating contributors like yourself (even if it costs a little more) and not just those only interested in how fast they can get you to contribute.

FYI ? Reputable telephone fundraising firms are precluded by ethical standards from taking as their fees a percentage of the money raised (percentage based fee arrangements are considered by the ATFP, the trade association that works with the telephone fundraising industry as well as the Better Business Bureau as unethical).  Good firms generally charge a fixed fee per call or per hour and report to their clients the results and costs of the calls daily, providing the non-profit with the option to stop their programs any time it is underperforming or becoming too expensive.  Therefore, be aware that press reports detailing the percentage of contributions going to the telephone fundraiser as fees are often misleading and do not accurately reflect the role telefundraising may play in benefiting an organization?s overall fundraising program.

Tom,

I appreciate your post however, I just received several calls from your company and my wife and I have NEVER, EVER contributed or otherwise supported the ACLU or any related organizations. We do not agree with their policies and the stands they take. Having said that, I have to strongly disagree with your statement "that DSG only calls current or lapsed supporters of our non-profit organization clients.  We never do any cold calling and are only calling contributors provided to us by our clients for the purpose of either trying to renew your support or encourage your additional support for their programs."

Either you are misinformed about the actual policies of your company or you are not being completely honest and upfront.

It is perfectly legal for callers representing nonprofits to NOT adhere to the DNC list.  They are exempt.  I am on the Board of a non-profit, and we do not outsource our calls (we are too small), but, if you go back to the rules of the DNC center, you will see that nonprofits are indeed exempt.  It is a nuisance with which we have to live.

My Name is Tom Siegel and I am the Owner of the Donor Services Group.

First of all, thank you to those who posted kind words.  Since talking to some of you and helping you to avoid calls from my company, I thought perhaps I might be able to help all of you avoid unwanted solicitations from my company and others before they become too irritating.  

However, first let me tell you a bit the Donor Services Group (DSG), our business and our philosophy.  Perhaps it will help put this kind of calling into perspective.  

The first thing you need to know is that DSG only calls current or lapsed supporters of our non-profit organization clients.  We never do any cold calling and are only calling contributors provided to us by our clients for the purpose of either trying to renew your support or encourage your additional support for their programs.  That said, until you tell us, we have no way of knowing whether you love (and there are many of you who do) or hate receiving calls.  

The second thing that might be helpful to know is that DSG is never paid based on how much we raise (that would be considered unethical because it can cause callers to put even more pressure on contributors like you). We are paid a fixed fee per call regardless of whether a contribution is secured.  However, our clients receive detailed reports of each days calling and always have the option of terminating our services within 24 hours if they are unsatisfied with our results or the return they are getting on their investment.  This means we are under some pressure to perform and satisfy our client's needs which result in some persistent requests for financial support, but we are also always transparent with our clients and provide them with absolute and complete control over their programs with us.

Non-profit organizations retain companies like DSG out of necessity.  For better or worse, telefundraising remains one of the single most successful ways a non-profit can raise money.  Without it, many non-profit organizations would simply not survive.  That said, it can certainly be overused and often poorly used.  That is why fourteen years ago, DSG decided to try to make our calls longer, more engaging, more informative and just plain friendlier and better.  We are not perfect, and not every call we make is going to be perfect, but we hope for many of you, our telephone calls are better than you might expect.  Afterall, we may be the only opportunity you will ever have to speak live to a representative from a charity or non-profit organization you think is doing important work, so we want you to feel comfortable enough to ask questions about the organization with whom you have chosen to donate your hard-earned dollars. Sure, we want you to donate, but more than that, we want you to have a good telephone experience that will help you to feel good about the organization you support so you'll continue to contribute to their good work for a long time to come.  

Ok, now for those of you who, despite my explainations above still hate receiving calls, here are a couple things you need to know.

1.  The National Do Not Call List and most State Do Not Call Lists do not apply to charities and non-profit organizations so placing your name on these lists will not prevent calls on behalf of these types of organizations.

2.  The goal of any telephone fundraising program is to reach as many people as possible, usually over a 30 day period.  In order to do this, most telefundraisers must attempt each phone number provided to them many many times over the term of the specific campaign.  So, if you screen your calls and never answer the phone, you will likely be attempted 15 - 30 times over that 30 day period.  The fastest way to stop these calls is to actually answer the phone so the telefundraiser can denote a final outcome to their contact with you so you no longer need to be called for that campaign.    

And while we at DSG certainly hope you will find our calls so engaging that you might actually wish to receive a future call from us (perhaps 6 months or a year later), if in fact, you never want to ever receive another call, by answering the phone you can tell the caller that you'd like to be placed on the company's  internal Do Not Call List and that should end any future calls to you by that firm for a period of 5 years.

One final note.  And this is more a personal plea.  Be kind.  My staff (and we actually do use humans and not machines) on the whole are a group of highly dedicated, if underemployed, human beings, trying to make a living doing something meaningful instead of working at McDonalds or selling alluminum siding.  I think you will in general find them friendly, well informed, committed to making a difference and trying hard to do the right thing on behalf of our clients and their causes.  It is not easy work, made much more difficult when they are confronted by someone highly irritated, not by them, but for the simple reason that they are being called, which of course is not the caller's fault.   If it helps, try to remember that that caller is the one who has the power to put you on our internal Do Not Call List and stop the calls from our company for the next five years.  Best not to get on their bad side....lol

I realize that by writiing this, I may be inviting even greater hostility.  I hope not.  I have worked in the non-profit sector (both in and out of non-profit organizations) for my entire 30-year working life.  I don't do it for the money.  I do it because I too would like to make a difference.  

It's for that reason that I changed DSG's focus and philosophy 14 years ago and why I have chosen to write here.  I hope to help you to understand how to best achieve the outcome you wish.  For some, perhaps    you'll reconsidering the value you might find in actually talking with one of our callers for a few minutes.  For the rest of you, I hope that I have at least provided you with a couple of helpful hints that will enable you to avoid these calls before you find yourself any more annoyed.

I've called and left a message regarding the removal of my number from their list....cross your fingers!!

Looks like its the ACLU

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!
THEY WON'T STOP CALLING D:

I just got a phone call from this 323-606-7210 number.  I'm on the DNC list, but they still are attempting to market / solicit. This is ILLEGAL!

Ditto.  When I called Tom, he was happy to remove my number from their list.

I'm getting calls from this number several times a day, and wanted to answer, just to say STOP.  My husband thought it could be a virus that could wreck my cell info.  I haven't done anything except ignore the calls, but I'm tired of them.

Getting several calls a day now. The first call they wanted to talk to my wife and I said this was my personal cell phone and she was not available at this number. They said OK but it didn't seem to matter as they keep calling. I stopped answering.

This is a donor services company calling on behalf of the ACLU. I called the number and asked to be out on their do not call list. The guy I spoke with was very professional and pleasant and told me  iy would take a few hours but my number would be put on their DNC list. Try it you might be pleasantly surprised

I called Tom Siegel at Donor Services Group. I got a recording, of course, but I left a message asking to have my number removed from their call list. We'll see what happens. Why would the ACLU be involved with such an idiot?

The last blogger is very helpful. I agree that this practice is irritating. ACLU would do well to solicit more $ from their donors in a more considerate fashion. I also suggest for any unwanted calls that people make a contact file in their cellphone and then assign it to go directly to voice mail for any calls like these. When they get no ringtone after many attempts the missed calls just end.

The company making these calls is Donor Services Group on behalf of the ACLU.  If you'd like to get off their list, feel free to call Tom Siegel, President of Donor Services Group.  Their number is 888-474-1900, and his extension is x109.  He'll be very happy to help you out.

I called them back because I had similar issues with a different number earlier in the year.  In that instance it was a political campaign that was making money off of answered calls and the returned call stopped them.  Anyway, I called back and was directed to an operator that informed me that they're calling on behalf of the ACLU's annual renewal campaign.  The reason for the silence when you answer is because it's a computer system that is set up to respond after four standard rings.  This is why the person who waited got an answer from an operator.  He gave me a number to call to cancel/update my current ACLU status (212-549-2500 if you want to jump the middle man).  I hope that it'll stop the calls!

I get about 1 to 3 calls from this number on my cell phone per day.  I was able to track it down to LA but this site had the most info so far.  I have stopped answering it as no one is ever there and I don't need the extra minutes.   I think I will check with the ACLU as per this info.  They definitely have to do better.

323-606-7210 -- three calls, three days in a row, dead air.  The first time I waited until the person hung up.  The second and third times, when after saying "hello" no one answered, I simply hung up.  (I live in GA.)

I do not have caller ID, so I paid to check the number by dialing *67 twice.  I cannot verify the third call, only to say that the same thing happened just now.

If this IS the ACLU, it's very unprofessional.  They need to do something quick to make this stop.