AIDS Network adopted the Better Business Bureau’s Donor Bill of Rights in 2003.  So proud of their adoption of this important document, it was prominently featured in the agency’s annual report.

AIDS Network has perpetuated the Urban Legend of Donor Accountability since adopting the Donor Bill of Rights.  They have duped the donating public into believing that donations are used to directly benefit the clients the agency is supposed to be serving.

• The Donor Bill of Rights gives Donor’s the right to be informed of the organization’s mission, of the way the organization intends to use donated resources, and of its capacity to use donations effectively for their intended purposes.
• To be informed of the identity of those serving on the organization’s governing board, and to expect the board to exercise prudent judgment in its stewardship responsibilities.
• To have access to the organization’s most recent financial statements.
• To be assured their gifts will be used for the purposes for which they were given.
• To receive appropriate acknowledgement and recognition..
• To be assured that information about their donation is handled with respect and with confidentiality to the extent provided by law
• To expect that all relationships with individuals representing organizations of interest to the donor will be professional in nature.
• To be informed whether those seeking donations are volunteers, employees of the organization or hired solicitors.
• To have the opportunity for their names to be deleted from mailing lists that an organization may intend to share.
• To feel free to ask questions when making a donation and to receive prompt, truthful and forthright answers.

The reality is anything but the expectation of donor accountability that is called for in the Donor Bill of Rights.

• AIDS Network keeps their mission and vision hidden from public view.  Their website has been scrubbed of any mention of their mission or vision.  The agency’s strategic plan is also missing from public view.

• AIDS Network’s board of directors is listed on their website, yet the issues that have been uncovered over the past two years call into question the judgment and stewardship capabilities of the board members.  Additionally, AIDS Network allows director to serve ad infinitum; with some directors serving more than eight years.  Vacant positions on the board go unfilled and the organization operates with a cadre of directors that have demonstrated their incompetence in organizational oversight

• AIDS Network does not provide donors access to the most recent financial statements.  Despite requests made of the organization, the financial statements remain a tightly guarded secret.  The only document that AIDS Network will provide to donors (for the costs of printing and mailing) is their annual federal IRS Form 990—a requirement imposed on them by federal law.

• AIDS Network does not provide any assurance that donations are used in an appropriate manner.  Ample evidence has surfaced that point to their squandering of donor funds.  For example, the agency purchase of over a dozen ACT UP web domains points to the waste of donor funds.  Allowing a case manager to spend hundreds of work hours posting on a trashy social networking site is additional evidence that dollars are used for purposes not intended.

• Lastly, AIDS Network does not provide prompt, truthful and forthright answer to the questions asked by donors.

We have asked AIDS Network if they have rescinded the Donor Bill of Rights.  As recently as December 4, 2009 the question was posed to President Ellen Berz.  The agency refuses to answer this simple yes or no question.

Despite all of this, AIDS Network claims wise stewardship of donor funds.  They claim that they are accountable for the dollars donated by a very giving community.

Yes, this Urban Legend has taken root and, like many others, will one day be added to the list of the scams that AIDS Network has perpetrated over the course of many years.