Schneiderman
NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) - New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced on Thursday that his Charities Bureau will review cause marketing campaigns that promise to benefit breast cancer charities with the sale of certain services and products.
As consumers and businesses participate in National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the bureau has sent questionnaires to companies and charities engaged in breast cancer cause marketing to solicit information about their campaigns, which merge consumer sales with charitable giving by advertising that purchases will support breast cancer organizations.
"National Breast Cancer Awareness Month continues to raise our understanding of and support for breast cancer charities, and consumers who intend to support this cause deserve to know that their purchases do the good promised," Schneiderman said. "This review will help ensure that cause marketing campaigns provide the benefit that's expected, and that we protect consumers, charities, and above all, the women and families affected by this devastating disease."
Cause marketing campaigns have become an important fundraising tool for charities. The review is intended to promote the public's confidence in supporting these campaigns. The information obtained will assist Schneiderman's office in ensuring that cause marketing sufficiently protects both consumers and charities.
Schneiderman's initiative follows other actions taken to protect the breast cancer cause, including a lawsuit he filed in June to shut down the Coalition Against Breast Cancer, an alleged sham charity raising millions of dollars under the guise of fighting breast cancer. In August, two defendants pleaded guilty to criminal charges for misusing more than $500,000 donated to the Coalition for Breast Cancer Cures. The misappropriated funds were used to pay for unlawful extravagances instead of fighting breast cancer.