I came across a fundraising entity listed as “Donor Services Group” while reviewing the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s recent IRS Form 990s on their website. (IRS Form 990 is like a public tax return for tax-exempt and non-profit organizations.)
It appears that DSG does telemarketing on behalf of the Met Museum and other non-profits. This page will collect some publicly available information that I find in my quest to better understand institutional fundraising.
Results: Met Museum + Donor Services Group
- 2014 Gross receipts: $269,760
Paid to DSG: $125,271
Paid to Met: $144,489 - 2013 Gross receipts: $370,128
Paid to DSG: $188,455
Paid to Met: $181,673 - 2012 Gross receipts: $661,429
Paid to DSG: $342,350
Paid to Met: $319,079 - 2011 Gross receipts: $553,782
Paid to DSG: $332,955
Paid to Met: $220,827 - 2010 I couldn’t find the 990
- 2009 Gross receipts: $526,252
Paid to DSG: $277,770
Paid to Met: $258,482
More Information
- Donor Services Group home page
- Donor Services Group employment (separate website, must be a lot of churn)
- Sample Job Posting: Daytime Tele-Fundraiser
- Glassdoor for Donor Services Group
- GREAT article: Are Museums Wasting Donor Money on Telemarketers?
- DSG is mentioned in this article: Charity or scam? Meet the 5 telemarketers that pocketed $89 million asking for charity donations
The CEO of Donor Services Group is Tom Siegel (LinkedIn).
Tom Siegel, CEO of Donor Services Group (courtesy LinkedIn)
Note: The fact that the Metropolitan Museum of Art uses DSG is not scandalous or negative. Many non-profit organizations employ for-profit telemarketing firms who take a fixed fee or percentage of donations. This is a standard practice.