Dave Horn, an Assistant Attorney General in the Consumer Protection Division of the Office of the Attorney General for Washington State -- http://www.wa.gov/ago/consumer/ -- wrote to Cyber Accountability (a service of CharityChannel.com) on March 26, 1999:
All of us appreciate it when members of the public bring suspicious or unlawful activity to our attention. If you do so, here are some tips for making your complaint effective:
- Provide the most specific information possible: Who, what, where, when, and how. Keep the expressions of opinion to a minimum or put them in a separate document.
- Provide names, addresses and telephone numbers, if you have them, for individuals and organizations about whom you are complaining, or who may have knowledge of the violations. If your nonprofit receives calls from citizens who are being solicited by a copycat organization (one that is pretending to be your group), remember to get their names and phone numbers so law enforcement officials can call them back. No case can be brought without witnesses.
- Put your complaint in writing. Make it succinct. Begin with a summary: "I am aware of a fundraising campaign which claims funds support the XYZ program, but they don't." Follow with some details. If it is complicated, include a chronology. Offer to provide other information if needed.
- Attach copies of any pertinent documents.
- Be as specific as you can be about the conduct you regard as illegal or wrong.
- Identify yourself. If you have a very good reason not to identify yourself, at least provide names of persons who can corroborate your story or documents that help substantiate it.
- Be patient. Most enforcement and regulatory offices are short-staffed, but want to help you as well as they can. Most will at least contact the organization complained of to obtain their response to the allegations (unless it is the rare kind of matter best investigated first by other means). This can take a little time.
- I disagree with those on this listserve who have urged that you threaten to publicly embarass the agency whose help you are seeking. Such threats are quite common these days and are just as commonly ignored. If the complaint has merit, and the agency has sufficient resources, it will be pursued. If it does not have merit, no agency is going to push aside pressing work just because someone has threatened to make them look bad.
I hope this is helpful.
Dave Horn, AAG
State of Washington
Speaking for himself and not necessarily the attorney general of Washington.
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