Charity Fails To Award Dreamhouse, Declines To Reveal Finances, BBB Warns

A widely promoted raffle to benefit a wheelchair basketball charity apparently did not sell enough tickets to award a St. Louis area 'dream house,' the Better Business Bureau has determined.

The National Wheelchair Basketball Association (NWBA) of Colorado Springs, Colo., failed to exercise its option to buy the Chesterfield home, said the home's owner, Frank "Bud" Miceli, head of Miceli Custom Homes. The NWBA had paid him a fee to hold the house until July 1.

The NWBA declined to answer the BBB's questions about the raffle and did not identify the winner except by her first name and last initial, Maureen T. of Ferguson. Details of the BBB investigation of the raffle are in today's BBB press release.

The BBB had issued a warning about the raffle in March. The advertisements for the raffle, which appeared on local television and in newspapers as well as in brochures and postcards mailed to area homes, did not reveal that the house might not be awarded if too few $150 tickets were sold. That information was in the contest rules on a website, www.stlouisraffle.com.

The BBB believes that charities need to be transparent about how they raise money, including revealing how much they spend on fundraising and how much money actually goes to the charity's programs. The NWBA has declined to answer requests for information from the BBB's Wise Giving Alliance.

The BBB has the following advice for donors who are considering buying a charity raffle ticket or making a donation:

• Research the charity carefully before participating.  Go to its website and read about its work; ask the charity for financial information. Contact the BBB for a Charity Review by going to www.bbb.org or by calling 314-645-3300.
• Spend only what you can afford to lose.
• Ask whether the charity is using a professional fundraiser to assist in the raffle and how much of the ticket price will actually go to the charity for its programs.
• Find out when the winners will be announced and make sure the drawing is held at that time.
• If you are interested in ensuring that the charity gets the largest percentage of your money, it is always best to make a direct contribution to avoid fundraising expenses.