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SUNNY Temp: 88 °F Wind: SW at 6 mph Thursday, July 24, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend June 10, 2003 Dan Fischer of Ashland has donated $10,000 a year to area charities but is finding some donations never went where intended. The collapse last week of a San Francisco-area firm that handled donations for the United Way and other agencies prompted Fischer Where’s the money? Demise of agency that handled donations has contributors wondering where their dollars are By JONEL ALECCIA Mail Tribune An Ashland computer engineer who thought he was contributing $10,000 a year to more than a dozen local charities is worried that most of the money never got where it was intended. The collapse of PipeVine, a San Francisco-area firm that handled donations for the United Way and other agencies, has prompted Dan Fischer to check his financial records. So far, Fischer, 64, found that donations of thousands of dollars intended for agencies such as ACCESS Inc., Jefferson Public Radio, the Community Health Center and others either didn’t arrive or were delayed for months. "I’ve had some suspicions for a while," said Fischer, who wrote letters last week asking nonprofits to check his payments. Advertisement Fischer, who commutes from Ashland to the San Francisco area for his job with Remtech, a contract company for Johnson Controls, pledged funds through a United Way workplace giving program. The program was conducted through the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, which contracts with Johnson Controls, he said. Fischer said he typically donated about $5,000 in increments of $50 to $500 to 18 nonprofits, with an equal amount intended to be contributed through company matching funds. From 1999 until last year, the funds were collected by the United Way of the Bay Area, which used PipeVine to process more than $40 million in donations. Starting this year, a different United Way agency was used, a representative for Johnson Controls said. Nevertheless, the collapse of PipeVine last week startled Fischer, who was among employees at 600 Bay area companies who donated funds. "It certainly doesn’t do anything to make me more trusting of the United Way there than I am," he said. "I wouldn’t do it at all except for the matching funds." One of the nonprofits affected was ACCESS Inc. of Medford. Starting in 1999, Fischer had donated $400 to $500 a year to the Medford hunger agency, contributions that should have been matched by Johnson Controls and paid via PipeVine. But Patty Claeys, executive director of ACCESS, said much of Fischer’s money went missing. "We didn’t receive any of his checks and we only received one check from Johnson Controls," she said. Instead, Fischer said, the money was going to a Colorado agency with a similar name. Donations to other agencies were never accounted for at all, while some payments to Jefferson Public Radio, for instance, arrived nearly a year late, he said. ACCESS is among several local nonprofits that received donations through PipeVine. Representatives for Community Works, the Salvation Army, Dogs for the Deaf and the Community Health Center all said their agencies received at most several hundred to a couple thousand dollars via PipeVine. Though the amounts aren’t large, relatively speaking, the cost of the program’s failure transcends dollars, said Ed Roussell, development director for Community Works. "It raises the whole credibility of these third-party agencies, including the United Way," said Roussell. That’s unfair to local entities, such as the Jackson County United Way chapter, he added. Local agencies added that it’s not clear exactly how many donors or how much money might have been affected by PipeVine’s closure. Dee Anne Everson, director of the Jackson County United Way, estimated that donations of less than $2,000 would be affected. PipeVine, which handled more than $100 million in donations for the United Way and others, abruptly closed June 2. The firm’s Web site cites "a severe liquidity crisis" and asks visitors to wait several days for information on "the wind-down of PipeVine assets." No evidence of theft or embezzlement has been disclosed. That doesn’t sit well with Fischer, who said he’ll continue to give despite the confusion. "That wouldn’t cross my mind not to," he said. "To whom much is given, much is expected. I’m one of those few people who feel I’m not paying enough in taxes." Still, said Fischer, even a willing donor wants to know his money is protected. "To rip off a charity is really bad," he said. Reach reporter JoNel Aleccia at 776-4465, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. 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