The Chronicle, 8/18/2005: Charity Official Questions Fees Paid to Financial Advisers

The Chronicle, 8/18/2005: Charity Official Questions Fees Paid to Financial Advisers: "Charity Official Questions Fees Paid to Financial Advisers
By Holly Hall

A fund raiser at a Philadelphia cancer organization has roiled the charity world as he campaigns against what he calls 'blatantly unethical' fees paid to financial advisers who set up donor-advised funds.

Bruce Makous, a major gifts and planned-giving officer at the American Association for Cancer Research, says that many stockbrokers, money managers, and other financial advisers have a conflict of interest because they earn fees by steering donors to the funds, particularly those managed by commercial investment firms, and helping donors invest assets in the funds. As a result, he says, advisers don't always present donors with the full range of giving options available -- some of which might make more sense for them financially and produce more money for charity."