Published in ProPublica.org
By David Armstrong and Ryan Gabrielson on March 21st, 2022
Most Americans know St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital through television advertisements featuring Hollywood celebrities asking for contributions or the millions of fundraising appeals that regularly arrive in mailboxes across the country. But a select group of potential donors is targeted in a more intimate way. Representatives of the hospital’s fundraising arm visit their homes; dine with them at local restaurants; send them personal notes and birthday cards; and schedule them for “love calls.”
The high-profile children’s hospital uses donor money to engage in long and costly legal battles over wills. While a financial boon to St. Jude, the hospital’s pursuit has led to fraught disputes with donors’ family members and allegations that it goes too far in its quest for bequests. Here’s how St. Jude has created one of the most lucrative charitable bequest programs in the country.
A legal fight could mar the reputation of a charity. A lot of charities decide it is just not worth it; we don’t need that bad press. Occasionally you will see them fighting it, but not often because of the bad PR that comes from it.
Elizabeth Carter, Law Professor, Louisiana State University
