phillip r.

I use to work at My Funding Resources. I had to leave because I was feeling guilty and tired of deceiving and lying to people. My Funding Resources is now called Success Advocates. They change their name frequently trying to stay one step ahead of internet research. If a customer researches this company they typically cancel or never purchase services. The company has been doing business this way for years. They are experts at deceiving their customers and train their employees to be deceptive as well.

This company buys your information which is generated by anyone who inquires about the "Free Money" book or does an internet search for grant information. At the very least the information purchased contains your name and phone number. The information purchased is then printed out on a "lead sheet" which is given to the telemarketers to call. The services provided are greatly
Exaggerated by the representatives who call the consumer. The old saying "if it sounds too good to be true then it probably is" definitely applies in this instance.

The least expensive service provided by the company costs the consumer $1,150.00, which costs the company $50.00! That's right $1100. 00 is all commission for everyone from the telemarketer to upper management. This charge is to research all the grants that you qualify for. This research consists of an internet search for your grant category that they print out, put in a binder, and send to you the customer.

The next charge starts at $2,700.00, which is for the research and 4 weeks of coaching and mentoring. 4 weeks of coaching and mentoring cost the company $200.00, every dollar over this ($2,500.00) again goes to commission. The coaching and mentoring consists of a 1/2 hour phone call once per week. The company that provides this coaching are not even grant experts. They are a professional coaching and mentoring company that other companies hire to do all types of
Coaching. The price goes up about $1,000.00 for every additional 2 weeks of coaching.

The company's favorite people to call are the elderly because they are usually easier to sell the services to. The elderly usually have more available funds on credit cards and/or in checking accounts. They typically don't do research on the company and are less likely to cancel.

All charges are either charged to a credit card or electronic check. If people don't have credit cards and/or money in a checking account they don't receive services unless the payment is received up front. My Funding Resources doesn't guarantee that the customer will receive a grant. They also will not deduct the fees charged from the grant. The company will not write grants either.

My Funding Resources does not even do business in Sandy, Utah. This is a subdivision of Salt Lake City, which is the capitol of Utah. What company doesn't do business in their own city? The company will only do business in Utah if the customer lives over 3 hours from Salt Lake City. It is rumored that a dissatisfied customer, from Salt Lake, made a bomb threat and this is why they don't do business in the area. The company's headquarters are located in a secure building. No one can enter unless they use an intercom, located at the main entrance, which is then opened by the
Receptionist. 90% of the employees have no equipment (like computers) and actually have to write down the information on the leads provided for them to contact. Therefore the secured building is not for fear of theft, etc.

Grant money is free! The grant proposal does have to be written in a specific format for the government to consider the request though. If you want to do this yourself you can buy the book "Grants for Dummies". This book will take you step by step through the grant writing process. There are companies that will write the grants for a fee as well. If you want to spend money then hire a company that will write the grant for you and that will work with you, based on your specific needs.

If you feel that you're a victim of this scam you can file a report with the Federal Trade Commission at ftc.gov or call 1-877-FTC-Help, in Canada file at econsumer.gov. All complaints are entered into the Consumer Sentinel Network, a secure online database used by hundreds of law enforcement agencies in the U.S. an abroad. You can also go online to their website for "things you can do to avoid fraud".

I hope this information is useful to you. I hope no one else falls victim to this scam. Before you give any company or person any information about you please do diligence.

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 3/17/2011 9:13:54 AM and is a permanent record located here:
http://www.ripoffreport.com/grant-writing-research/success-advocates/success-advocates-my-funding-e579c.htm.
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