APFA donation turned away by charitable, called "stripper money"

JBStarryEyedGirl started this discussion · 2/8/2011

Ok Veeners! I know we are all very supportive on this site, so I am asking you all a BIG favor! Log on facebook and support the APFA (American Pole Fitness Association) by liking their page, reading the full story, and giving them some positive support. They recently tried to donate to the charity National Breast Cancer Foundation, and were turned away when the representative insuinated that their money would not be acceptable because it is "stripper money". This has of course spurred quite the conversation on facebook with pole addicts weighing in their voices. Please visit both pages and leave your message for them!

32 replies

JBStarryEyedGirl · 2/8/2011
This article just really got my goat! I can't believe that a charity would turn down a donation? It's not as if someone walked into their offices with a stack of ones sticking outta their thong or something! (And really, isn't money just money anyway??)
JBStarryEyedGirl · 2/8/2011
http://lolorashel.blogspot.com/2011/02/strippers-get-breast-cancer-too.html Here is another poler weighing in on the controversy!
Webmaster · 2/8/2011
Veena and I have discussed our stance on this and I am posting as she is currently significantly under the weather. The National Breast Cancer Foundation is a wonderful organization who has saved many millions of womens' lives by starting an education campaign to teach women the importance and methods of self examination and by providing free mammograms to women who cannot afford it. They are a phenomenal institution and one which anyone should be more than happy to donate to under any circumstances. There has been absolutely no evidence presented that the money was turned down because they thought that it was given by strippers, or that they even thought after an explanation that it was given by strippers. To the best of our knowledge it was turned down due to their donation requirements which are set forth in the charter for the organization. Statements to the contrary made by the article's author are nothing more than assertion and grand assumption meant to sway the audience to anger. The writer refused to donate anonymously or under a name that would meet the requirements as set forth by the National Breast Cancer Foundation. The writer of the article also failed to research the foundation to determine their donation requirements or gain their approval before planning a fundraiser to benefit the National Breast Cancer Foundation. In the end it is about the cause and not our pride. It is about educating women about breast cancer, it is about making sure everyone, even those who do not have the financial means have access to mammograms. We should not slander organizations who are doing good things. We all seek to expand the acceptance of pole as a sport and an art but we cannot further that cause by reaching out and attacking organizations who are doing great good in our society. We won't further our cause by attacking organizations who have experienced their own growing pains and roadblocks. We certainly won't gain anyones favor by biting the hand that has saved so many millions of lives. We would gladly support a positive initiative to try and resolve this dispute but we cannot and will not support assertion and assumption at the cost of an organization who has done so much good for the world.
meaganoff · 2/8/2011
Hi Webmaster (and Veena) - thanks for a well-thought out response - I was shocked and upset when I heard the news this morning, but also figured there might be more to the story than met the eye. Just so we can be informed, can you link to the info regarding donation requirements you are referencing? I'm on http://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/How-To-Help/Donate-Online.aspx right now - I'm trying to find the charter you mention, but a site search for "Charter" comes up empty. Or is this found in other literature not available on the web? I just want to know as much as possible about the situation and the organization.
Webmaster · 2/8/2011
Charters and donation requirements are not usually published, because they can be complex documents. Generally the best idea if you want to put on a charitable event of any kind is contact your potential beneficiary and ask them if you can donate under the name of your company, what their rules are as far as using their name, and anything else specific to your event. It is also important to remember that there are many, many organizations that experience similiar responses. In these cases they will often times give anonymously or partner with another company such as a radio station who can submit the donation, because they know the cause is much more important than their own pride.
amy · 2/8/2011
the APFA just posted this on their facebook: "It appears some of you think that they used the word "stripper". Please the note said "Apparently our money to them is stripper money". We can't release details of their email to the public but the answer is a NO to pole dance fitness money. They never used the word "strippers" in the email. Anybody smart enough to read the email can obviously read between the lines, hence the word "apparently" in this status. Thought we should make this clear. Thank you all for the support and suggestions via email for other charities to consider. We will look into all of them."
amy · 2/8/2011
sorry, for some reason after i pasted the content into the box i coudln't edit the text! they actually posted that a few hours ago.
Webmaster · 2/8/2011
@amy - This is unfortunately what we are talking about. You shouldn't back a defamatory article with assertion and assumption. You can read the full article at Pole Spin Magazine, you will have to google for it as we won't link to the article. You will notice the header graphic on the front page of their site reads "No Stripper Money Allowed". Which immediately leads a person to believe that the National Breast Cancer Foundation made this statement. If we are to be taken seriously as an industry we have to put on an air of respect. We have to show people generosity and kindness, and when we are misunderstood or mis-categorized we need to kindly educate.
JBStarryEyedGirl · 2/9/2011
Just to clarify.. I brought this topic up as a chance to urge polers to educate the nbcf on pole dance and fitness. And regardless of the activity used to raise money I think they should have graciously accepted it. Money is still money. I certainly dont think people shouldn't donate or support a cause that has helped a lot of people. I just found the situation distasteful.
chemgoddess1 · 2/9/2011
As I stated on Joels FB page...I would really like to know more details and if it was a specific location of the organization. One facility does not make the whole bad, just like if you went to one IHOP and got a lousy meal that does not mean all are bad. I also saw nothing in the Pole Spin article that stated any real facts of the situation.
Webmaster · 2/9/2011
@STL - In this case money wasn't just money. If it was, Tinu would have given it with no strings attached. In this case money came with strings, a requirement that the NBCF accept a platform and a name that they have not pledged to support. The NBCF pledged to support breast cancer education and free mammograms not the acceptance of pole. Educating the world about pole is our job not that of the NBCF. This really isn't about the NBCF understanding pole, the NBCF simply couldn't accept the donation under the name that Tinu was requiring them to accept it under. There are many reasonable explanations for this. Tinu, however, could have easily donated under another name or anonymously, but rather than understand that charity is about helping people and not about ones own pride she turned it into a platform and demonized a charity that has done alot of good work and saved alot of people, and in no way caused harm to Tinu.
kat pole princess · 2/9/2011
I think chem and webmaster make valid points. its not another orgs job to promote pole. its up to each one of us to take that on, if we so choose to. raising money for a great cause should be done from the heart and not for publicity. helping one more woman fight cancer is what's ultimately important . this debate takes away from that!!!! sad day for pole!!! im not saying that anyone should not support tinu but personally i am not likely to support such behavior and will likely take measures to take her, the magazine, and apfa off of my facebook account!!!
litlbit · 2/9/2011
These were a few of my comments. This entire situation with the National Breast Cancer Foundation really saddens me. I have lost family members to Breast Cancer, my family is actually involved in a study for breast cancer (I, myself declined as I had no desire to know if I have "the" gene or not). I had a triple lumpectomy in "94", they were benign. Though I wasn't happy to hear this news... I still intend to support Breast Cancer Research and awareness...Cancer unfortunately is bigger than we are, and I believe (after getting over the initial shock) that we can best serve our sport by not personalizing this. We can hold our heads high and show our more graceful and grateful side and not allow this to beat us down...it's what others would expect. I chose to show them that's not how we are. Believe me, as a woman that has had a breast cancer scare, I understand why everyone was so upset...and that's ok...so now let's pick ourselves up, brush off the dust and continue to make a POSITIVE impact on our communities, because one day pole will have earned the respect it deserves! I want to be a part of the reason that happens!! My stance is this...I am moving on to focuss on further educating my community..one person, one student at a time. My actions and how I present myself to the public eye (that is already scrutinizing me) must be positive if I hope to achieve changing even one persons attitude regarding pole. Much love and Happy Poling!!
glitterhips · 2/9/2011
I'm a total nerd but in my journalism classes we are currently discussing how important it is to have all sides of the story before making any assertions about a situation....I think people should have taken the time to find out all the information before accusing them of calling us "strippers" which isn't true. STL....I feel like if the breast cancer awareness people saw this thread they would probably be even less likely to take money from pole fundraisers because of how we're all suddenly talking about it and they didn't even do anything - they really didn't do anything distaseful if they're just honoring their rules about accepting donation money. I highly doubt that this is the only time they have ever not accepted a donation, I am sure there have been other non-pole related groups that have probably gotten turned down for some reason or another. Money is money but they most likely have a standard set of rules as to how they go about accepting their donations, and someone didn't look into it far enough to make sure their donation would be accepted. And maybe they are anti-pole even though they have not called us "strippers", but it's an organization that benefits thousands of women (a lot of whom would probably would be interested in pole) and our donation money goes primarily toward them getting access to medical care etc and not the people who run the organization. Even If they had called us strippers, I would still donate because it's not about the people who run it, it's about the women and their families who benefit from it, and as women I feel we should look at that as the bottom line.
Thepoledancer · 2/10/2011
I would be suprised if the donation was 'turned down'. The breast cancer organization probably just didn't want the AFPA to use their logo to say they are donating. I'm sure the organization will take money from anyone(they would probably take from drug dealers, if know one knew about it), they just only want certain organizations affiliated with their business..... That is right, I said business.....even though a charitable organization, it still has to be run like a business, otherwise, they would have no organization to help generate the money donated to people with Breast Cancer. And as a business they are entitled to be involved with whatever organization they feel is the most suitable. They probably have a strong support from conservative groups that would think it was inappropriate to be associated with a pole dancing organization. The fact is pole dancing is still not accepted by many people. They are probably not willing to have these risks. It is very unfortunate that they didn't want to be associated with a pole dancing organization. If it truly is about just getting the money to the women who need it, then they(breast cancer organization) need to consider if their involvement with the AFPA could result in loosing alot of funding they currently have. Normally when a business/ organization, promotes their event announcing money being given away to a charitable organization, they ask in advance so they can use the logo of the charity to show their patrons they are supportive of this group and donating X to the organization.. Which would be beneficial for any given company because, patrons always like to know their money is helping other people, Well. this too is a business move. Unfortunately, sounds like AFPA didn't do their research before they started announcing they were giving to this organization, which to me sounds lazy, not to mention illegal to use another organizations logo/ name without the organizations consent. .
minicoopergrl · 2/10/2011
I agree with ThePoleDancers final paragraph. Thats what got me thinking about the whole thing. I dont know about APFA but when I ran my Battle event, I contacted the possible recipents first. That way they can check my website and credentials I provided incase they did not like the idea. Once they approved, I could have thier logo and I used it on everything for press reasons - flyers, website, promos for the event. In return, they used my logo and event info on thier site. I dont know the whole story so I cant make a whole hearted comment about the situation. But who knows where the hole in the story lies (if there is one). While I say its sad to see an organization turn down a donation of any kind. Breast Cancer hits home for me as well (my grandmother was a BC survivor before her death in 2006, yesterday was the 5yr anniversary of her death) and I want every woman to be able to get all the help that they can find for this.
Charley · 2/10/2011
On a personal note - totally a personal observation here... I WISH breast cancer associations would be more open to the pole dancing community. The one thing I have come to know about the men and women who participate in this and other communities is that pole dancers want to help. The mission statement of MOST studios is to in some way empower women. Isn't that also what for the most part Susan G or NBCF is about, as well? I question the motives and ethics of someone who would grossly overstate this particular issue and create a frenzy of unsettled pole dancers. I do not agree with the way this has been handled. But underneath the layers of someone's obvious misuse of the truth and want to create popularity for themselves...NBCF is still not really willing to work with a POLE organization and THAT is upsetting to me. They don't want to be linked to us and that is heartbreaking. Taking away all of our internal struggles about what pole dancing/fitness should be - we are still a group of mostly women that support, encourage and give to one another. This, to me, stands as the largest reason that national charities should want to work us and they should be proud we want to wear their logo and raise awareness for their cause. All of this is PERSONAL thoughts I don't agree with the frenzy that was started but I do think that maybe the NBCF could use a little pole education. My mother passed away from breast cancer when I was 20 - a 16 year old, a 19 year old and a 20 year old were making life and death decisions for her when we barely understood the disease. Doctors spent more time educating me than trying to fix her because her cancer was metastatic. This was the end of what was a rather tumultous relationship with my mother and has for the last 10 years left me with nothing but questions and the fear that I too am staring down the barrel of breast cancer and the fear that it may be for me as aggressive as it was for her. Being this passionate about wanting to find a cure for this, I really wish that these organizations would work with us on a larger level. If anything, working with us would enable more women and young women to become educated not only about the charity but abour their bodies. HOWEVER, expoilitive tactics and creating an angry mob against the NBCF is not the way to educate the organization about what we do and how we could be of value to them. I believe real stories and real women with honest intentions would be able to break the stigma of what many might think pole dancers are or represent.
RoxyPink · 2/10/2011
Charley, I'm so sorry that this plays so close to your heart! Xoxo There is always more than one side and information is constantly changing as it's passed from one person to the next. I'm sure there is WAY more to this story than originally stated and I agree with webbie. When it comes to donating we should not be so selfish... It's about giving, not receiving!! It should be about helping women, not trying to "spread the word" of pole!
Charley · 2/10/2011
Thanks Roxy! xoxoxoxox! I just want to say that while I want pole and breast cancer to reconcile and publicly work together because they are 2 important things to ME...GIVING IS ABOUT GIVING! I may not like their stance however I would not do anything to discredit an organization that has helped so many...and what really matters at the end of the day is saving lives. :)
Mary Ellyn · 2/12/2011
I've debated replying to this but I want to bring up a point. First, I want to clearly state that I do not agree with how the APFA handled this and put words in their mouths. I do not need to be told to "read between the lines" and I do not need it done for me. I am not discrediting the NBCF but I am questioning their decision making skills when they put such limits on donations that make it impossible for the organization to hold a fundraiser. I cannot believe that a charity will lose future donations, simply because people read that a group of pole dancers donated to the cause. If they did...then I have to subsequently doubt the sincerity of that donor too! They cannot expect a fundraiser to be held where you cannot tell donors what they are contributing to! That's ridiculous! I can just imagine going to people, asking for money for a good cause but telling them I cannot say WHAT the cause is! You can't even just say "cancer" as people want to know more and will ask "what organization?" Further more, most people want to know that their donation is tax deductible and if they don't have the 501c number, you cannot claim it. In the very least you would lose any possibility of any major donations. Is this about publicity for the organization doing the fundraiser? Yes, it most likely is and it ALWAYS is when you have a large fundraiser. If I had the money to give several thousand dollars all by myself I'd do it and it wouldn't be advertised. However, I don't have that sort of money.. So it's usually about both...advertising and giving from the heart. My main concern is when an organization HAS a clause within their charter that prohibits an organization from saying who they are donating to because of questionable reputation and ethics. Would we be understanding of this charter if they said that the LGBT was too controversail and therefore must hold an annonymous fundraiser? Or the NAACP? This isn't about an organization turning away pole dancing - this is about the NBCF and other organizations making donations from select groups impossible and therefore indirectly turning that money away. And lets remember...these fundraisers are not asking to be promoted on the NBCF website in any way..they just want to be able to SAY that they are donating to this cause. For those who didn't see my post on Facebook...I was turned away by Susan Komen once and told by Make a Wish that we could only donate if I signed a contract guaranteeing $65000 in donations just to SAY that we were raising money for their organization. I don't see a need for them to make such difficulties.
nilla · 2/12/2011
I totally agree with Webmaster... I really thought the article in PoleSpin made the pole dance community look bad. If we all reacted this way to being misunderstood as a community it's no wonder there would be a bad taste in peoples mouth about pole dancers. The writer of the article probably felt she was sticking up for herself and her sport, but she presented her feelings in an unprofessional way. I don't think that's the way to change anyone's mind about Pole Dance.
Webmaster · 2/12/2011
It seems to me that much of the offense is taken at the requirement of anonymous giving. Let me assure you that by giving anonymously we are in all kinds of great company, churches, educational organizations, political organizations, and even fortune 500s such as Apple, Oracle and Microsoft have had to give anonymously at times. This is certainly not a roadblock to collecting or giving donations to help a cause that you believe in.
Finreah · 2/12/2011
For me, when I read this story , it bothered me that they wouldn't take money from so called strippers.I was under the impression that to be a stripper you prolly have breasts and well those breasts just might get cancer.I used my facebook to ask people to please make a polite and respectful comment that all women, stripper, pole dancer, mom, doctor ,lawyer we are all in this fight together and we all deserve to benifit from the research. Now of course as more info comes out I feel slightly foolish for getting up on my high horse.
Mary Ellyn · 2/12/2011
I feel a need to clarify: First I think the original "scandal" where implications were made that the NBCF referred to us as strippers was totally inappropriate. However I have no problems with annonymous donations. We do this every day when we donate to various charities and organizations as individuals and I for one have never publicized that I just donated to an organization. The problem here is the charities that don't want to be associated with "questionable" businesses and organizations. Consider how we all would fee if charities said they could not be associated with the NAACP or LGBT? As an individual I can and do donate annonymously but as an organization I cannot go out and collect money, claiming I'm organizing a fund raiser and not be able to tell people who/what they are donating to.
Webmaster · 2/12/2011
@Empyrean - The NAACP is an organization and a charity in and of itself, similiar to NCBF, that I'm sure has it's own set of rules and regulations. It will most likely not accept funds from certain businesses even though it is a charity for furthering equality. LGBT is a set of initials that describes a segment of our population and it is not an organization. I do know for a fact that many LGBT based organizations do have to give anonymously to certain charities they benefit. I make these points not to prove you wrong, but instead to insure that we are being realistic in our argument.

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