From Deseret News archives:
E-mail poll is legitimate, church says
It will ascertain interest in LDS charitable opportunity
LDS Church spokesman Dale Bills said Wednesday that LDS Philanthropies "is conducting an (online) survey among its existing donors to determine interest in a proposed charitable giving opportunity." He declined to give additional details.
The survey is apparently being sent to selected members of the church who have contributed to specific LDS-based charities.
The e-mail survey seeks information about "charitable giving, and more specifically, financial planning with regard to making charitable contributions," according to an introductory e-mail. Respondents are led through a series of online questions about specific demographics and whether they are active members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
LDS Philanthropies "serves as the central coordinating agency for all donations to the church or one of its institutions — beyond tithing and fast offerings — with the goal of helping members and friends of the church meet the needs of people worldwide," according to the organization's Web site, www.lds.org/ldsfoundation. "This is accomplished by focusing on those priorities selected and approved by the leaders of the church and its institutions."
The nationwide poll is being done through Harris Interactive, a market research firm based in Rochester, N.Y., that acquired opinion research and consulting firm Wirthlin Worldwide in 2004. Wirthlin had done survey research for the LDS Church for a number of years, and its founder, Richard B. Wirthlin, was a member of the church's Second Quorum of the Seventy from 1996 to 2001. He subsequently joined Harris Interactive's board of directors.
E-mail: carrie@desnews.com
