Base Connect

Uses direct mail appeals from a list of "well honed" Republicans to raise funds for candidates. Their tactics have come under fire for the large percentage of funds taken, and other questionable business practices. Base Connect has raised millions of dollars in recent years with direct-mail solicitations aimed at elderly conservative donors. Little of the money raised goes to candidates; most of it goes to the firm and pays for their fundraising mailers. For example, in 2006 the firm raised $731,000 in the name of Republican candidate Chuck Morse by telling donors their money would help topple then-Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass. Morse only saw 4 percent of the money — and he wasn’t even on the ballot. Political action committees tied to Base Connect spend almost nothing seeking to sway races, instead focusing on fundraising to finance more fundraising. The candidates with whom Base Connect does business often have no chance of winning. Elderly donors, many of whom relatives say are too senile to make financial decisions, have said they feel swindled and abused.