Knock, knock. Who's there? Some Calgarians question company's door-to-door fundraising effort

Update added Oct. 22, 2019:Set 'Em Up Canada became a registered non-profit called SetEm UP 4 Sports Ltd, as of Oct. 9, 2019. According to its website, it has awarded $6,000 to three families since this story was published.Non-profits must file an annual report including their financial records and may be subject to random audits. SetEm Up 4 Sports Ltd does not have charity status. Charities are also non-profits and have been approved by Canada Revenue Agency, must spend aminimum amount on their causeand can issue tax receipts. David Mitchell, with the Calgary Chamber of Voluntary Organizations, says people should be wary of any non-profit organization that comes to the door until they have a proven track record.

Some Calgariansare warning they've been misled by a for-profit company's non-profit appearance and pitch.

They say Set 'Em Up Canada doesn't make it clear that most of its fundraising dollars are going to its startup costs not families in need.

Set 'Em Up Canada, previously called Help Kids Sports Canada, has been doing door-to-door sales in Calgary.

The group has been seen setting up fundraising tables in arenas, rec centres, fast food joints and stores such as Canadian Tire, without first disclosing it was a business instead allowing people to assume it was a non profit group, or charity, fundraising to help underprivileged kids play sports.

It's not clear how much money the company has made since starting up in January nor what portion, if any, is being spent on helping families in need play sports. But a former employee, whomCBC News has agreed not to identify, says she regrets not seeing red flags earlier on.

"I feel really terrible about all of the people that I took their money. Where did their money go?"

According to its website, Set 'Em Up Canada, states it is "currently operating as a for-profit business that is a community-based organization" and it is going non-profit this year.

Service Alberta wouldn't confirm whether Set 'Em Up Canada has applied to become a non-profit organization.

The website also says Set 'Em Up Canada sells affordable equipment for families, online, offers coaching and mentoring services, and sponsors families through a nomination program by covering the cost of a family's registration fees for extra curricular activities, equipment and travel costs.

CBC News presented a number of concerns to the company, which turns out to be two family-run businesses working together.

Matt McBride runs Halo Advertising, which is the fundraising arm of Set 'Em Up Canada.

And McBride says his wife owns the e-commerce business, Set 'Em Up Canada.

McBride denies allegations that he's misled anyone about the nature of his company's fundraising efforts. And he says he's always been upfront that Set 'Em Up Canada is a for profit business.

"It is absolutely clear. And it's also super clear on the website," said McBride.

But CBC News has heard from several people who disagree, saying they were fooled into either giving up money or space to Set 'Em Up Canada because they thought it was a non-profit organization or charity.

Door to door

The former employee who agreed to speak to CBC on condition her identity would not be published says she was hired by Halo Advertising early in 2019.

She says she thought she was going to be going door to door to raise money for a charity.

She says she had a script, a lanyard, a binder with documents, and packages ofvanilla and chocolate wafer cookies to sell for $30 each.

The cookies were wrapped in a colourful pamphlet showing pictures of kids playing sports and listed what people's support goes toward.

She says the goal was to sell 10 boxes a day, which she says she often did. She says she made $10 from each $30 box sold.

Initially, she says, staff were told to avoid using the word charity, but they could call it an organization.

"All of us honestly truly believed that it wasn't a scam and that it was going to the kids," she said.

She says people would often ask for a tax receipt a problem she raised with McBride.

She says she was told to say she would either text or email a receipt, not realizing that it wasn't a tax receipt she was sending but just a regular receipt.

After about a month of working, she says McBride told her Set 'Em Up Canada was actually a business.

She says she was shocked but adds McBride did a good job of explaining how that wasn't a bad thing, saying that's how they were getting paid and that's how they were able to buy the equipment for the kids. So she says she kept working.

But she says she was told not to mention that it was a for-profit business to potential customers unless someone asked.

She says she then started to question the authenticity of the business when she noticed that families weren't being given free registration and equipment.

"We were told next month it would happen, next month it would happen, this week, this upcoming week, and in the entire course of working there, it never happened."

She says eventually she stopped believing the spiel she was giving at the door and quit.

"Less and less could I even sell cookies anymore cause I just found (it) wrong."

One woman who gave money to Set 'Em Up Canada last month says the canvasser at her door never told her it was a business until after she was unable to get a charitable tax receipt.

"I was like, 'woah, what am I donating to if you are not a charity,'" said Nicole Bross, who lives in the southwest community of Lakeview.

Bross says she became even more concerned when she looked down and the debit receipt said Halo Advertising and not Set 'Em Up Canada.

"I was pretty upset, I felt like I'd been taken advantage of, I was definitely lied to. The guy definitely misrepresented what he was doing and what he was collecting for," said Bross.

She later did some online research and found a number of complaints against Set 'Em Up Canada.

Fundraising in public spaces

Set 'Em Up Canada has also been setting up fundraising tables at different venues around Calgary, including rec centres, arenas, stores and restaurants.

CBC News reached out to a few of the venues including Don Hartman North East Sportsplex and Trico Centre as well as Canadian Tire and Tim Hortons.

The general manager of the Don Hartman Sportsplex, Perry Cavanagh, says he was approached by Set 'Em Up Canada to place a table in the lobby of Don Hartman for two days in May.

He says he found out afterwardthey were a for-profit corporation. So when Set 'Em Up Canada reached out again, Cavanagh told them they couldn't come back.

"We work here on a non-profit base as a charitable organization and then all of a sudden we find out these guys are doing it to put money into their own pockets so it doesn't work well for us. We don't want to see that," said Cavanagh.

At Trico, Trisha Best was approached by McBride, but the company at that time was called Help Kids Sports Canada.

She says McBride made it sound like he was affiliated with the charity KidSport.

"He was totally playing off the name of KidSport but it seemed off to us, which is why we didn't just say 'yes, yes come in,' right away. It seemed odd," said Best.

Then Best did some digging around and noticed the website said it was a for-profit business, so she turned McBride away.

McBride says he remembers getting denied by some venuesbecause of not being a non-profit organization. But he also remembers paying for a spot at a venue because he was a business, and the venue seemed fine with that.

McBride ended up changing the name from Help Kids Sports Canada to Set 'Em Up Canada a few months after opening the business,after getting complaints that it was too similar to the charity KidSport.

KidsSport also told CBC News it sent McBride a cease and desist letter asking Help Kids to change its name because KidsSport was receiving complaints from people who questioned why the were canvassing for donations at the door which KidsSport says it doesn't do.

CBC News also reached out to Tim Hortons and to Canadian Tire to see whether they knew they were allowing a business to sell merchandise in their lobbies but haven't heard back.

In an email, a spokesperson for Canadian Tire wrote: Canadian Tire Associate Dealers are committed to supporting the communities they serve. As part of that, Dealers frequently provide spaces within or outside of their stores where organizations can raise funds and/or awareness within the community. The process for requesting and being granted space is determined, and handled, by the individual stores.

Tim Hortons hasn't responded yet.

Family cut

McBride wasn't able to say what portion of his sales went to families directly. He says the margins change all the time.

But he says about a third goes to families on average.

McBride says the money goes to employees paychecks because he says he employs dozens of people to do canvassing.

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Another portion goes to overhead, the actual packaging, and a significant portion goes into the back that goes to the families.

He also says he was able to purchase a full inventory of sports equipment that will be sold online through Set 'Em Up Canada for a fraction of the cost.

McBride says so far Set 'Em Up hasn't awarded any money to families in need but that a giveaway is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct.2.

"We're hoping that turns into a big thing or we can do it once a month or once every two months going forward," said McBride.

McBride says he's aware of the complaints and bad reviews on social media but he counters that his vision and goals are misunderstood.

"All of us have been working extremely hard for the entire year for something that we consider to be very positive for the world. It's a tad frustrating having so much negative feedback on something that is supposed to be so positive," said McBride in a text to CBC news.

He also says, despite what the former employee told CBC News, canvassers mention upfront this is a business.

"The presentation script that we've had people use at the doors is extremely clear that it's a new startup business fundraiser."