Update: They have changed their name but not their scummy practices, Base Connect is now known as ForthRight Strategy. It is run by all the same people, with all the same clients.
Their new contact information is info@forthrightstrategy.com (bounced back on 4/7/15) (202) 457-1254 my guess is that Kimberly Bellissimo new email is kb@forthrightstrategy.com. It is a valid email but I have not sent anything to it.
When they ignore you, file a complaint with the DMA, the FTC and your state’s Attorney General. Catalog Choice and PaperKarma do not work on them. Do not waste your time. Go straight to filing complaints.
Today’s direct marketing firm is Base Connect. Wiki page. Opt-out here info@base-connect.com. If that doesn’t work, email the President and CEO Kimberly Bellissimo kb@base-connect.com.
Salon Article from 2010 about Base Connect some PAC’s and treasurer in common: Scott Mackenzie Open Secrets search for Mr. Mackenzie
Base Connect executives have argued that as much as 35 or 40 percent of the money paid to their firm goes directly to postage costs. But even assuming that is true, the firm is still taking five or 10 times as much money in fees as the amount going out to help campaigns — and the donors are still seeing virtually none of their money helping candidates.
The New York Times taking about the shady PAC’s that are connected to Base Connect Part 1, Part 2.
The Dally Caller: The Direct Mail Fundraising Racket: Is It Ethical?. Kim B’s baww response. And finally the original reporter’s rebuttal.
Higher ups in the Republican establishment have:
reached out to Republican candidates to make the case that Base Connect, one of the firms with which Mackenzie has been associated, will not provide a good return on investment and has suggested he’d withhold endorsements from candidates who retain the firm.
So if you use Base Connect/ForthRight Strategy you will not get support from the rest of the Republican establishment.
They changed their name because CFO Michael Centanni was caught with child porn. He plead guilty.
Open Secrets contacted me for this article about Scott Mackenzie. My favorite quote is “A charity that reported such high fundraising costs relative to contributions made would face a serious risk of an IRS audit.” But the FEC doesn’t have the authority to audit scam PACs.
USA Today contacted me for their second article about Scott Mackenzie and VIGOP.
Part 1: How the Virgin Islands could decide the GOP presidential nomination
Part 2: PAC donations from elderly donors draw scrutiny
Politico piece about Ryan Zinke’s connections to Scott Mackenzie and VIGOP.
In October 2019 Scott B. Mackenzie pleaded guilty to one count of making a false statement to the Federal Election Commission. It was apart of a larger case involving Conservative StrikeForce and Conservative Majority Fund and Kelley Rogers pleading guilty to wire fraud.
October 2021 Daily Beast: Right-Wing Nonprofit Lavishes Millions on Top Brass. “ForthRight’s direct mail efforts for ACU (The American Conservative Union, CPAC) in 2017, 2018, and 2019 broke exactly even. That is to say, despite Forthright’s intake from postal solicitations ranging from $234,056 to $1,535,050, each year it somehow only raised enough cash to pay for the expenses the firm’s work incurred. None of the funds ever made it back to the ACU, since Forthright got paid out of the donations.”
Their clients include:
Wiki page, Source Watch page, Open Secrets page.
This has got to be one of the worst designed mailpieces I have gotten in a while. Someone put the main text of the donation page over a ghosted graphic of The Constitution. That makes the page impossible to read for people with bad eyesight. Like the elderly, the very people this mailpiece is aimed at.
Wiki page, Charity Navigator page, Source Watch page
Run by Jerome Corsi, Open Secrets page
The Black Republican Fund BRPAC run by Edward Cousar. New York Times article about PACs that raise a lot of money but don’t spend it on candidates, it mentions the Black Republican PAC.
Disabled Police Officers of America Inc., no website
Disabled Police Officers of America Inc. is one of the worst charities in America according to the Tampa Bay Times. Along with shaming the charities they also shame the direct marketing firms that collect the money like Base Connect.
Conservative StrikeForce, Open Secrets page. From Fox Detroit:
“Since 2010, the Conservative Strikeforce has raised nearly $10 million. More than $9 million of the loot was paid to the fundraisers. That means candidates got less than 8 percent of the money donors sent in.”
Opt-out here info@conservativestrikeforce.com and call (888) 295-6480
Update: this group is now dead Kelley Rogers plead guilty to wire fraud.
Dick Morris’s Stop Hillary Now a project of Virgin Islands Republican Party (VIGOP)
Opt-out here and call (340)332-2579
The New York Times breaks down a typical Stop Hillary Now! piece of junk mail.
Other clients that I either haven’t gotten or didn’t take a photo of:
Veterans for Victory, dead website
Open Secrets page
Republican Member Senate Fund, no website
Open Secrets page
This is not a complete list of the clients of Base Connect. It is only the ones I could find prof of.
And a big thank you to Dan for getting Kimberly Bellissimo’s email and sharing it with me.
Drowning in Junk Mail 
god bless you.
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Thanks for the shout out Jennifer! Also the contact at Base Connect has been very helpful. I needed to send a follow up email to cover “60Plus” and I received a prompt response from Kimberly.
– Dan
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Thanks so much for the tip! I hope her mailbox is full of people wanting to stop junk mail from them.
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