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Matches in DBpedia 2014 for { ?s ?p Base Connect, formerly called BMW Direct, is a company that specializes in direct mail fundraising for Republican political candidates in the United States. The company is owned by Kimberly Bellissimo, who started it in 2002.An affiliate of the company, BMW Lists, was in the news in October 2004 when the Providence Journal reported that Republican congressional candidate David Rogers had been paid a total of $72,000 by BMW Lists. Rogers was paid in 2003 and 2004 for selling BMW Lists the names and addresses of those who had donated to Rogers when he ran for Congress in 2002 and 2004, an unusual practice though one that was not explicitly banned by the Federal Election Commission.A number of news stories have reported that Base Connect/BMW Direct has kept a large percentage of the funds that it helps raise:The National Black Republican Association raised $400,000 during 2005-2006 and paid out 80 percent of that to BMW Direct and for other fundraising expenses. In 2006, Charles A. Morse ran a brief write-in campaign to unseat U.S. Representative Barney Frank. Morse received just 145 votes in a primary and dropped out two months before the general election. BMW Direct raised more than $700,000 for the race, some of it donated well after Morse dropped out. Of the funds raised, 96 percent were paid to BMW Direct and BMW Direct's affiliates and contractors.In 2006, Dr. Ada Fisher, who sought to unseat Mel Watt in a 2006 race for Congress, said that BMW Direct, raised almost $400,000 for her campaign. But Fisher said she got less than $30,000 of that money; the rest went to the company and others involved in the fundraising.In 2006, Deborah Honeycutt was the Republican nominee in Georgia's 13th Congressional District congressional elections. Honeycutt's campaign raised more than $1.1. million, with most of the money she raised went to BMW Direct. Honeycutt received 31 percent of the vote; David Scott, the Democratic incumbent, received 68%. In October 2008, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Honeycutt's campaign had raised $4.3 million for a rematch with Scott, with most of the money going to BMW Direct and the company's contractors, who had raised it. "It takes money to raise money," Honeycutt said. Honeycutt lost again in 2008, by the same wide margin. As of 2008, the company was raising money for Veterans for Victory, a Texas-based political action committee. During the 2006 congressional election campaign cycle, the committee spent $975,420, mostly on payments to BMW Direct and related entities, giving about $28,000 in donations to candidates.In February 2010, the Associated Press reported that since starting his re-election campaign in 2009, at least $640,000 of the $874,602 Representative Joseph Cao (R-LA) has reported spending has gone toward fundraising—about 75 percent.In April 2009, in response to criticism of her firm, Bellissimo said "We don’t get a percentage, we don’t get kickbacks. We get a set fee." She also said that the company didn't collect a bonus even for very successful campaigns, and "the post office takes 40 percent off the top when you’re doing direct mail ...". }

• Base_Connect abstract "Base Connect, formerly called BMW Direct, is a company that specializes in direct mail fundraising for Republican political candidates in the United States. The company is owned by Kimberly Bellissimo, who started it in 2002.An affiliate of the company, BMW Lists, was in the news in October 2004 when the Providence Journal reported that Republican congressional candidate David Rogers had been paid a total of $72,000 by BMW Lists. Rogers was paid in 2003 and 2004 for selling BMW Lists the names and addresses of those who had donated to Rogers when he ran for Congress in 2002 and 2004, an unusual practice though one that was not explicitly banned by the Federal Election Commission.A number of news stories have reported that Base Connect/BMW Direct has kept a large percentage of the funds that it helps raise:The National Black Republican Association raised $400,000 during 2005-2006 and paid out 80 percent of that to BMW Direct and for other fundraising expenses. In 2006, Charles A. Morse ran a brief write-in campaign to unseat U.S. Representative Barney Frank. Morse received just 145 votes in a primary and dropped out two months before the general election. BMW Direct raised more than $700,000 for the race, some of it donated well after Morse dropped out. Of the funds raised, 96 percent were paid to BMW Direct and BMW Direct's affiliates and contractors.In 2006, Dr. Ada Fisher, who sought to unseat Mel Watt in a 2006 race for Congress, said that BMW Direct, raised almost $400,000 for her campaign. But Fisher said she got less than $30,000 of that money; the rest went to the company and others involved in the fundraising.In 2006, Deborah Honeycutt was the Republican nominee in Georgia's 13th Congressional District congressional elections. Honeycutt's campaign raised more than $1.1. million, with most of the money she raised went to BMW Direct. Honeycutt received 31 percent of the vote; David Scott, the Democratic incumbent, received 68%. In October 2008, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Honeycutt's campaign had raised $4.3 million for a rematch with Scott, with most of the money going to BMW Direct and the company's contractors, who had raised it. "It takes money to raise money," Honeycutt said. Honeycutt lost again in 2008, by the same wide margin. As of 2008, the company was raising money for Veterans for Victory, a Texas-based political action committee. During the 2006 congressional election campaign cycle, the committee spent $975,420, mostly on payments to BMW Direct and related entities, giving about $28,000 in donations to candidates.In February 2010, the Associated Press reported that since starting his re-election campaign in 2009, at least $640,000 of the $874,602 Representative Joseph Cao (R-LA) has reported spending has gone toward fundraising—about 75 percent.In April 2009, in response to criticism of her firm, Bellissimo said "We don’t get a percentage, we don’t get kickbacks. We get a set fee." She also said that the company didn't collect a bonus even for very successful campaigns, and "the post office takes 40 percent off the top when you’re doing direct mail ..."".