Desparately seeking status: with a clever lawyer, you too can start a 9-11 charity--and give nothing to the victims.

• Author: Cristol, Hope

YOU CAN SQUINT AT THE FINE PRINT. You can click on every link. But even the keenest eyes won't find mention of September 11 relief efforts on the web site of the Animal Friendly License Plate Association, a nonprofit agency in Kansas City, Mo. That's troubling, because while its name might suggest otherwise, AFLPA is on the Internal Revenue Services list of charities established to provide relief to victims of America's recent tragedy.

As part of a post-September 11 effort to facilitate charitable donations, the IRS expedited the process by which it grants tax-exempt status to nonprofits. But as it turns out, every tax-deductible cent donated to the AFLPA goes not to New York City firefighters or Cantor Fitzgerald widows, but rather to spay/neuter programs for Missouri's dogs and cats. So why does this organization appear on the IRS list of September 11 charities? "My lawyer disguised it to move it through," admits AFLPA Co-Chair Michelle Thill. "I was tired of waiting. My lawyer pretty much assured me that we would get the [nonprofit] status, but he just grabbed hold of the opportunity."

AFLPA is just one of many new charities to claim a September 11 affiliation. On Sept. 18, the IRS announced "a special expedited review and approval process for new organizations seeking tax-exempt stares to provide relief to the victims." These would-be charities needed only to write "Disaster Relief, Sept. 11, 2001" atop their application to receive "immediate attention" that reduced turnaround time--normally 120 days--to as little as five days. To date, more than 200 organizations have been granted expedited tax-exempt status. All of them are listed on the IRS website (www.irs.gov). But not all are providing disaster relief.

Fishy Nonprofits

Take the Washington, DC Marketing Center, a spin-off of the D.C. Chamber of Commerce, which mysteriously found itself on the IRS list of September 11 nonprofits. Marketing Center representatives insist that the listing "must be an administrative error" because the group's application was approved shortly after the attacks. But according to an employee, the organization's lawyer, Olivia Shay-Byrne, managed to put it on the fast track once the expedited disaster-relief procedures were announced. Exactly how Ms. Byrne did this is a mystery. She refused repeated interview requests and wouldn't release the Center's 1023 form, even though the latter is required by law.

Then there's Whitebird Productions, another...