Karen Eischen, Director of the Pella Chamber of Commerce, says that there are ways that businesses and consumers can protect themselves from frauds claiming to raise money this fall. She suggests to call the organization or business they claim to have a relationship with and ask if this is the case. For consumers, she suggests to consider the following, is it actually a fundraising project for a local organization, or is it a company specializing in “buy local” deals, who make their livelihood selling coupon books to communities and keeping all of the profits?