[5][6] By 2015, Hampton had established a sponsoring a veterans-focused political action committee Put Vets First PAC DBA Association for American Veterans and hired Outreach Calling to do the fundraising.
COFAV and its related entities contracted with several professional fundraising organizations, including Outreach Calling, of Bloomfield, New Jersey, and Charitable Resource Foundation, Inc. of Greenwood, Indiana.
"[10] Outreach Calling collects money for "homeless veterans," "breast cancer survivors", "disabled police officers", and "children with leukemia", among others.
This left c. 10.3 percent or $12.2 million, for the non-profit charities and those they serve - homeless veterans, breast cancer survivors, disabled police officers, and children with leukemia.
In the United States, it is legal for-profit telemarketers to keep 90% of the donations they solicit as long as they to not "mislead prospective donors" or "lie to them about how their contributions will be used", according to Jim Sheehan, "head of the charities bureau for the office of New York Attorney General Eric T.
In July 2017 the Saint Louis, Missouri Better Business Bureau (BBB) published a caution to consumers in their decision to donate to Hampton's Center.
[13][14][15] In a 2014 article, badge charities were described, highlighting an incident where telemarketing company Civic Development Group (CDG) was required to pay "$18.8 million, the largest penalty ever imposed in a consumer protection case" by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
[17] In July 2017 the Saint Louis, Missouri Better Business Bureau (BBB) published a caution to consumers in their decision to donate to Hampton's Center.
[12] Furthermore, the BBB reported that over a two-year period from 2014 to 2016 the two major fundraisers used by the center, Reno, Nevada–based Outreach Calling and Phoenix, Arizona–based Midwest Publishing, had collected almost $USD 5 million.
"[12] In December 2017, Center for Public Integrity (CPI) journalist Sarah Kleiner published a report on Brian Arthur Hampton and his non-profit organizations including the Circle of Friends for American Veterans.
[1] Kleiner revealed that according to the 2015 Center for American Homeless Veterans' tax returns, "it provided just $200 in grants to other organizations out of $2.5 million in overall expenditures, the vast majority of which paid telemarketers.