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Circle of Friends for American Veterans (COFAV), also known as "American Homeless Veterans," was a
501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of ...
organization that supported veterans and related causes. It was founded in 1993 in
Falls Church, Virginia Falls Church City is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 14,658. Falls Church is ...
by Brian Arthur Hampton. The charity has faced criticism for allocating only about 10% of its income to charitable causes, with the remainder being paid to fundraisers. COFAV partners with professional fundraisers who utilize paid telemarketers to solicit funds. This structure results in COFAV incurring costs of over half of every dollar donated. Of the remaining funds, a relatively high percentage goes toward executive salaries and deferred compensation. Charity watchdogs have unfavorably compared COFAV to its peers. In 2020, COFAV was dissolved, and Hampton was fined $100,000 by the attorney general of Virginia.


Charitable activities


Lobbying

Hampton said he had "hosted more than 100 members of Congress across 196 veterans shelter-themed forums in 46 cities" in rallies for these non-profits. In the summer of 2015 Lauren Baghsarian, from Stockton University's Washington Center program served as the Circle of Friends for American Veterans' Program Coordinator where she "research dthe many issues our country's veterans face while reintegrating into civilian life." hemet with Legislative Assistants of Congress and Senate.


Direct financing to veterans

"Over the years" COFAV "has written modest checks for over 30 transitional facilities" for veterans who are "drug-free, alcohol-free, well-groomed and willing to work".COFAV Mission
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Political action

By 2015, Hampton had established a sponsoring a veterans-focused
political action committee In the United States, a political action committee (PAC) is a tax-exempt 527 organization that pools campaign contributions from members and donates those funds to campaigns for or against candidates, ballot initiatives, or legislation. The l ...
Put Vets First PAC DBA Association for American Veterans and hired Outreach Calling to do the fundraising. According to the
Federal Election Commission The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent agency of the United States government that enforces U.S. campaign finance laws and oversees U.S. federal elections. Created in 1974 through amendments to the Federal Election Campaign ...
(FEC), by 2018, the PAC had contributed $2000 in 2015 and $2000 in 2016. From January to September 2017, no PACs or politicians had received any funds from Hampton. However, Outreach Calling had raised $1.5 million for the PAC, keeping $1.3 million. Hampton paid himself $75,000 from the PAC.


Related entities

The founder of COFAV, Brian A. Hampton, founded the Center for American Homeless Veterans, also known as the "Association for Homeless and Disabled Veterans", another
501(c)(4) A 501(c) organization is a nonprofit organization in the Law of the United States#Federal law, federal law of the United States according to Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 501(c)). Such organizations are exempt from some Taxation in the Un ...
charity operating from the same address. He founded Put Vets First, a
PAC Pac or PAC may refer to: Aviation * IATA code PAC Albrook "Marcos A. Gelabert" International Airport in Panama City, Panama * Pacific Aerospace Corporation, New Zealand, manufacturer of aircraft: ** PAC 750XL ** PAC Cresco ** PAC CT/4 ** PA ...
, also operating from the same address. In 2007 Hampton began contracting with the professional fundraiser Outreach Calling. Hampton publishes the ''Veterans' Vision''. 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.


Outreach Calling

Outreach Calling Inc Outreach Calling Inc is a for-profit fundraiser which was incorporated in 2009. It is headquartered in New Jersey and has offices in the United States and Canada with a virtual office in Reno, Nevada. The firm's telemarketers solicit funds on be ...
is a for-profit fundraiser which was incorporated in 2009. It is headquartered in New Jersey with offices in Canada and the United States including a virtual office in Reno, Nevada. The firm's telemarketers solicit funds on behalf of not-for-profit charities. According to New York state regulators, "a wealthy 49-year-old New Jersey businessman", Mark Gelvan (b.1978), is the "driving force behind Outreach Calling." Outreach Calling collects money for " homeless veterans," "breast cancer survivors", "disabled police officers", and "children with leukemia", among others. According to a 2017 CPI analysis, "Outreach Calling, raised more than $118 million on behalf of about two dozen charities from 2011 to 2015", retaining $106 million. 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 James Michael Sheehan (24 July 1885 – 10 April 1967) was an Australian trade unionist and politician. Born in Castlemaine, Victoria, Castlemaine, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, he received a primary education before becoming a railway worke ...
, "head of the charities bureau for the office of
New York Attorney General The attorney general of New York is the chief legal officer of the U.S. state of New York and head of the Department of Law of the state government. The office has existed in various forms since 1626, originally established under the Dutch c ...
Eric T. Schneiderman Eric Tradd Schneiderman (born December 31, 1954) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 65th attorney general of New York from 2011 until his resignation in May 2018. Schneiderman, a member of the Democratic Party, spent ten year ...
." In 2012 they raised $21,332,659. Of that $2,227,761 was retained by the charities. In 2012, "Outreach Calling collected $6,681 on behalf of the Disabled Police and Sheriffs Foundation from Massachusetts residents ... and turned over $668 to the charity, according to state records." Their standard contract gives Outreach Calling up to 90% of donations. In July 2017 the Saint Louis,
Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...
Better Business Bureau The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is an American private, 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization founded in 1912. BBB's self-described mission is to focus on advancing marketplace trust, consisting of 92 independently incorporated local BBB organizati ...
(BBB) published a caution to consumers in their decision to donate to Hampton's Center. BBB reported that only 10% of all donations collected by the Center for American Homeless Veterans' two main fundraisers actually go to the Center for American Homeless Veterans.


Controversy

In 2014, 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 The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) United States antitrust law, antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. It ...
(FTC). COFAV was one of the F-rated charities for which CDG conducted fundraising.


CharityWatch

In 2016,
CharityWatch CharityWatch, known until 2012 as the American Institute of Philanthropy, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in Chicago, Illinois, created in the United States by Daniel Borochoff in 1992, to provide information about charities' financial effi ...
gave COFAV an F assessment on a scale of A+ to F as it did not meet transparency or governance standards, for example the COFAC had fewer than five voting members. As well, for the fiscal year ending on September 30, 2015, only 11% of their calculated total expenses (c. $1,600,000) were spent on programs with 89% spent on overhead. During the same period, of the c. $1,500,000 of calculated total contributions it cost $89 in fundraising, to raise $100 in contributions.


Saint Louis Better Business Bureau (BBB)

In July 2017 the Saint Louis,
Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...
Better Business Bureau The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is an American private, 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization founded in 1912. BBB's self-described mission is to focus on advancing marketplace trust, consisting of 92 independently incorporated local BBB organizati ...
(BBB) published a caution to consumers in their decision to donate to Hampton's Center. BBB reported that only 10% of all donations collected by the Center for American Homeless Veterans' two main fundraisers actually go to the Center for American Homeless Veterans. Furthermore, the BBB reported that over a two-year period from 2014 to 2016 the two major fundraisers used by the center,
Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...
–based Outreach Calling and
Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...
–based
Midwest Publishing The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern c ...
, had collected almost $USD 5 million. Of that amount approximately $508,000 was retained by the Center for American Homeless Veterans and almost all of that was used to "pay salaries, legal fees and office-related expenses."


Center for Public Integrity

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. 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." According to an October 24, 2018, article co-published by CPI,
NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...
,
Public Radio International Public Radio International (PRI) was an American public radio organization. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, PRI provided programming to over 850 public radio stations in the United States. PRI was one of the main providers of programmi ...
(PRI) and the ''
Buffalo News ''The Buffalo News'' is the daily newspaper of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area, located in downtown Buffalo, New York. It was for decades the only paper fully owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. On January 29, 2020, the ...
'', a former Circle of Friends staffer, turned whistleblower, asked the "IRS to revoke not-for-profit status of the Circle of Friends for American Veterans and the Center for American Homeless Veterans" because "his former employer is bilking donors out of millions of dollars—money intended to help homeless veterans". In their October 4, 2018, response, the IRS noted that this could "take several years until final resolution of all tax matters." As of October 24, 2018, based on filings submitted by Put Vets First! PAC to the
Federal Election Commission The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent agency of the United States government that enforces U.S. campaign finance laws and oversees U.S. federal elections. Created in 1974 through amendments to the Federal Election Campaign ...
Hampton "continues to raise significant sums of money." The October 24 article co-published by the CPI,
NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...
,
Public Radio International Public Radio International (PRI) was an American public radio organization. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, PRI provided programming to over 850 public radio stations in the United States. PRI was one of the main providers of programmi ...
(PRI) and the ''
Buffalo News ''The Buffalo News'' is the daily newspaper of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area, located in downtown Buffalo, New York. It was for decades the only paper fully owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. On January 29, 2020, the ...
'' said that, according to federal records, "Hampton spends almost all of the money on fundraising, wages for himself and others and overhead costs".


Charity Navigator

By January 2018,
Charity Navigator Charity Navigator is a charity assessment organization that evaluates more than 230,000 charitable organizations based in the United States, operating as a 501(c)(3) organization. It provides insights into a nonprofit's financial stability, adh ...
, the "New Jersey–based philanthropy advocacy group placed 'concern advisories' on the Circle of Friends for American Veterans and the Center for American Homeless Veterans". "Charity Navigator holds that reputable charities should spend at least 75 percent of expenses on programs."


Office of the Attorney General of Virginia (2020)

In March 2020,
Brian Arthur Hampton Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word mean ...
's The Circle of Friends for American Veterans and the Center for American Homeless Veterans were shut down by the Office of the Attorney General of Virginia because of the veterans charities had "allegedly misused $13 million in donations."


See also

*
Charity fraud Charity fraud, also known as a donation scam, is the act of using deception to obtain money from people who believe they are donating to a charity. Often, individuals or groups will present false information claiming to be a charity or associated w ...


References

{{reflist, 30em Charities based in New Jersey Organizations established in 2001 Homelessness charities in the United States