I just called them back (using *69 to conceal my number). Their recorded message was that they are the "Military Order of the Purple Heart," which I assume is a military veteran non-profit charity. I give a small amount each year to the Wounded Warrior charity so I guess that made me a mark for other such charities. Frankly, I am irritated enough that they may have shared my phone number that I am going to look both these charities up and find what percent of contributions actually go to their beneficiaries and programs, rather than to administrative and overhead costs. If it is less than 50% I am cutting both of them off.
I just called them back (using *69 to conceal my number). Their recorded message was that they are the "Military Order of the Purple Heart," which I assume is a military veteran non-profit charity. I give a small amount each year to the Wounded Warrior charity so I guess that made me a mark for other such charities. Frankly, I am irritated enough that they may have shared my phone number that I am going to look both these charities up and find what percent of contributions actually go to their beneficiaries and programs, rather than to administrative and overhead costs. If it is less than 50% I am cutting both of them off.
This is a PS. Seems neither of the above charities is much good, particularly the Military Order of the Purple Heart which has had some serious scandals in the past. I think I am dumping the WW Project also after reading the comments and analysis at http://weaponsman.com/?p=8825. Charity Watch and Charity Navigator are good sources of info on charities. CW costs $50/year so I don't use it directly; CN is free but somewhat shallow. You can also find IRS Form 990s on line, which must be used by all legal tax exempt organizations.
No message and I no longer give to charities, etc. over the phone. If they want my dollar they need to mail me something and I will look it over and than decide if I want to give. These days most say they won't send anything without a commitment to pledge and I say well I won't pledge until I look over your info. So we have a stalemate.