This is often true of nonprofits that use shady fundraising companies. I once briefly worked for a terrible cancer charity that used for-profit telemarketing fundraisers who took a whopping 80% of funds raised. To the charity's very short-sighted founder, the funds the company raised for them were basically free money. They didn't have to do any of the fundraising work themselves and could basically let the fundraising company use the charity's name to solicit donations. Unfortunately, donors don't like finding out that their money is mostly padding the wallets of fundraisers, especially if (as was the case here) the charity isn't doing much to help people with cancer and mostly serves as a vehicle to funnel money to the founder and his family. The moral of the story is that if you get a fundraising call and actually want to donate money, hang up and use the organization's web site, or just donate to a charity that uses their money more effectively.