Mothers Against Drunk Driving has stopped fundraising efforts at a time when holiday merrymaking means more intoxicated drivers are on the roads.

The organization's efforts have been put on hold following an investigative report by the Toronto Star that claimed just 19 cents from every dollar raised actually goes to victim services and fighting drunk driving.

The report alleges that the majority of donations go to professional telemarketers and people who go door-to-door raising money for the charitable organization.

But Andrew Murie, MADD Canada's CEO, has called the article misleading and said 83.6 per cent of donor money is used on MADD Canada programs.

"The Star took all of the salaries at the national office and said they were administration and not part of programs and services," he told CTV Newsnet on Wednesday.

"But when somebody from the public who's recently been impacted by impaired driving calls our social worker and she gives counseling and support to that person, in my opinion -- and in our volunteers' opinion -- that is what MADD's all about. That's not administration."

People who work at MADD branches across the country, as well as leading volunteers, have called on Murie to order a full audit by an outside organization. MADD, a $12 million-a-year charity, has so far only agreed to an internal review of its finances.

"There should be an independent accounting firm reviewing these allegations," Lynne Magee, treasurer and founder of the Huron County chapter of MADD, told the Star.

Murie has said the review will be independent of the organization's management.

"It will involve members of our board of directors and they will bring in external resources as they need to, to do a complete investigation, and report back to the public," he said.

Magee said volunteers put Murie on the spot during a heated conference call Monday night after the story broke Saturday morning. During the conversation Murie confirmed that fundraising efforts had been on hold since Saturday, but beyond that Magee said she found him to be unco-operative.

"We were met with an arrogant response, that MADD has its own accounting firm and lawyers to handle this," Magee told the newspaper, adding that at the moment, "one big happy family (MADD) isn't."

The public has always given generously to MADD, and should be able to trust in the organization's stewardship of those funds, Magee said.

Magee, whose 17-year-old son was killed by a drunk driver 12 years ago, wrote a letter to Murie this week stating her concerns. In it, she said telemarketing is a "necessary evil," but must still be carried out in an inoffensive manner.