The Washington Post reports that several charities focused on supporting our veterans have received failing grades from the American Institute of Philanthropy.

Americans gave millions of dollars in the past year to veterans charities designed to help troops wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, but several of the groups spent relatively little money on the wounded, according to a leading watchdog organization and federal tax filings.

Eight veterans charities, including some of the nation’s largest, gave less than a third of the money raised to the causes they champion, far below the recommended standard, the American Institute of Philanthropy says in a report. One group passed along 1 cent for every dollar raised, the report says. Another paid its founder and his wife a combined $540,000 in compensation and benefits last year, a Washington Post analysis of tax filings showed.

You can read the entire report at the AIP website. I’m not exactly sure how they came up with the grading system, but I did notice that there were a lot of Ds and Fs handed out. There were a few As though and I think you should know who made the honor roll…

Armed Services YMCA of the USA
Fisher House Foundation
Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund
National Military Family Association

I can vouch for each one of the above organizations and agree that they provide top notch support to your servicemen and women. You’ve probably read about the wonderful work these groups do on more than one occasion here at Sgt Hook.

While Soldiers Angels and the USO didn’t do so well on the exam, I have to say that they’re both doing phenomenal jobs in providing support to our troops deployed and on the homefront. Everywhere I go, I see evidence that the Soldiers Angels and the USO have helped, and continue to help, our men and women serving in uniform. I am personally extremely proud of my association and involvement with the Soldiers Angels and will continue to support their outstanding efforts.

Of course, none of the aforementioned charity organizations would be able to make the differences that they do if it weren’t for the amazing support and efforts of the American people. Thank YOU all. Sgt Hook out.

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Posted by Hook @ 0955 zulu | | Permalink
This post is filed under: Veteran Affairs

I read about this night before last and was appalled at the numbers. I’d already decided not to donate to those entities who spend their veteran’s money (and mine) sending out requests every 2 days. Hard to throw the requests away when you want to send all the support you possibly can, so it’s good to have a list of the better charities. Thanks, Hook.

Comment by MissBirdlegs in AL — 15 December 2007 @ 1631

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You might want to check out this (person)/ organization who is giving out the ratings before you judge any of these wonderful organizations. http://www.charitywatch.org/

Check them out on Guidestar. In 2006 they raised about $436000…of which $124000 compensated Borchoff. No one else is paid. His salary (not including payroll taxes etc) consumes 30% of the donations….and it’s all allocated to ‘program services’

Comment by Soldier Angel Robin — 15 December 2007 @ 1819

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They have very suspect numerology on this rating system. Yes, some need watching, but there were quite a few odd ratings given out.
Freedom Alliance(I think this is North’s and Hannity’s, right?) has college scholarships they give. So they take the money given and put it in an account so it can grow a bit as the kids to get it are growing themselves. Because they have so much money awaiting the kids to actually need it and it is college fund size amounts, they get poor grades from the AIP system, they get a low grade because they have “too much money” in the bank. Those that ship to the folks in the fields are spending lots on postage to get the stuff there. They too were down rated because they “waste too much” and fewer of the dollars are in the hard goods received. So before you decide a place isn’t worth your money, please see how that money gets spent.

Comment by JP — 15 December 2007 @ 1854

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It saddens me to read the rating of Soldiers Angels. First and For Most… I am a member of this charity. I for one have spent many of my own time and effort with several of the veterans in my area. I pretty much adopted one that became like my grandfather until he passed away earlier this year. I know that I continue to get emails from Soldiers Angels requesting for help for the veterans… which I have seen first hand in giving this help.

“Soldiers are professionals, not charity cases, and ought to be treated with respect. It is fine for a charity to send tokens of appreciation to soldiers, but it is wrong to mislead donors by implying that the basic needs of soldiers are not already being met by the military.”

I have no doubt that our Soldiers are professionals… I don’t take them as being charity cases but I do take them as needing a friendly gift every now and then.

As for our veterans… it is horrible to say that more and more are needing charity because our government is not taking care of them like they should. I have witnessed this and it is terrible.

Comment by Shayna — 16 December 2007 @ 1936

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This is from the AIP website’s writeup about Soldiers’ Angels:

“A closer look at one of SA’s programs could dash such hopes about this AIP D-rated charity. (The major reason for this rating is that SA spent only 36% of its total 2006 cash expenses on program services.)”

However, a look at the SA 2006 financial report reveals that:

- Program expenses (support for the Troops) - 64%
- Supporting services (fundraising and admin) - 36%

They reversed the numbers. One should be able to expect more accuracy from a so-called watchdog organization, but apparently one cannot.

Not a single member of SA’s Board receives a salary of any kind. Admin is typically things such as postage, accounting fees, etc. And fundraising in the form of direct mail is a necessity for smaller organizations like SA.

It’s also unfortunate that the financials of organizations like SA cannot take volunteer time/money into account. As Shayna notes, it is an especially large part of what SA does, including hospital/VA visits and the many thousands of Angels who adopt soldiers and support them with their own time (and money!) by sending letters and packages.

Comment by MaryAnn — 20 December 2007 @ 1735

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