Honorable Veterans Charities?

by Diane
(IL)

Diane writes:

I went to look up the best veterans charity that would help our military the most. I wanted to write a check & so I checked this website.

I was saddened to see the high percent of D & F ratings. Does anyone investigate these places or shut them down?

If the ratings are so poor than why are they still allowed to operate?

Diane,

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this topic. We, too, have been seriously disappointed to see the low ratings received by various veterans charities.

As we explain in our article on veterans charities, there are three major factors which generally explain most of the low ratings:

-- ineptitude at fund raising, i.e., an inability to raise the needed funds,

-- payment of large amounts to outside fund-raising groups or companies in order to raise the needed funds, and

-- payment of excessive salaries and benefits to officers of the organization.

As you can imagine, particularly in today's economic environment, it is harder than ever to raise funds. As a result, many charities outsource their fundraising efforts, paying the third-party fund raisers a percentage of the funds they bring in. Those percentages can be reasonable or not.

Another major factor which can affect the percentage of funds raised is the amount paid to officers of the organization as salaries and benefits. We're sad to say that some charities are created mainly to line the pockets of their founders.

Part of the problem is that the IRS requirement for organizations to be classified as tax-exempt charitable organizations is that they spend as little as 5% of their contributions on their charitable purposes! As a result, some people have realized that if they raise $100,000, they can keep the IRS off their backs, for the most part, by spending just $5,000 on their "charitable purposes," cover their expenses and overhead (if they have any), and pay themselves a nice fat salary of $85,000 - 90,000 of YOUR money -- money that you thought was going to support the cause you donated to.

That is why we caution our readers to check out any veterans charity (or any other charity) before making a donation.

You can find more information on this topic, including our recommendation for two outstanding charities that help military veterans and their families, on these pages:

Some Veterans Charities Falling Short.

Charity Expose: Veterans Charities Missing the Mark.

To see how a particular charity fared in the ratings, go to Veterans Charities Ratings.

For more detailed explanation of the ratings, see Veterans Charities Ratings Explained.

The veterans charities that received the highest ratings from the AIP were:

Fisher House Foundation: A+
Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund: A+
Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund: A+
National Military Family Assn: A+
Armed Services YMCA of the USA: A-
Operation Homefront (national office): B+