By UPDATE: For those interested Soldiers’ Angels has a posting up rebuking the ABC report and the criteria used for judging. Go check it out because they do make a valid claim that the criteria for judging the charities is strange to say the least.
_________________________________________________
I have posted before about the fraud issue with the Army Emergency Relief program and, thanks to a reader, it appears the fraud, waste, and abuse of this non-profit organization runs even deeper than just USFK:
In the last two years, generous Americans answering appeals to help wounded and paralyzed veterans have given more than $464 million to charities that have been given an F in a new report card from a leading charity watchdog group.
Those failing charities include the National Veterans Services Fund, of Darien, Conn., which took in more than $6 million in contributions last year supposedly to help veterans’ families.
It got a report grade of F from the American Institute of Philanthropy, which says the charity gave out only two percent of its money for charity.
“Veterans deserve better from America’s charities,” said Daniel Borochoff, the institute’s president and ABC News consultant, who compiled his group’s report card based on his analysis of the charity’s financial data. While the charities’ activities are not illegal, Borochoff says, “spending under 35 percent of your budget on actual bona fide charitable programs will get you an F grade.”
Of the 27 military and veterans’ charities reviewed by Borochoff’s group, 13 were rated F, including the Amvets National Service Foundation, the Army Emergency Relief Fund, Freedom Alliance, the National Veterans Services Fund, the Military Order of the Purple Heart Services Foundation and the Paralyzed Veterans of America. [ABC News]
What is even more shocking than AER receiving an F Grade is that other well known veterans charities as well are receiving failing grades. You can see the full list of charities in the report here.
What really surprised me was that the charity group Soldiers’ Angels which is a very well known charitable organization promoted by many milblogs received a D grade. The founder for Soldiers’ Angels Patti Patton Bader just received the Microsoft Above and Beyond Award for her work with the group. I was definitely surprised to read about so little money actually reaching the troops.
It isn’t all bad news as the Fisher House Foundation received a well deserved A+ for their work. The Fisher House Foundation runs a variety of programs but their Caring Bridge program for cancer patients I have personal experience with when a friend of mine was diagnosed and died from cancer. The program worked very well and provided a needed service. The USO did not score to bad on the report but they could do better by receiving a C+. I have nothing but good things to say with my experiences interacting with the USO but hopefully this report motivates the USO to make improvements where they can to make sure more of the charity money is going to the troops.
When everyone in the military receives their Combined Federal Campaign slips I recommend you put down the Fisher House along with the handful of other charities that scored well and make sure to avoid the charities that didn’t score well.
7:27 pm on November 12th, 2007 1
Thanks so much for the kind mention of both Fisher House and of CaringBridge.org! We're really proud of our association with FH and the work that we jointly do to help wounded and ill soldiers and their families.
I also wanted to point out that in addition to being a key part of Fisher House, CaringBridge.org is also used as an excellent communication platform for families and friends of soldiers who are currently serving overseas. It's a great way for them to stay connected with everyone back home.
CaringBridge.org is also part of the Combined Federal Campaign as an independent entity as well. So, please contribute to Fisher House for all of the wonderful work they do, and please consider also contributing to CaringBridge.org for helping keep soldiers, families and friends connected!
7:43 pm on November 12th, 2007 2
I will look into this immediately, but have a feeling it is because we were going through an audit. I'll get back to you!
9:02 pm on November 12th, 2007 3
"The founder for Soldiers’ Angels Patti Patton Bader just received the Microsoft Above and Beyond Award for her work with the group. I was definitely surprised to read about so little money actually reaching the troops."
Maybe I've missed something, but nowhere in those links did I find mention of the amount of donations vrs amount reaching troops in regards to Soldiers Angels. Could you elaborate? If you just misspoke, perhaps it should be corrected in the post.
10:15 pm on November 12th, 2007 4
I believe you should examine the quality of the grader & the criteria for the grading!
8:45 pm on November 15th, 2007 5
Maybe there is something wrong with how they graded but in the downloaded reported Soldier Angels received a D for the amount of money brought in compared to what was actually reaching the troops. If an F grade is 35% than SA must be giving around 40% of its donations back to the troops according to the report. Like I said I was very surprised to read this because everything I have read before about Soldiers Angels has been excellent. I really hope it is just an accounting error. By the way the SA link is above for everyone who wants to read it because I agree the judging criteria is strange for not being very transparent.
7:08 am on November 16th, 2007 6
Actually last year (2006) more than 60% went to the troops. You can read their financials here: http://soldiersangels.org/index.php?page=financia…
8:13 pm on November 17th, 2007 7
That is good to see. If most of the money is going to soldiers overseas than I don't see what AIP's beef with Soldier's Angels is to rate it a D.
12:19 pm on December 5th, 2007 8
[...] In the latest Bell Sends, General Bell has extended the timeline for donating to CFC until December 15. CFC is worthwhile program that everyone should seriously think about contributing to. However, make sure you check out the charities very closely before giving them your hard earned money because some of them are not what they appear to be. [...]
5:39 am on March 20th, 2008 9
[...] Miles … http://www.scsos.com/PR/veteransscam.htm [Found on Windows Live, Yahoo! Search] 12. Veteran’s Charities Failing Troops … 27 military and veterans’ charities reviewed by Borochoff’s … Details of Yongsan Housing [...]