Here’s the ‘good housekeeping’ seal for veterans aid groups
Quin Hillyer
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With Memorial Day approaching, you may start seeing TV and internet ads from CharitiesForVets.org. Unlike so many other commercials for military veterans charities, these bulletins aren’t asking for money. Instead, they provide resources for those who want to donate to others.
CharitiesForVets aims to solve a real problem: In recent years, numerous outfits claiming to be raising money for veterans have been caught and sometimes prosecuted for using most of the money for salaries and “overhead” while giving little to actual warriors. For example, the founder of a group called Veterans for America went to jail for three years after bilking donors for more than $500,000 worth of donations that he instead used for vacations, an ATV, and even online dating services.
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Dozens of other veterans charities are not dishonest but are still markedly inefficient, with overhead costs taking more than 25% of the donations they receive. Even well-established groups sometimes spend more than half their revenues on overhead while holding rather than effectively spending hundreds of millions of dollars of assets.
All told, unfortunately, the less efficient groups from 2019-2021 took in $100 million more in donations, at $1.1 billion, than the $1 billion raised by the ones in which the money more reliably actually reached veterans in need. Yet ordinary donors — the millions who respond to these groups’ entreaties by giving $25 here or $50 there — usually have no idea which charities are most proficient.
That’s where CharitiesForVets, a project of the RAM Veterans Foundation, comes in. The brainchild of philanthropist Rebekah Mercer, public-relations executive Rick Berman, and financial consultant Jim Bruyette, CharitiesForVets analyzes public tax documents filed by all charities to see if they meet the threshold of using 75% of their donations for actual veterans services. Those who succeed are adjudged “recommended,” and those spending at least 85% of their budgets on real programs are “highly recommended.”
The site also provides unscored information on the charities’ “insider relationships,” “offshore investments,” and “scandals” that donors may want to know.
Of 99 veterans charities analyzed, only 50 of them met at least the 75% threshold. The efficiency champion, H.E.R.O.E.S. Care, admirably used an astonishing 99.3% of its receipts for actual services such as emergency financial aid, job assistance, and mental healthcare.
Encouragingly, sometimes celebrity involvement matches its glitter with true gold. The Gary Sinise Foundation, for example, led by the actor so well known for playing Lt. Dan in the movie Forrest Gump, earned a “Highly Recommended” rating.
While CharitiesForVets cannot assess the quality of services rendered, its consistent metric for cost-effectiveness should help grateful people decide whether their altruistic impulses will be well effectuated.
Retired Marine Corps Col. Peter Metzger, the pro bono chairman of the CharitiesForVets Advisory Board, carried the “nuclear football” for President Ronald Reagan for 2 1/2 years. “We are really the Consumer Reports for veterans charities,” he said. “We run a public information campaign that is free and available for anyone. … I spent 25 years on active duty and I want to make sure veterans get the help they deserve.”