December 13, 2007 – Arlington, VA – Bennett Weiner, COO of the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance, testified today before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform as part of a hearing on assessing veterans’ charities. As an expert on charity review, Weiner addressed the failure of many veterans’ charities to disclose pertinent financial and organizational information critical for a full evaluation.
Currently, nearly 50 percent of the national veterans’ charities contacted by the BBB Wise Giving Alliance do not provide any of the requested information and materials necessary to complete evaluations requested by the public.
“It strongly suggests that many veterans’ charities have a way to go in demonstrating their accountability, and that donors, often so emotionally responsive to veterans’ needs, should exercise care in deciding which organizations to support,” Weiner testified.
Of the national charities that provide requested information to the BBB Wise Giving Alliance, on average, about 60-65 percent meet all of the 20 Standards for Charity Accountability and 35-40 percent do not meet one or more of the standards.
However, the Alliance’s experience with veterans’ charities is significantly different – in fact, almost the exact opposite of the national charity averages. Of those veterans’ charities that do provide requested information, 62 percent do not meet one or more of the BBB Wise Giving Alliance standards, while the other 38 percent notably do meet all of the Alliance’s standards.
While most organizations that monitor charities only consider fundraising ratios or information readily available on tax forms, Weiner stressed in his testimony the importance of other key factors such as those covered by the BBB Wise Giving Alliance’s 20 Standards for Charity Accountability.
“Although financial ratios get significant public attention, only about 20 percent of the veterans’ charities that provide requested information to the Alliance do not meet our financial ratio tests,” explained Weiner. “This reflects a potential problem because financial ratios can result in a ‘false positive.’ In other words, the financial ratios may look impressive, but the charity may not meet other accountability measures.”
The mission of the BBB Wise Giving Alliance is to help donors make informed judgments, based on ethical, financial and other considerations, about the charities that seek their support. The information the Alliance requests from a charity in order to complete its evaluation covers not only a charity’s finances but the organization’s governance, the accuracy of its communications with the public, the content of its Web site, its respect for donor privacy—and other aspects of charity operation that the Alliance’s 20 Standards for Charity Accountability address.
“The public has generally been very sympathetic to those who have served and their families, and has generously supported many of the charities formed to assist them,” noted Weiner.
Weiner continued: “The support prompted by this generous impulse, however, is not always well directed. Contributors often give without sound information about the charities that solicit them, and unfortunately, less than scrupulous operators often take advantage of givers’ sympathy for those who have served in the military.”
Weiner concluded his testimony with advice for potential donors when considering giving to a veterans’ charity, stressing the importance of researching an organization fully before donating time, money or other goods and services.
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Click here for a complete copy of Bennett Weiner’s testimony. Please contact Alison Preszler at 703-247-9376 or apreszler@council.bbb.org.to schedule an interview.
About the BBB Wise Giving Alliance
The BBB Wise Giving Alliance produces reports on nationally soliciting charitable organizations. The BBB Wise Giving Alliance does not rank charities but rather seeks to assist donors in making informed judgments by providing objective evaluations of national charities based on 20 strict standards. The outcomes of the evaluations – or BBB Wise Giving ReportsTM – are available online at www.bbb.org/charity. The BBB Wise Giving Alliance is an affiliate of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, the national organization representing 114 BBBs serving communities across the U.S. The BBB system evaluates and monitors more than 3 million local and national businesses and charities. Please visit www.bbb.org for more information.