Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) reports reasonable overhead and program spending in its annual financial documents, but a closer analysis by CharityWatch reveals a different picture of how efficiently this charity operates.

Vietnam Veterans of America reported spending 66% of its expenses on programs in fiscal 2011. CharityWatch's analysis of VVA's tax form and audited financial statements for that year shows the charity spent only 18% of its expenses on programs.

Why the difference?

In short, in its audit VVA refers to the costs associated with collecting "discarded household items and automobiles from the community" to be a "Recycling Program." It subtracts these costs from the revenue it generates from selling these donated items to "contracted private companies." Therefore, these costs do not show up in VVA's reported fundraising and total expenses. A donor who takes the charity's reported operating expenses at face value would think VVA is operating more efficiently, and spending a higher portion of its budget on programs than it actually is.

CharityWatch disagrees with VVA's reporting. The expenses a charity incurs to raise donations, whether the donations are in the form of cash or non-cash items like donated household goods, are fundraising expenses and should be reported as such. In fiscal 2011, VVA reported spending $20.1 million on "solicitation costs for generating the items collected and sales costs for selling the items," according to its audit of the same year. For this reason, CharityWatch adds this $20.1 million to the charity's reported fundraising expenses so that all of its solicitation costs are reflected in its rating.

Unlike many other sources of charity information online today, CharityWatch does not simply repeat information that charities report about themselves. Our in-depth analysis of charities is what has set us apart for more than twenty years as the smart source for independent charity ratings and other information. For more articles on this or other charities analyzed by CharityWatch, please see our Articles Page. Thank you for caring enough to give wisely!