Fisher House Foundation

As part of our financial analysis, CharityWatch makes certain adjustments to figures reported by a charity in its tax filing and/or audited financial statements to better reflect for donors how efficiently a charity is spending its donations.

Fisher House Foundation constructs and furnishes houses for the purpose of providing temporary lodging for members of the armed services and their families receiving care in military and veterans hospitals. Constructed Fisher Houses are donated to various branches of the U.S. armed services and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Due to accounting rules, the millions of dollars the Foundation spends on constructing these houses, typically over a multi-year period, are not reported by the charity as a program expense in the years the funds are spent on construction. Rather, according to the Foundation's audit, "Costs of construction of Fisher Houses to be donated are capitalized [rather than included in program expenses] as incurred. All costs incurred in connection with the construction of a Fisher House are expensed when the house is donated" (Note 1 re: Construction-in-progress). The result is that the Foundation appears to be spending less on programs during years of construction and more on programs in subsequent years when Fisher Houses are donated.

CharityWatch understands that while these accounting rules are appropriate for audit and other financial reporting, taking them at face value when computing financial efficiency percentages for any single reporting year would produce volatile results that are not reflective of how efficiently or inefficiently Fisher House Foundation is operating. Therefore, we make adjustments to reported figures by including the Foundation's construction costs in its program percentage calculation in the year the funds are spent. Similarly, we subtract from reported program spending the funds the Foundation spent on construction in prior years. These adjustments produce program efficiency and fundraising ratios that are more helpful for donors who want to know how efficiently the charity is raising and spending public dollars in a given year.

According to the Fisher House Foundation audited Statement of Activities and Change in Net Assets for the year ended December 31, 2020, the Foundation received in-kind "Donated goods" on which it placed a total value of $7,563,304.

Included in the total amount of donated goods received in 2020 is "donated media time" on which the Foundation placed a value of approximately $6,200,000, according to the Fisher House Foundation audit of December 31, 2020 (Note 1 re: Donated Goods, Services, and Media Time).

[Note: CharityWatch generally excludes the value of in-kind (non-cash) donations of goods and services from its calculations of Program % and Cost to Raise $100. More information on how grades are calculated and the treatment of in-kind donations can be found on the Our Process page.]

According to the Fisher House Foundation audit of December 31, 2020 (Note 9, Major Grantors and Donors):

"For the year ended December 31, 2020, five donors/grantors accounted for 29% of the Foundation's revenue. For the year ended December 31, 2019, five donors/grantors accounted for 35% of the Foundation's revenue."

According to the Fisher House Foundation audit of December 31, 2020 (Note 8, Related Party Transactions):

"For the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, the Foundation compensated an officer of the Foundation total amounts of $58,168 and $57,251, respectively, for his services in connection with the scholarship program and consulting..."

According to the Fisher House Foundation audit of December 31, 2020 (Note 12, Risks and Uncertainties):

"On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization ('WHO') announced a global health emergency because of a new strain of coronavirus originating in Wuhan, China (the 'COVID-19 outbreak') and the risks to the international community as the virus spreads globally beyond its point of origin.

"On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. As of the date of issuance [May 26, 2021], this public health emergency stands to substantially impact the global economy, including significant volatility in the financial markets. COVID-19 pandemic and government responses are creating disruption in global supply chains and adversely impacting many industries. The outbreak could have a continued material adverse impact on economic and market conditions and trigger a period of global economic slowdown. The rapid development and fluidity of this situation precludes any prediction as to the ultimate material adverse impact of COVID-19. Nevertheless, COVID-19 presented potential material uncertainty and risk with respect to the Foundation, its performance, and its financial results.

"In an effort to ensure the health and well-being of the Foundation's staff and to sustain its work and mission, the staff moved to a mandatory telework status beginning in March 2020. The Foundation implemented procedures to ensure the safety of staff members as they conducted business. Several events were cancelled including galas, races, and other large gatherings, but the Foundation continued to bring in contributions and other revenue. The COVID-19 pandemic has not produced material impacts to the Foundation's revenue or change in net assets."

According to the Fisher House Foundation (FHF) 2020 tax filing, FHF includes in its reporting for Compensation Information re: Officers, Directors, Trustees, Key Employees, and Highest Compensated Employees, "Bonus & incentive compensation" paid to 10 individuals, including $134,000 paid to David A. Coker, President. Mr. Coker's reported total compensation in 2020 is $505,327. The other nine reported "Bonus & incentive compensation" amounts are between $10,000 and $5,080 (IRS Form 990, Schedule J, Part II).