Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund

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.

Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund provides services to severely injured military personnel, spending the vast majority of the funds it receives on the construction of research, diagnosis, treatment, and other medical facilities. Due to accounting rules, the millions of dollars the charity spends on constructing these facilities, typically over a multi-year period, are not reported by the charity as a program expense in the year the funds are spent on construction. Rather, the program and other expenses from construction costs are recognized in the year the charity conveys ownership of a completed medical facility to the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, Department of Defense, or other agency charged with staffing and operating the facility. The result is that the charity appears to be spending very little on programs during years of construction, and a drastically large amount on programs in subsequent years when construction is complete.

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 this charity is operating. Therefore, we make adjustments to reported figures by including the charity's construction costs in its program percentage in the year the funds are spent. Similarly, we subtract from reported program spending the funds the charity 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.

[The next Analysts' Note, below, provides more information about the construction of The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund's "Intrepid Spirit Centers."]

Please see the Our Process page for more information about other adjustments CharityWatch analysts make to a charity's reported financial figures during our evaluations.

According to The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund (IFHF) audit of April 30, 2020 (Note 1 re: Organization):

"...IFHF is building ten 'Intrepid Spirit Centers' at major military bases around the country. These centers act as satellites to the central NICoE [National Intrepid Center of Excellence] facility [located at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, MD] and allow urgently needed care to be brought to more troops and closer to home. IFHF has a $100 million campaign underway to raise funds for the construction of the Intrepid Spirit Centers.

"Since fiscal 2014, seven Intrepid Spirit Centers have been built: at Fort Belvoir, Virginia; Camp Lejeune, North Carolina; Fort Campbell, Kentucky; Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Fort Hood, Texas; Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington; and Camp Pendleton, California. In fiscal year 2019, construction [has] begun on the Intrepid Spirit Center at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida (eighth Intrepid Spirit Center). Construction at Eglin Air Force Base was completed in June 2020, and the facility opened in July 2020. In fiscal year 2020, planning began for the start of construction at the Intrepid Spirit Center at Fort Carson, Colorado (ninth Intrepid Spirit Center). IFHF continues fundraising for an additional center to be constructed at Fort Bliss, Texas (tenth Intrepid Spirit Center)."

According to The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund (IFHF) audit of April 30, 2020 (Note 10, Commitments):

"In connection with the development of Intrepid Spirit Centers eight and nine (see note 1 [cited above]), as of April 30, 2020, IFHF has committed contracted spending on material agreements totaling $1,386,685."

According to The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund (IFHF) audit of April 30, 2020 (Note 8, Related Party Transactions):

"A member of IFHF's Board is an officer in a law firm which provides legal services to IFHF. IFHF paid $25,000 and $18,000 to the law firm for legal services in fiscal 2020 and fiscal 2019."

According to The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund (IFHF) audit of April 30, 2020 (Note 12, Subsequent Events):

"Management has evaluated subsequent events for disclosure and/or recognition in the financial statements through the dat[e] that the [audited] financial statements were available to be issued, which date is September 25, 2020. The following was identified:"

"COVID-19 ('Coronavirus') Pandemic

The ongoing Coronavirus pandemic has resulted in substantial volatility to the global economy. The pandemic has had, and will have, an adverse effect on the results of operations. The extent to which the pandemic impacts IFHF's results will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information which may emerge concerning the severity of the Coronavirus and actions taken to contain the pandemic and its impact, among others. As a result, management cannot reasonably estimate the overall impact of the Coronavirus pandemic to IFHF's future results of operations, cash flows, or financial condition."

"Transfer of Eglin Air Force Base Spirit Center

On June 5, 2020, IFHF formally transferred the operation of the eighth Intrepid Spirit Center at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida to the United States Government. Included in construction in progress as of April 30, 2020 is $10,422,920 of construction costs at Eglin Air Force Base which were subsequently transferred and expensed, and will be included within contributions and grant expenses in the fiscal year 2021 financial statements."

According to The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund (IFHF) tax filing for the fiscal year ended April 30, 2020, IFHF reports re: Compensation, Supplemental Information (IRS Form 990, Schedule J, Part III):

Regarding nonfixed payments to officers, directors, trustees, key employees and highest compensated employees (Schedule J, Part I, Line 7):

"Bonus is determined and approved by the board based on performance.

"Bonus was treated as taxable compensation to the recipients.

"Thomas J. Alletto – $3,500
Lisa Yaconiello – $7,500"

Lisa Yaconiello is reported as VP/Secretary with total compensation of $53,685 in calendar year 2019 (IRS Form 990, Schedule J, Part II). Thomas J. Alletto is reported as CFO/Treasurer with total compensation of $146,630 in calendar year 2019 (IRS Form 990, Part VII).