CharityWatch has issued National Wildlife Federation (NWF) a "?" rating for its fiscal year ended 8/31/2022 due to an inability to obtain information from the charity about its financial reporting that would allow us to complete a meaningful analysis. Specifically: CharityWatch analyzed NWF's fiscal 2022 tax Form 990 and audited financial statements and contacted the organization via U.S. mail in May 2024 with questions about its financial reporting. As of September 23, 2024, the charity has not responded. As a result, CharityWatch is unable to conduct a meaningful evaluation of NWF to determine its program and fundraising efficiency and assign it a letter grade rating. In a May 10th, 2024 letter to the Chief Financial Officer, Ismael Savadogo, we asked the charity to provide some clarification about promotional costs of children's publications and the Federation's catalog, including postage, artwork, and fulfillment, as described in Note 1 on page 14 of NWF's fiscal 2022 audit. Specifically, we asked: (1) What portion of NWF's $113,047,000 in reported Total Functional Expenses for fiscal 2022 (per the audited financial statements) consists of direct-response Promotional Costs?
(2) How these direct-response Promotional Costs are allocated among the functions of Program, Management & General, and Fundraising. (3) For an explanation regarding whether the $18,013,363 in total Joint Costs incurred in fiscal 2022 (per Form 990, Part IX, line 26 & Audit Note 14) include any portion of the above Promotional Costs? If applicable, we requested a functional expense breakout of the above. (4) For the dollar value of any in-kind, direct-response Promotional Costs, if applicable, included in the reported $851,000 of "Donated advertising and other services" allocated to Program Services and General & Administrative, respectively, per the audited Statement of Functional Expenses. (5) For an explanation regarding whether any of the $851,000 in "Donated advertising and other services" is included in the $9,249,533 of Joint Costs allocated to Program Services. We also requested the dollar value of any "Donated advertising and other services" included in program-related Joint Costs. Should NWF provide information to CharityWatch at a future date that will allow us to complete a meaningful evaluation of its financial activities for fiscal 2022 or a future year, we may update the charity's rating at that time. |
