Paralyzed Veterans of America

CharityWatch's rating of Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) also includes the financial activities of PVA Spinal Cord Research Foundation and PVA Spinal Cord Injury Education & Training Foundation, which are consolidated in the PVA audited financial statements for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2023. Each entity is a 501(c)(3) public charity. All material intercompany transactions and accounts have been eliminated in the audit consolidation.

Not included in CharityWatch's rating of PVA are PVA's 33 remaining chapters. As stated in the PVA fiscal 2023 consolidated audit (Note 1 re: Organization): "PVA's 33 remaining chapters are not consolidated [in the audited financial statements] since PVA is not involved with the election of each chapter's officers or appointments and has no role in local chapter management or Board governance."

According to the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) consolidated audit of June 30, 2023 (Note 13, Contributed Services and In-Kind Contributions), PVA reports receiving contributed services and in-kind contributions in fiscal 2023 on which it placed a total value of $43,967,213. Of this amount, $42,643,525 consisted of donated public service announcements.

[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 Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) consolidated audit of June 30, 2023 (Note 21, Related Parties):

"During the years ended June 30, 2023 and 2022, PVA paid $45,000 and $30,000, respectively, to a company owned by one of the [PVA] Research Foundation's directors for consulting services.

During the years ended June 30, 2023 and 2022, PVA made an annual contribution of $350,000 and $800,000 to the PVA Education Foundation and PVA Research Foundation, respectively. These amounts have been eliminated in the accompanying consolidated financial statements."

PVA's fiscal 2023 IRS Form 990 as posted on its website and in the ProPublica database did not include an IRS Form 990, Schedule L disclosing the name of the director whose company PVA paid for consulting services. 

According to the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) consolidated audit of June 30, 2023 (Note 18, Concentration):

"...Approximately 69% and 83%, respectively, of PVA's consolidated public contribution revenue was processed by two vendors for the years ended June 30, 2023 and 2022.

Additionally, PVA has contracts with several other service providers that are collectively owned by a single parent company. PVA has no reason to believe that relationships with these service providers will be discontinued in the foreseeable future. However, any interruption of these relationships (i.e., the failure to renew the contract or withholding of funds) would adversely affect PVA's ability to finance ongoing operations."

According to the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) consolidated audit of June 30, 2023 (Note 20, Commitments):

"PVA is committed under agreements for conference space through the year 2024. The total commitments under the agreements are not determinable as it depends upon attendance and other unknown factors. There are cancellation penalties that would be due if the agreements were cancelled prior to the event date. The amount of the cancellation penalties increase through the date of the event. As of June 30, 2023 and 2022, the potential liability to PVA for terminating all such conference contracts is $1,876,595 and $1,640,020, respectively. At the present time, PVA has no intention of terminating any of these contracts."

According to the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) consolidated audit of June 30, 2023 (Note 1, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies and General Information, Risks and uncertainties):

"PVA invests in various investment securities. Investment securities are exposed to various risks such as interest rates, market and credit risks. Due to the level of risk associated with certain investment securities, it is at least reasonably possible that changes in the values of investment securities will occur in the near term and that such changes could materially affect the amounts reported in the accompanying [audited] consolidated financial statements."