A News21 analysis of the 25 charities that collect the bulk of public contributions to veterans’ causes shows that some are far more effective than others in getting money to veterans. The charities range from high-profile activist groups to foundations that make small emergency grants to veterans. Data is from 2001-2011.
Charities must classify their spending into one of three broad categories: programs and services; management and general; and fundraising. A charity is typically considered efficient if it spends less than 30 percent on management and fundraising.
Another measure of charity performance is the cost to raise a dollar, which compares a charity’s fundraising costs to the contributions it received from the public. The lower the cost to raise a dollar, the more efficient the charity’s fundraising methods are considered to be.