By:Joseph Hannagan Jr. | South Jersey Times Guest Columnist
I have continued to receive a fair amount of calls concerning veterans' charities and which ones should be considered for donations.
I reached out to the BBB Wise Giving Alliance and they rate all veterans' charities based on a review of 20 standards and they put these finding in a single report on each charity.
Here is a look at the standards that are evaluated. I have listed the five that I feel are the most important.
They are:
* Board members' compensation
* Fund-raising expenses -- spend no more than 35 percent on compensation and fund-raising such as collections, advertising, etc.
* Program expenses -- spend at least 65 percent of what is collected on our veterans.
* Make available to all, on request, a complete financial report.
* A detailed expense breakdown.
I have reviewed 87 veterans' charities and listed the ones that meet the standards required.
They are:
* America VetDogs-Veterans K-( Corps)
* Amvets
* Asmba Star Foundation
* Blinded Veterans Association
* Boot Campaign, Inc
* Children of Fallen Patriots Foundation
* Disabled American Veterans
* EOD Warrior Foundation
* Green Beret Foundation
* Homes for Our Troops
* Honor Flight Network
* K9's for Warriors
* Marine Corps Scholarship Fund
* Military Spouse Corporation Career Network
* Operation Healing Forces
* Operation Homefront
* Soldiers Angels
* Team Red, White & Blue
* Travis Manion Foundation
* USA Cares
* USO
* Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW)
* VFW Foundation
* Wounded Warrior Project
* Wounded Warrior Family Support
Charities still under review, but should be Ok to receive donations:
* Camp Coral
* Coalition to Salute Americas' Heroes
* Gary Sinse Foundation
* Marine Corps Association Foundation
* Paralyzed Veterans of America
That leaves 57 out of the 87 that I reviewed, that have refused to answer the questions or to open their books for review.
I would advise everyone that wants to donate to a charity to aid veterans to follow the names on this list. I do not have the space to list all of the charities that have refused to disclose the needed information.
Joseph Hannagan Jr. is Salem County Veterans Affairs Officer. Veterans can contact Hannagan at his office by calling 856-339-8603, via cell phone at 609-774-7450 or via email at Joseph.Hannagan@salemcountynj.gov