(NewsNation) — There are 45,000 veteran charities, but most of them “waste money,” said Rick Berman, executive director of RAM Veterans Foundation.
The foundation helps scrutinize charities and assigns recommendation ratings on its website www.charitiesforvets.org. Berman joined “Morning in America” to explain how potential donors can navigate the abundance of charities and find one they can trust.
The organization provides recommendations on more than 100 charities.
“We’ve got billions of dollars that are being contributed to veteran charities every year,” Berman said. “And most people are just responding to an advertisement on TV or a direct mail-in to their home, and they don’t really understand whether or not that charity is spending their money wisely.”
Charities for Vets rates organizations using the following criteria:
- It spends less than 75% of its budget on veterans programs
- It keeps less than half of every dollar professional fundraisers collected from the public on its behalf
- It raises money while sitting on asset reserves larger than triple its annual budget
- It uses “joint cost” accounting to classify fundraising as a program expense for 5% or more of its budget
NewsNation digital reporter Katie Smith contributed to this report.
