Editor’s Note: This is the third in a series of blogs about charities that use postcards to solicit donations of clothing and household goods for home pick-up here in the East Bay.
The previous United Cancer Research Society blog was about a charity with a long history of collecting tens of millions of dollars in the name of cancer research while only a tiny fraction of a percent was ever used for charitable purposes.
The Disabled American Veterans' “California Rehabilitation Foundation”, which was here in Oakland last week collecting goods to be “sold in our Pomona, CA thrift store or wholesaled to private thrift stores”, isn't deserving of similar scorn.
For the record, however, the “DAV” doesn’t get a free ride based on the fact that it’s a “veterans' charity". To the contrary, the President of the American Institute of Philanthropy (testifying before Congress in 2007) said this:
The two worst performing categories are Veterans & Military and Crime & Fire Prevention. While most categories have a preponderance of charities with A and B grades, 75 percent of the groups in these two categories earn D’s and F’s. It is a national disgrace that hundreds of millions of dollars raised in the name of injured veterans, police and firefighters are being squandered.
The report card for the charities in the above categories did include the Disabled American Veterans, (which received a D) but there are hundreds, if not thousands, of individual DAV chapters throughout the United States and they all file separate returns.
Therefore, for the California DAV Rehabilitation Foundation, we’ll have to rely primarily on their 990 Forms which are available online compliments of Pro Publica. Right off the bat, the foundation gets props in that neither the Director, nor members of the Board, are salaried as opposed to the aforementioned Cancer Research Society that paid its Treasurer $285,000 for calendar year 2010.
In their 2013 tax return, DAV reported $1.97 million in income from sales of inventory from donated goods. To fulfill their “Program Service” requirements, they cited $472,500 in grants - mostly to other DAV organizations but $355,000 stayed with their own office in Santa Fe Springs.
Other major expenses included $519,000 for “Cost of Goods Sold” - which would suggest that they paid for additional merchandise, or what is more likely, paid for the services of a commercial fundraiser that mailed the postcards and then picked up and distributed the goods. Another major expense was $249,000 for a “Management Fee” paid to “California Management” at 85A Galli Drive in Novato, CA.
Thanks to the California Attorney General’s Reports on Charitable Solicitation Campaigns by Commercial Fundraisers, I learned that "California Management" is one of a host of corporate entities that share the Galli Drive address including 5 commercial fundraisers listed in the 2006 Commercial Fundraiser report:
Combined they grossed a total of $12,744,883. The non-profits in whose name donations were collected received $2,924,805 or just under 23%.
Here’s the kicker: J. Mann owns and operates six for-profit, “Eco-Thrift” shops and also manages the “Veteran’s Thrift” in Pasadena that is owned by the ADA. Without a thorough audit (which the American Institute of Philanthropy insists is the only true measure of a charity), we can only postulate as to who profited and to what extent.
So here’s our guess: The $249,000 “Management Fee” almost certainly went to J. Mann and the $519,000 for “Cost of Goods Sold” probably to J. Mann, as well. In addition, the goods collected in Northern California almost certainly ended up being purchased "wholesale" from DVA and then sold retail in the Eco-Thrift shops in Hayward, Stockton and Vallejo.
What we can say with certainty is that none of the clothing or household goods that well-meaning Oakland residents donated last week ended up staying here where it would be available for distribution to the homeless or for resale in local non-profit thrift shops to Oakland residents on a limited budget.
It’s also safe to say that the DAV’s Rehabilitation Foundation received a relatively small percentage of the proceeds from the sale of donated goods and that none of those funds ended up serving Oakland’s own veteran community.
If you specifically want to help Oakland's homeless veterans, we highly recommend Operation Dignity which has been providing desperately needed services for the past twenty years. Currently, that includes a Mobile Assistance Van and 136 units of transitional housing with more in the pipeline. They always welcome donations of warm clothing, socks, underwear and sleeping bags.
As a matter of course, for future donations of clothing and household goods, DonateOakland.org’s mantra continues to be “Keep it Local” by supporting our list of approved non-profits.
REFERENCES:
990 FORMS FOR DAV Rehabilitation Foundation available through Pro Publica
2013 California Attorney General’s Report on Charitable Solicitation Campaigns by Commercial Fundraisers
The previous United Cancer Research Society blog was about a charity with a long history of collecting tens of millions of dollars in the name of cancer research while only a tiny fraction of a percent was ever used for charitable purposes.
The Disabled American Veterans' “California Rehabilitation Foundation”, which was here in Oakland last week collecting goods to be “sold in our Pomona, CA thrift store or wholesaled to private thrift stores”, isn't deserving of similar scorn.
For the record, however, the “DAV” doesn’t get a free ride based on the fact that it’s a “veterans' charity". To the contrary, the President of the American Institute of Philanthropy (testifying before Congress in 2007) said this:
The two worst performing categories are Veterans & Military and Crime & Fire Prevention. While most categories have a preponderance of charities with A and B grades, 75 percent of the groups in these two categories earn D’s and F’s. It is a national disgrace that hundreds of millions of dollars raised in the name of injured veterans, police and firefighters are being squandered.
The report card for the charities in the above categories did include the Disabled American Veterans, (which received a D) but there are hundreds, if not thousands, of individual DAV chapters throughout the United States and they all file separate returns.
Therefore, for the California DAV Rehabilitation Foundation, we’ll have to rely primarily on their 990 Forms which are available online compliments of Pro Publica. Right off the bat, the foundation gets props in that neither the Director, nor members of the Board, are salaried as opposed to the aforementioned Cancer Research Society that paid its Treasurer $285,000 for calendar year 2010.
In their 2013 tax return, DAV reported $1.97 million in income from sales of inventory from donated goods. To fulfill their “Program Service” requirements, they cited $472,500 in grants - mostly to other DAV organizations but $355,000 stayed with their own office in Santa Fe Springs.
Other major expenses included $519,000 for “Cost of Goods Sold” - which would suggest that they paid for additional merchandise, or what is more likely, paid for the services of a commercial fundraiser that mailed the postcards and then picked up and distributed the goods. Another major expense was $249,000 for a “Management Fee” paid to “California Management” at 85A Galli Drive in Novato, CA.
Thanks to the California Attorney General’s Reports on Charitable Solicitation Campaigns by Commercial Fundraisers, I learned that "California Management" is one of a host of corporate entities that share the Galli Drive address including 5 commercial fundraisers listed in the 2006 Commercial Fundraiser report:
Combined they grossed a total of $12,744,883. The non-profits in whose name donations were collected received $2,924,805 or just under 23%.
Here’s the kicker: J. Mann owns and operates six for-profit, “Eco-Thrift” shops and also manages the “Veteran’s Thrift” in Pasadena that is owned by the ADA. Without a thorough audit (which the American Institute of Philanthropy insists is the only true measure of a charity), we can only postulate as to who profited and to what extent.
So here’s our guess: The $249,000 “Management Fee” almost certainly went to J. Mann and the $519,000 for “Cost of Goods Sold” probably to J. Mann, as well. In addition, the goods collected in Northern California almost certainly ended up being purchased "wholesale" from DVA and then sold retail in the Eco-Thrift shops in Hayward, Stockton and Vallejo.
What we can say with certainty is that none of the clothing or household goods that well-meaning Oakland residents donated last week ended up staying here where it would be available for distribution to the homeless or for resale in local non-profit thrift shops to Oakland residents on a limited budget.
It’s also safe to say that the DAV’s Rehabilitation Foundation received a relatively small percentage of the proceeds from the sale of donated goods and that none of those funds ended up serving Oakland’s own veteran community.
If you specifically want to help Oakland's homeless veterans, we highly recommend Operation Dignity which has been providing desperately needed services for the past twenty years. Currently, that includes a Mobile Assistance Van and 136 units of transitional housing with more in the pipeline. They always welcome donations of warm clothing, socks, underwear and sleeping bags.
As a matter of course, for future donations of clothing and household goods, DonateOakland.org’s mantra continues to be “Keep it Local” by supporting our list of approved non-profits.
REFERENCES:
990 FORMS FOR DAV Rehabilitation Foundation available through Pro Publica
2013 California Attorney General’s Report on Charitable Solicitation Campaigns by Commercial Fundraisers
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