Vietnam Veterans of America Donation

The journey of the Vietnam Veterans of America donation program started long ago in 1978. Just a few years after the Vietnam War was over. At first, the organization was founded exclusively to assist veterans from the Vietnam War, but today the organization focuses on helping all veterans from the armed forces.

Their goals include improving the lives of the veterans, especially the veterans who are homeless and disabled. They also focus on improving the physical and mental health of the veterans, making sure that they are prevented from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) or other health issues after their retirement.

Vietnam Veterans of America Donation Guide

Starting donation program is one of the ways to keep this organization running and help them with the cause. They accept almost any kind of donation, including clothing, accessories, shoes, houseware, stereos, books, bikes, baby items, appliances, small furniture, rugs, etc. Just name a thing that you don’t need in your house, they would accept it.

To donate, simply visit the headquarter in your local area, or you can also schedule a pickup service if you have big items or lots of stuff to donate. Their phone line is 1-800-775-VETS, and your donation should be tax-deductible.

This means that you get three benefits:

You will feel good because you’re doing your part to help those in need
You can get rid the items you no longer need, making the house easier to clean
You get tax deductible for your charity!

Is the VVA donation good?

As we have mentioned in our earlier post about how to choose a perfect donation organization, you need to take a real look into the organization. How does it do its activities? How about the money they raised, where do they go? Is the VVA donation program really worth your penny?

According to the review given in the give.org, there are several aspects where the VVA fall short from the standard of good charity organization. The highlights include the double role of the board chair and the president of the organization, while in a standard charity organization the board should be the one that oversight or schedule the president’s performance.

Another shown problem is found in the compensation received by the board members. Around 17% of the board members received direct compensation (should not exceeds 10%), including the board chair and board treasurer. In addition, the board of VVA never completed effectiveness assessment (should be done every two years).

The give.org also questions the accuracy of expenses in the organization’s financial statement. However, this last point is caused by the different perception on how the organization count the recycling program cost, especially the solicitation cost (which in the give.org’s opinion should be excluded). For your information, the total money received by the organization is the recycling program revenue minus the recycling program cost. This means that there’s a difference between the charitywatch’s report and VVA’s report on how much money they allocated for the programs.

In total there are five areas where the organization did not complete, whereas there are seven areas where they meet the standard. Please refer to our reference section below for more information on the Vietnam Veterans of America donation program review.

References:

Vietnam Veterans of America’s “Recycling” Program, Debunked!
VVA.Org
Image: startribune.com

Vietnam Veterans of America Donation Guide

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