Where Does $100 to Paralyzed Veterans of America Go (2021)?

The Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) is a non-profit, tax-exempt 501 (c) 3 based in Washington, DC (although the organization has 73 offices and 34 chapters throughout the country). Established in 1947, PVA has a core mission of vets serving vets, funding spinal cord research, and advocating for disability rights, according to their website. So, the question most donors want to know is:  How much of my donation goes to the organization’s core mission?  The answer:  about 34% in 2020 with the remaining 66% spent on a mail program (50%), grants (5%), and the reminder (13%) added to the general fund.

Key financial information reported by PVA to the IRS on the Form 990 (for the year ending June 30, 2021) include the following:

$107 million in total revenue was reported (compared to $98 million in 2020 and $92 million in 2019), most of which ($103 million) came from contributions, gifts, and grants.

Expenses totaled $93 million (87% of revenue) and can be categorized as follows:

• $53 million (50% of revenue):  Mail Program
• $24 million (22% of revenue):  Compensation
• $ 6  million (5% of revenue):  Grants
• $ 4  million (4% of revenue):  Fees for Services
• $ 3   million (3% of revenue):  Office-Related Expenses
• $ 3   million (3% of revenue):  Advertising

Using the above information, every $100 in revenue was spent as follows:

$100:  Revenue

-$50:  Mail Program

-$ 3:  Advertising

-$ 53:  Subtotal:  Mail Program and Advertising

$ 47:  Revenue Remaining

-$ 22: Compensation

-$  4:  Fees for Services

-$  3:  Office-Related Expenses

-$ 29:  Subtotal: Compensation, Fees, and Office

 $ 18:  Revenue Remaining

-$  5:  Grants

 $  13:  Revenue Remaining:  To General Fund

As illustrated above, the largest expense for PVA is an expense called “Mail Program” which is the primary way the organization raises funds. So, right off the top, $50 out of every $100 in revenue is spent on the mail program by Edge Direct, of Baltimore Maryland.  Specifically, the Form 990 reveals:

• Edge Direct raised $76 million for DVA and retained $700,000 million in addition to receiving $47.3 million from DVA for “gift/mail program”, which indicates Edge Direct raised $76 million and was compensated $48 million, netting DVA $28 million. 

The second largest expense is compensation for the 264 employees who received $24 million, or an average compensation of $91,000.  45 employees received more than $100,000 in compensation with the most highly compensated employee, Cheryl Topping, the CFO receiving $247,632 in compensation.

$4 million was spent on fees for services provided by non-employees and most of these fees ($2.8 million) are described as “other” with no further detail provided. $3 million was spent on office-related expenses while $6 million (or $5 out of every $100 in revenue)  was spent on grants (74 grants greater than $5,000). Most grants were awarded to local chapters of PVA for sport or chapter grants.  Of the grants listed on the Form 990,   Schedule I, about $1.8 million of the $6 million in grants were awarded for research.

PVA spent about 87% of the revenue received in 2021, which allowed the organization to increase the net fund assets by adding the unspent revenue ($14 million) to the general fund along with $11 million in unrealized gains on investments, to report $91 million in net assets at year-end (compared to $66 million at year-0end 2020).

The bottom line is that DVA is paying a lot of money to raise money.  Edge Direct raised $76 million for the organization but was compensated and reimbursed $48 million, netting DVA only $28 million.  The financial information on the Form 990 (2020 for the year ending June 30, 2021) shows that $34 of every $100 in revenue received – and that’s assuming every expense except “mail program”  and advertising is considered an expense that helped vets help vets, was allocated to spinal cord research, and supported the advocacy of disabled veterans, went to directly helping the vets (the remaining $66 was used to pay fundraisers ($50 and advertising expenses ($3) and increase the general fund ($13).  Commendable is executive compensation which is very conservative.

To read the IRS Form 990 (2020 for the year ending June 30, 2021), click here.