American Friends of Magen David Adom

Magen David Adom in Israel is the Israeli equivalent of
the Red Cross. Its team of medical emergency responders
depends on the American Friends of Magen David Adom
(AFMDA) for financial support. According to the AFMDA
website www.afmda.org, “Today, MDA and its team of
trained volunteer and professional medical responders
depend on AFMDA support to provide the entire nation’s
pre-hospital emergency needs, including medical, disaster,
ambulance and blood services. The MDA National Blood
Services Center, located in Ramat Gan, provides 100% of
the blood requirements of the IDF and 95% of the blood
needs for Israeli hospitals and the general population.”

As the crisis in Gaza worsens, with Hamas rockets
landing deeper into Israel and threatening an increasing
number of Israelis, Israelis continue to rely on the
emergency services of MDA. They know that MDA
personnel are always on high alert. MDA medical teams
have been racing to scenes of the rocket attacks from
Sderot to Askelon. They have treated casualties on site
and evacuated those with more serious injuries to
Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon.

According to Charity Navigator www.charitynavigator.org,
America’s leading charity evaluator, AFMDA has an overall
rating of three stars (four stars is the highest rating.) Charity
Navigator provides the following financial breakdown of
AFMDA based on 990 tax returns through 2006:

Overall Rating ***
Organizational Efficiency
Program Expenses 77.8%
Administrative Expenses 10.9%
Fundraising Expenses 11.2%
Fundraising Efficiency $0.06
(AFMDA spends $0.06 to raise $1)
Efficiency Rating ***
Organizational Capacity
Primary Revenue Growth 12.6%
Primary Expenses Growth - 0.9%
Working Capacity Ratio (years) 1.67
(AFMDA can sustain itself for 1.67
years without generating new revenue.)
Capacity Rating ***

Organizational Capacity refers to an organization’s ability to
sustain itself over time. Charities that exhibit consistent
revenue and expenses growth are more likely to sustain its
programs and services over the long haul.

AFMDA has net assets $34,218,526 and the compensation
of its executive vice president, Daniel Allen is $190,700
(0.94% of expenses.)

For comparison purposes, the American Heart Association has
been given an overall two star rating from Charity Navigator.

Next Week’s Blog: American Committee for the Weizman
Institute of Science