Saturday, January 1, 2011

FRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES

MISSION:
Established in 1981, “Friends of the Israel Defense
Forces (FIDF), www.fidf.org, initiates and helps support
social, educational, cultural and recreational programs and
facilities for the young men and women soldiers of Israel who
defend the Jewish homeland. FIDF also provides support for
the families of fallen soldiers.” (FIDF website)

FINANACIAL EFFICIENCY EVALUATION:

According to Charity Navigator (www.charitynavigator.com),
FIDF has an overall rating of four stars (four stars is the highest
rating.) Charity Navigator provides the following breakdown
of FIDF based on 990 tax returns through fiscal year 2008:

Overall Rating ****


Organizational Efficiency:
Program Expenses 78.8%
Administrative Expenses 3.3%
Fundraising Expenses 17.7%
Fundraising Efficiency $0.15
(FIDF spends $0.15 to raise $1.)
Efficiency Rating **

Organizational Capacity:
Primary Revenue Growth 13.4%
Program Expenses Growth 19.6%
Working Capital Ratio (years) 2.65
(FIDF can sustain itself for 1.72 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.

Compensation for its National Director, Yitzhak Gershon
was $111,649 which was 0.28% of expenses. For purposes
of comparison, compensation for Ruth Messenger, the
President of the American Jewish World Service, was
$218,625 which was 0.76% of expenses. Percentagewise,
these are very low compensation figures for a nonprofit
president.


ANALYSIS OF FORM 990 TAX RETURN:

As of fiscal year 2008, FIDF had net assets of $70,573,765
(Part I, Summary: Line 22) up from 68,247,687 in FY 2007
and total assets of $97,924,553 (Part I, Summary: Line 20)
up from $79,933,154 in FY 2007. FIDF had cash non-interest
bearing $1,500,220 (Part X, Balance Sheet, Line 1), savings
and temporary cash investments of $21,582,566 (Part X, Line 2),
investments of publicly traded securities of $8,935,933
(Part X, line 11), investments of other securities of $19,303,182
(Part X, Line 12). It had pledges and grants receivable of
$32,255,006 (Part X, Line 3.) FIDF had fixed assets of land,
buildings and equipment less accumulated depreciation of
$154,351 (Part X, Line 10c).


FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY EVALUATION:

According to our PET (Philanthropy Economic Transparency)
Index, this blog’s financial transparency rating
system of information provided by the nonprofit on its
own website, FIDF has a transparency rating of 1 star
(6 stars is the highest rating.) Of the following six
items, FIDF provides one of the following metrics on its
website, Item #6, its rating from Charity Navigator.
FIDF also provides a letter from Charity Navigator in which
it is congratulated for being in the top 5% of all nonprofits
that achieved a four star rating for five consecutive years.

1) The nonprofits most recently filed 990 tax return
2) The nonprofit’s audited financial statement
3) The nonprofit’s annual report
4) The nonprofit’s investment philosophy
5) A breakdown of the nonprofit’s expenses
6) The nonprofit’s rating from Charity Navigator

PET RATING: *

DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS:

As of fiscal year 2008, FIDF was a moderately, financially
efficient nonprofit with excellent organizational capacity.
The recent financial turmoil on Wall Street has also affected
the relationship between donor and non-profit. The turmoil
has caused donors to become uncertain and more selective
in giving to non-profits. Non-profits that are transparent
about their finances will regain the lost trust of its donors
sooner than those non-profits that are not transparent about
their finances. FIDF discloses very little financial information
on its web site. It should provide an audited financial statement,
its annual report and its most recently filed 990 tax return on its
website. FIDF’s planned giving program entails gift annuities,
charitable remainder trusts, and endowments. It would benefit
from offering a donor advised fund program to its friends