Veterans Defense Project
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 463292694
- IRS 990-EZ coverage
- 2016–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2018, Form 990-EZ 2024, Form 990-N 2015
- Location
- Minneapolis, MN, USA
- Phone
- 6128741625
- Rating
- 87
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Military, Veterans' Organizations
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $195,551
- Expenses
- $214,858
- Assets
- $210,761
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
16 people listed
People named in this filing
- HANK SHEA (Chairman)
- DAVID HOLEWINSKI (Chairman)
- W ANDERS FOLK (Treasurer)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The purpose of the Veterans Defense Project is to conduct & support educational training, research & informational activities to educate criminal justice stakeholders as well as raise public awareness of issues affecting veterans involved with the criminal justice system & to expand Veterans Treatment Courts (VTSs) & veterans sentencing statutes throughout the United States, working towards a model that will make VTCs more consistent across jurisdictions.
What it reported doing in 2024
Veterans Defense Project (VDP) advocates point to Minnesota law as a pioneering model for treatment over penalties. Since August 2021, when Gov. Tim Walz signed the Veterans Restorative Justice Act, or VRJA, allowing veterans to avoid jail time for certain crimes by instead taking intensive steps to treat the underlying trauma related to their service.We became frustrated with the way the courts were dealing or failing to deal with them, said Brock Hunter, a criminal defense attorney in Minneapolis & co-founder of the Veterans Defense Project. Hunter has worked on cases involving veterans for decades.In 2023, VDP co-founders Brock Hunter & Ryan Else worked with the Veterans Justice Commission, a national project chaired by former U.S. Defense Secretary & U.S. Senator Charles Hagel & includes former Defense Secretary & White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta to assess & make recommendations around policies that can improve outcomes for justice-involved veterans & their communities. That work led to the adoption of the Veterans Justice Act by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) in August 2023. Nebraska became the first state to pass the Veterans Justice Act in early 2024.On November 11, 2024, the VDP held its third annual event honoring veterans in need of restorative justice, located at the University of St Thomas School of Law & live-streamed around the country. It featured remarks by retired General Joseph Votel & Major General Johanna Clyborne. The VDP remains quite active in many states, such as Pennsylvania & Ohio, educating & advising about the need for & benefits of enacting the Veterans Justice Act (VJA). The VJA has been endorsed by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), AllRise, formerly the National Association of Drug Court Professionals, & the many other organizations & individuals.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent revenue detail to tell how this nonprofit funds its work.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
The verdict
STRONG - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 80
- Transparency & Controls: 100
- Sustainability: 32
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 83.2%; rating input score 83
- Program expense ratio: 75.7%; rating input score 76
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -9.9%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.98; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 10.5% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 5.9% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 33.7% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 83.2% of revenue deployed · 75.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: Filed governance answers
- Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment · $163K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 16 people listed
- Consistency: 6 of 6 current checks pass
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules
- Filing history: 7 filing years from 2016 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 16/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 59/100.