Veterans of Foreign Wars Department of California

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
940955210
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2009
Location
Elk Grove, CA, USA
Phone
9165098712
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,041,131
Expenses
$1,699,742
Assets
$14,685,556
Liabilities
$241,169

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

28 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • RODGER MEIER (SECRETARY/TREASURER (THRU 01/2025 )): $110,200 total reported compensation
  • PATRICIA WERNER (SECRETARY (AS OF 02/2025)): $39,250 total reported compensation
  • DEBORAH JOHNSON (VFW COMMANDER): $25,000 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To provide for the social well being of veterans of the various branches of the armed forces of the united states of america who have served in a foreign war.

What it reported doing in 2024

Veterans and military support - vfw department of California provides numerous services to military service members and their families and supports programs that offer disaster assistance, support student veterans, women veterans and provide resources to va wheelchair and golden age games.- our map program connects the vfw with the military community. Vfw posts, districts and departments receive grants from the program to promote involvement. One of the most popular ways this is done is by adopting a unit, where the post, district or department raises funds for troops overseas and supports them with care packages, cards, etc.- our adopt-a-unit program is a military assistance program that helps vfw posts to create relationships with military units and their families while providing funding for troop farewell and welcome home gatherings. Adopt-a-unit's goal is to develop supportive relationships with units before, during and after deployments to help deliver the vast network of resources the vfw has available to the military.- operation uplink is a program that provides troops overseas with free call days that allow them to call home to the u.s. For free for as long as they can talk.- the unmet needs program provides grants to the service members and their families to assist with qualifying financial hardships. The money is distributed directly to creditors to help the family through their hardship.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 66% for direct work, and 34% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and some filed totals do not add up.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 57
  • Transparency & Controls: 95
  • Accountability: 87
  • Sustainability: 74
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 63.9%; rating input score 64
  • Program expense ratio: 64%; rating input score 64
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 98.6%; rating input score 99; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 16.7%; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 8.64; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.5%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 14.7% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.6% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 17.1% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 63.9% of revenue deployed · 64% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 24 of 28 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $1.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $110K · 28 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $262K reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 34 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 9 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 6 filed related-organization links
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 28/100.