Supporting disabled veterans? Beware
by Rodney Deflumeri · The Washington TimesOPINION:
This past Memorial Day, thousands of people supported our nation’s heroes through veterans charities.
As a veteran, I once trusted the Disabled American Veterans (DAV). But after volunteering for several years, I became aware of poor governance and financial management. After learning that less than a dime per donated dollar reaches veterans, I recently resigned my leadership position and elected to share my experience.
Americans donate billions of dollars to thousands of charities serving veterans every year. DAV claims to help more than 1 million veterans annually.
However, according to DAV’s own IRS filings for its largest main 501(c)(4) over the past seven years, only about 5 cents of every dollar spent is classified as direct grants to chapters, departments, individual veterans, veterans’ organizations or Veterans Affairs programs. The other 95 cents stayed inside DAV, spent largely on staff salaries and benefits, marketing and fundraising — not direct or in‑kind support for veterans.
Part of the problem is executive pay. Senior DAV executives collect significant six-figure salaries, whether it’s the CEO, top lobbyist or development officer.
In 2024, the organization paid millions to its top five outside consultants to encourage donations. Meanwhile, DAV’s head fundraiser, Theresa Burgoon, receives over $500,000 annually to achieve the same fundraising goal.
There is nothing charitable about DAV’s fiscal management of donated dollars. In 2021, the charity used donor dollars to build a $14 million monument to itself on 13 acres in Erlanger, Kentucky, complete with a museum, memorial garden, training space, fitness center, walking trails and recreational areas.
These luxurious amenities are designed for employees. Not a single veteran lives there, recovers there or receives direct services there. It’s a corporation dressed in camouflage. The headquarters is an office for about 175 employees.
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Other charities are more concerned with helping than branding. Take AMVETS National Service Foundation, a charity with a fraction of DAV’s budget, but very different priorities.
AMVETS recently relocated its national headquarters from the Washington area to Washington, Pennsylvania, after purchasing a former synagogue for $525,000. Its stated reason, in the words of its National Commander: “moving to the county that has more veterans per capita than any other county in the continental United States … moving to our fellow veterans.”
Less money spent on a beautiful campus and rich executive packages means more money reaching disabled veterans and their families. That is the choice; the DAV made the wrong one.
The federal government is complicit when it gives troubled charities a free pass. DAV holds a congressional charter under Title 36, giving it an esteemed place in federal law with little to no real oversight.
Dating back to 1932, DAV has called itself the “official voice” of disabled veterans because of that status. In reality, Congress eliminated the charter reporting requirements decades ago, leaving it largely symbolic. Yet DAV actively exploits the charter and submits materials that create a false impression of accountability while the designation itself carries no meaningful scrutiny.
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The Combined Federal Campaign, the official workplace giving program for federal employees, has routinely listed DAV’s “Charitable Service Trust” as a recommended charity. But it only reveals a narrow slice of a much larger DAV structure that includes the national headquarters and its affiliated foundation.
The narrow listing makes DAV look like a small, lean trust — while masking how much money is diverted at the national level from veterans in need.
Yet the DAV is not a unique outlier. The Purple Heart Foundation (PHF), which promotes “direct assistance” to wounded veterans, spends nearly 80% of its money on overhead. The Disabled Veterans National Foundation (DVNF), branded similarly as DAV, is even worse: More than 86% is spent on overhead, not actual programs.
CharitiesforVets.org labels DAV, DVNF and PHF as “Not Recommended” to donors, largely due to wasteful spending. On the other hand, AMVETS is “Recommended” for walking the walk.
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Unless cash leads to charity, members of Congress should revoke the DAV charter and investigate other bad charities enjoying tax-exempt status. Otherwise, donors will continue to be duped, and countless dollars will be wasted, while heroes pay the price of neglect.
• Rodney Deflumeri is a former volunteer chapter Disabled American Veterans senior vice commander, commander and certified service officer, as well as a former appointed chapter national deputy chief of staff.