Program

Service Program

Activities

The nonprofit provides assistance to help disabled veterans claim the government benefits they are owed.

Program Type

Veterans Disability Benefits Assistance

Beneficiaries Served

Veterans, people with disabilities

Program Geography

United States

Time Period of Data

1/1/17 to 12/31/17

Outcome Metric

Government benefits claimed for a disabled veteran

Outcome Data Source

The nonprofit submitted data on how many claims it filed successfully or how many veterans it served, as well as the dollar value of claims filed successfully.

Method for Attributing Outcomes

We estimate the amount of benefits claimed as a result of the nonprofit's work by comparing its reported figures to the amount of benefits that would have been claimed without the nonprofit's help (the “counterfactual”). Without the nonprofit, some veterans might have successfully filed claims on their own or with the help of other organizations. These counterfactual successes must be netted out of the successes we observe. Otherwise, we would be attributing a change (benefits received) to the nonprofit when it would have happened anyway. Few nonprofits estimate the counterfactual themselves, so we construct our own counterfactual estimate based on research and educated assumptions. Specifically, we assume that attorneys and claims assistants at other nonprofits generally have full caseloads. We also assume that veterans applying or appealing on their own experience half the success rate as if they had been assisted by the nonprofit.

Cost Data Source

Program cost data reported by the nonprofit. Partner and beneficiary costs reported by the nonprofit or estimated by Charity Navigator.

Cost Calculation

$47,376,454 program costs + $0 partner costs + $0 beneficiary costs = $47,376,454 total costs

Impact Calculation

$47,376,454 total costs / 3,348,511,741 additional benefits claimed = roughly $0.01 increases the government benefits claimed by a disabled veteran by one dollar. [2021 USD]

Benchmark for Rating

Impact & Results scores of veterans disability benefits programs are based on the return of benefits secured per dollar spent. Programs receive an Impact & Results score of 100 if every dollar spent results in $1.50 in benefits secured to a veteran, and a score of 80 if a dollar spent results in $0.85 to a veteran. If a nonprofit reports impact but doesn't meet the benchmark for cost-effectiveness, it earns a score of 65.

Determination

Highly cost-effective