Human Rights (2011 Q1)

Featured beneficiary in the HUMAN RIGHTS category for first quarter 2011:

MILITARY RELIGIOUS FREEDOM FOUNDATION

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation is dedicated to ensuring that all members of the United States Armed Forces fully receive the constitutional guarantees of religious freedom to which they and all Americans are entitled by virtue of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

MRFF believes that religious faith is a constitutionally guaranteed freedom that must never be compromised, except in the most limited of military circumstances, because of its fundamental importance to the preservation of the American nation and the American way of life.

MRFF was selected after a record number of nominations, both from members and non-members. The organization is uniquely positioned to address longstanding concerns regarding religious freedom in the US military and has an impressive record of success in mounting legal challenges and raising public awareness.

SPECIAL ISSUES

Many beneficiaries each quarter sail through the vetting process. In other cases, special issues arise that are part of the final decision. In such cases, FBB reports the issue in a brief note marked "Special Issues" on the beneficiary page to inform members' decisions.

The initial FBB review of MRFF raised questions about executive compensation, which for MRFF is higher than average for 501(c)(3)s of its size. Such concerns have been raised for several other nominees in the past year. In each case, FBB uses IRS guidelines for nonprofit executive compensation (see especially slides 13-19) to guide the assessment.

The most important consideration is the value added to an organization's work by the hands-on efforts of the executive. Many nominees have failed to meet that test. But a close examination of MRFF's programmatic activity determined that the high-profile public advocacy work of its executive director makes up a significant percentage of MRFF's activity and is therefore defensibly reflected in executive compensation as a percentage of expenses.

Individual assessments may differ, and as always, FBB members are urged to review the resources below to make their own decisions when distributing donations.