CharityWatch is unable to provide a letter grade rating for Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) at this time due to our specific concerns about MADD's financial reporting. For this reason we have assigned it a "?" rating for its 2024 fiscal year based on our analysis of the MADD's IRS Tax Form 990 and audited financial statements for that period. CharityWatch is concerned that the charity could be including certain fundraising expenses in its reported program expenses in its financial reporting. CharityWatch contacted MADD on March 19, 2026, via email and U.S. mail with questions about its financial reporting for its fiscal year ended December 31, 2024.
CharityWatch requested a general breakout of services rendered in relation to the $868,205 and $598,223 paid to "RKD Group, Inc." and "Anne Lewis Strategies LLC," respectively, for "Direct Marketing" per IRS Form 990, Part VII, Section B (Independent Contractors). Specifically, CharityWatch asked for: - The types of services provided (e.g., legal, communications, research, consulting, IT, fundraising campaign support, etc.) along with approximate dollar amounts allocated to each service category
- A breakout displaying how these amounts were allocated across functional expense categories in IRS Form 990, Part IX, Statement of Functional Expenses
- Whether any payments were made to professional fundraising companies or third-party development vendors, even if not reported under “Professional Fundraising Services”
- An indication of whether any of these expenses included any joint costs or fundraising components
- Please define how "Direct Marketing" is being used in this context
Additionally, CharityWatch requested a general breakout of services rendered in relation to the $992,484, $298,650, and $127,389 of reported "Supplies," "Printed Materials," and "Postage and Shipping," (lines 24b, 24c, and 24d) respectively, allocated to program expense per IRS Form 990, Part IX, Statement of Functional Expenses. Our goal was to understand if any of these expenses were fundraising-related but not reported as fundraising expenses in the charity's IRS Form 990 and/or audited financial statements. Specifically, CharityWatch asked for: - The types of services provided (e.g., legal, communications, research, consulting, IT, fundraising campaign support, etc.)
- The approximate dollar amounts allocated to each service category
- Whether any payments were made to professional fundraising companies or third-party development vendors, even if not reported under “Professional Fundraising Services”
- An indication of whether any of these expenses included any joint costs or fundraising components
Lastly, CharityWatch requested a breakout of government funds received during fiscal 2024. Specifically, CharityWatch asked: "Per the audited Statement of Activities and IRS Form 990, Part VII,
Statement of Revenue, line 1e, CharityWatch notes $10,657,757 of “Government
Grants and Contracts.” Please provide the total of the above figure that was
received from organizations within the United States of America vs foreign
organizations."
As of the date of this note, April 13, 2026, we have not yet received a response. If MADD provides an adequate response to the above questions in the future, CharityWatch may update MADD's fiscal 2024 rating at that time. CharityWatch's most recent letter grade rating of MADD was a "C" on our "A+" to "F" rating scale based on our analysis of its fiscal 2021 IRS Form 990 and audited financial statements. |
