Colorado Healing Fund 'exploring options' to get more funds to mass casualty victims

Nov. 29—The nonprofit Colorado Healing Fund said this week it was looking into options for possibly changing the amount of money it takes from donations received to pay for the organization's operational costs after mass shooting survivors and victim advocates criticized the charity Sunday.

"We are exploring other options right now so we don't have anything concrete," the organization's Executive Director Jordan Finegan said Monday.

Survivors have called on the Colorado Healing Fund to distribute all of the more than $1 million it has raised through its affiliated Colorado Gives 365 so far in the aftermath of the Nov. 19 mass shooting at Club Q, a popular LGBTQ+ nightclub in Colorado Springs, to survivors and families of the victims in the shooting.

Finegan said Monday the 10% it takes from donations received and used for operational costs is a customary amount. It's necessary to ensure the organization stays running so it can assist victims of mass casualty crimes, she said.

"(The amount) is not unheard of," Finegan said.

Representatives from other Pikes Peak area nonprofits said taking some amount of donations to fund overhead is expected, as they must pay staff and for other costs to distribute the money.

But the percentage each nonprofit takes can vary widely, from between 3% to 20%, they said.

The amount depends on the size of the organization and how it chooses to disperse the funds, Heather Steinman, chief operating officer of Pikes Peak United Way, said this week.

"Having some amount taken for overhead makes sense," Steinman said. "People send the organization money and then they send it out. There are costs associated with that."

Nonprofits that take 20% or less for operations can still receive a good rating on websites like CharityNavigator.com, which evaluates hundreds of thousands of U.S.-based nonprofits based on their impact, finances, culture and leadership, said Doug Hanson, the Salvation Army's El Paso County coordinator.

Steinman said her organization offsets its overhead costs through other fundraising efforts so that 100% of donations made for specific disasters are distributed.

Hanson said his organization takes 18% of funds for its operations, but gives 100% of the donations it receives for specific disasters like the Club Q mass shooting to that disaster.

Donors may also consider giving funds directly to victim advocacy or other support organizations to ensure 100% of their donation is distributed to survivors and victims' families, Steinman and Hanson said.

When it first started, Colorado Healing Fund took 5% of the donations it received to pay for its operational costs, Finegan said. Recently the organization raised that amount to 10% of donations to fill in the gaps where it cannot receive state funding to pay for those costs, she said.

The organization is also transparent about the amount it takes from donations for overhead, including that information at the top of its donation page, she said.

"We originally started out with 5% and had to increase it to 10% because we don't fit within the niches for state funding to get our operational costs covered that way," Finegan said. "We are such a specific type of nonprofit entity and unfortunately we have to exist because some of these other mass shootings have happened."

Victim advocates and community leaders founded the Colorado Healing Fund in 2018 as a secure way for the public to contribute to victims of mass casualties.

In that time, the organization has responded to several mass shooting incidents across Colorado, including three in 2021 — at a King Soopers store in Boulder in March 2021; at a birthday party in Colorado Springs on Mother's Day weekend in May 2021; and at a Lakewood tattoo shop in December 2021.

"That's a lot," Finegan said.

She did not disclose the organization's annual budget but said Monday Colorado Healing Fund runs within tight financial margins.

The organization has no office space and just one staff member — herself, Finegan said. Administrative costs pay her salary, mailing costs, the organization's annual audit and for one bookkeeper, she said.

The percentage it takes from donations means Colorado Healing Fund can support survivors and families of mass shooting incidents immediately and in the long-term — one, three or six years after the event, all "critical times" in the recovery process, she said.

Club Q's official donation site is funneled through the Colorado Healing Fund, using a portal at Colorado Gives 365. That organization hosts requests for funding for hundreds of nonprofit organizations statewide.

The amount raised through Colorado Gives exceeded $1 million as of Monday afternoon, Finegan said. That figure does not include other corporate and individual pledges still coming in.

Finegan said Monday Colorado Healing Fund distributes money through other on-the-ground victim advocacy organizations that distribute cash payments or provide services, or pay for rent, moving or travel costs, she said. Those organizations don't take administrative fees.

The fund has also distributed $245,000 so far to Club Q victims and their families, Finegan said Monday.

The fund initially disbursed $50,000 on Nov. 20 to support travel and other immediate needs of victims and their families.

On Nov. 21, Colorado Healing Fund released $195,000 in total cash disbursements that were made to the families of the victims as well as the people who were injured, she said.