Junior Achievement more than tax form

As chair of the board of directors and a strong supporter of Junior Achievement of Eastern Iowa, I wanted to follow up to the article that was written in The Gazette on Dec. 8, “Give but give wisely.”

Information was taken from a copy of our 990. However, the 990 does not tell the whole story. It does show program expenses are 49 percent, but that is because $600,000 of in-kind volunteer hours for teaching programs managed by Junior Achievement staff are not calculated in the 990 return. If this number was included, Junior Achievement of Eastern Iowa would be accurately depicted as an efficient organization with 12.9 percent spent on administrative costs, 67.6 percent on programming and 19.5 percent on fundraising.

Junior Achievement of Eastern Iowa reaches more than 41,000 students every year through more than 1,800 classes. In fact, Junior Achievement of Eastern Iowa was recently recognized by Junior Achievement nationally as the No. 1 Junior Achievement in the United States based on market share of students served. In addition, Junior Achievement of Eastern Iowa has received national recognition for its operational efficiencies.

Junior Achievement of Eastern Iowa was established locally in 1965 and will be celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2015. Many area students and adults have benefited from Junior Achievement's teaching of financial literacy.

James Klein

Cedar Rapids