Tag Archives: charity

Mikey Weinstein Brings in More Cash…for Less Work?

The accountant for Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s Military Religious Freedom Foundation seems to have finally found his stride, as Weinstein’s charity has filed its last two public disclosures in relatively record time.

That said, the rest of the story is just about the same. Despite the fact the finances of Mikey Weinstein’s “charity” have been publicly criticized (and again, just recently), his ethically suspect practices continue.

As in prior years, in 2019 the largest expense for Weinstein’s self-founded “charity” was his own compensation, totaling $364,241. That’s in line with what he paid himself in 2018. The MRFF’s total ‘take’, however, actually fell to $663,335. Though the “charity’s” income was down substantially, Weinstein’s pay remained essentially the same, meaning the direct compensation for his “work” at the MRFF was a solid 54.9% of its revenue, one of the highest percentages to date.

(In defending his exorbitant salary — which the Military Times previously called “unheard of” — Mikey said

My salary is perfectly in line with a ton of other folks that do what they do.

However, Weinstein failed to Read more

Mikey Weinstein Admits to Hiring Himself, and Gets a Pay Raise

There’s nothing “charitable” about Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s “charity” — the awkwardly named Military Religious Freedom Foundation. But, since it is categorized as 501(c)3, Weinstein must publicly file his organization’s tax form each year — though he manages to be almost two years behind. Weinstein has finally released the report for 2018 indicating his MRFF brought in about $720,000 that year, which is about the same as the previous year.

As in prior years, Weinstein’s largest expense was his own paycheck, though this year was a bit unique. Up front, he paid himself $296,393, but he also reported $72,000 in “other Read more

Mikey Weinstein’s MRFF Doubles in Size, Mikey Tops $2.7M

Though there’s nothing “charitable” about Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s “charity” — the awkwardly named Military Religious Freedom Foundation — it is categorized as 501(c)3, which requires that he publicly file his organization’s tax form each year. Notably, in part due to deadlines and amended returns, he manages to be almost two years behind. Weinstein has finally released the report for 2017 indicating his MRFF brought in $723,000, which is a bit higher than previous years but not his most ever.

That number represents his total donations, much of which appear to be grants and “donations” from other charities. A few years ago Weinstein was looking to hire a grants specialist, and it appears his efforts to professionalize his fundraising has been profitable, literally.

Mikey Weinstein may not do much, but he Read more

MRFF Loses Money for Second Year — but Mikey Weinstein Still Gets a Raise

For the second year in a row, Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s Military Religious Freedom Foundation — the “charity” he started, operates, and for which he is the sole paid employee — continued to spend more than it brought in, according to its IRS filings for 2016 (the most recent available).

In 2016, Weinstein brought in $681,000, which is about $15,000 more than the prior year. The MRFF’s expenses ballooned to $715,000, putting Weinstein on the very red side of the ledger.

Of course, that’s somewhat academic when you’re running your own charity. For one thing, the MRFF is sitting on a large cash pile, though it dipped below $200,000 just this year.  Notably, too, the difference between the income and expenses is almost exactly equal to the raise Mikey Weinstein gave himself, from $275,000 in (total reported) compensation to $310,000.

While he could have trimmed his pay to operate within the budget, Mikey Weinstein gave himself a raise, from $264,000 in 2015 to $289,900 in 2016.  Put another way, about 43% of the MRFF’s donations go directly to Mikey Weinstein’s salary — leading media scrutiny to say he was “cashing in” based on an “unheard of” salary from those donations.

With that said, it has long been known that Mikey Weinstein appears to have other forms of indirect “compensation” from his charity besides Read more

MRFF Operates in the Red, Takes Government Money, but Mikey Weinstein Profits

For the first time since he first reported a donation in 2006, Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s Military Religious Freedom Foundation — the “charity” he started, operates, and for which he is the sole paid employee — spent more than it brought in, according to its IRS filings for 2015 (the most recent available).

In 2015, Weinstein brought in $668,000, which is nearly $30,000 less than the prior year (and marks the second year of declines). The MRFF’s expenses totaled $677,000, putting Weinstein on the red side of the ledger.

Of course, that’s somewhat academic when you’re running your own charity. For one thing, the MRFF is sitting on a rainy day cash pile of more than $200,000. (This year represents the first time that account showed withdrawal.) Also, all Weinstein had to do was reduce his own pay by $9,000 — a number he reportedly votes on — and he could have been operating in the black, if he’d chosen to.

Instead, Mikey Weinstein gave himself a raise, from $244,000 in 2014 to $264,000 in 2015.  Put another way, about 40% of the MRFF’s donations go directly to Mikey Weinstein’s salary.

That said, it’s long been known that Mikey Weinstein likely has other “compensation” from Read more

Harassed by Mikey Weinstein, Part 8: “DO SOMETHING!! PLZ”

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein learned early on that emailing threats to this site — a lot of emails — was ineffective. When his keyboard courage failed, Weinstein tried to have someone else do his work for him: His lawyers then threatened to sue ChristianFighterPilot.com. That, too, was futile, because — lawyer or not — Weinstein had no real argument beyond “Mikey doesn’t like you.”  Mikey Weinstein was doing little more than being a bully, and when his targets resisted, he quite naturally failed to follow through on his threats.

When his own courage failed, and when his lawyer subsequently failed, Mikey Weinstein then sought the aid of the US government to further his harassment.

Over the years, Mikey Weinstein has sent hundreds, if not thousands, of messages to the US military trying to get the military to join his attacks on ChristianFighterPilot.com. Most of his complaints have been passive-aggressive, as suits his style. A few have been demands.

One was a plea.

In 2013, the US Air Force censored an article written by an Air Force chaplain. The incident would ultimately come to represent one of the most effective stands against Mikey Weinstein by groups defending military religious freedom. The initial incident was covered here, in which this site noted the Air Force had chosen to publish an atheist article but prohibit a Christian one.

After the article went up on this site, Mikey Read more

Harassed by Mikey Weinstein, Part 2: The Motivation for His Crusade

The recent demand letter sent to ChristianFighterPilot.com by Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s lawyers wasn’t the first. In fact, seven years ago this coming week, Randal “Randy” Mathis first introduced himself here:

mathisweinstein4The reason for this first letter was an article entitled “MRFF: Chaplain’s Sermons Permissible, Sort of,” which pointed out the flagrant inconsistency between Chris Rodda and Read more

Mikey Weinstein Begs for Donations to Support Invisible Court Battles

From Michael “Mikey” Weinstein, speaking for his MRFF:

Your completely tax-deductible donation will allow us to continue our fight in the courts…

“Continue?” The MRFF hasn’t initiated a “fight in the courts” since their last lawsuit was tossed out in 2011. [Clarification: Weinstein did file a FOIA lawsuit against the US Air Force and the Air Force Academy in November 2015.] But Weinstein has been continuously begging for “tax-deductible donations” in the five years since, claiming he needs support to continue his “fight in the courts.” In that time, his MRFF has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars without initiating a single “fight” in the courts — despite his repeated quips that the US military would have to “tell it to the judge.”  Notably, in addition to those hundreds of thousands in outflow (not apparently in the courts), Mikey Weinstein has also managed to pay himself $1.95 million from donations since he founded his “charity.”

Why is Mikey Weinstein saying his donors are funding his court battles, when the MRFF hasn’t started any court battles in years? Some might say that soliciting donations for one purpose and then spending them Read more

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