The Better Business Bureau rates charities and non-profits according to a set of standards found here: Charity Accountability Standards

Their report on AER can be found here: Better Business Bureau Report for Army Emergency Relief

According to them, AER does not meet their Standard 10 : "Ending Net Assets - Avoid accumulating funds that could be used for current program activities."

Specifically:

"AER does not meet this Standard because according to its audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2007, the organization's total unrestricted net assets were $334,171,549, or 13 times the charity's total expenses of $25,837,828."

In addition. it fails Standard 12 : "Detailed Functional Breakdown of Expenses - Include in the financial statements a breakdown of expenses (e.g., salaries, travel, postage, etc.) that shows what portion of these expenses was allocated to program, fund raising, and administrative activities. If the charity has more than one major program category, the schedule should provide a breakdown for each category."

Specifically:

"AER does not meet this Standard because its financial statements did not include a detailed functional breakdown of expenses by natural classification (e.g., salaries, travel, postage, etc.) that shows what portion of these expenses was allocated to program, fund raising, and administrative activities."

However:

Uses of Funds as a % of Total Expenses

Programs: 84% Fund Raising: Less than 1% Administrative: 16%

Which is actually looks pretty good. I don't understand why it's not distributing funds.