WESH News first reported that OnePulse would be refunding museum-related donations after landing an exclusive interview with OnePulse executive director Deborah Bowie shortly after the nonprofit announced it would not be moving forward with the project last Friday.
“Frankly, right now, this community really needs to focus on the memorial. I think the board and the foundation understand that,” Bowie told the TV station, referencing a separate memorial project that’s set to move forward following the city of Orlando’s purchase of the former Pulse property last week for $2 million.
Orlando Weekly reported on this refund opportunity for OnePulse donors Monday. Initially, a spokesperson for OnePulse had told Orlando Weekly that they believed previous reporting on the refund opportunity was accurate, but had to double-check.
However, in a statement shared with Orlando Weekly shortly after our story had been published, Bowie was less clear on what exactly this refund process would look like.
“The short answer is, we do not know yet,” she shared, in reference to a potential return of funds. “It is important to remember there are two types of donations that have been made to the Foundation over the years: restricted and unrestricted gifts.”
Unrestricted gifts are donations that aren’t tied to any particular program or project, which Bowie said have already been used for the general operations of OnePulse over the past six years. Restricted gifts refer to those expressly tied to a specific program or project — like the $45 million Pulse museum project proposal, scrapped last week, that the organization first proposed in 2019. Earlier this year, OnePulse had already said it would scale back building plans after learning that the project could cost as much as $100 million, coupled with a Survivor's Walk pathway (that's still in the works) and memorial.
As of Monday, restricted gifts received by the foundation “have been used appropriately and toward that specific donor intent,” Bowie explained in her statement to Orlando Weekly, conceding that “there have been a number of developments in recent days.”
“We are in the process of reconciling our activities with this new reality,” she added.
At least one emailed response to a donor from OnePulse, shared with Orlando Weekly, indicated that donors will not be getting refunds for donations given to OnePulse for the museum after all.
A digital marketing specialist for OnePulse told one donor — who had contributed both a $500 unrestricted gift not tied to a project and a $2,175 gift restricted to the museum project — that their donations had already been spent by the foundation.
The response from OnePulse, similar to Bowie’s official statement, shared that the museum-related donation specifically “has already been used appropriately and toward your original intent, including the design of the project and purchase of property for the memorial.”
Financial support for the museum had already been buoyed by public tax dollars committed for the project, so it wasn’t just donations from individuals coming in to fund it.
The nonprofit was awarded a $10 million commitment in public tourist tax development (TDT) dollars from the Orange County government in 2018 specifically for the museum project. At least $6.5 million of that has already been spent on design services and a land purchase, according to the county.
Even more, the state of Florida also allocated in 2020 a $680,000 donation for a “Pulse Memorial and Museum” through its annual appropriations process.
According to a 2022 financial statement from OnePulse, posted publicly to its website, the organization received $40,075 in donations from individuals “with donor restrictions” last year alone, and $231,010 from businesses. Donations without restrictions topped $500,000 from individuals and topped $466,000 from businesses.
It’s unclear from the financial statement if all donor-restricted donations were specifically for the museum project, as the foundation also operates a scholarship program and organizes other events throughout the year.
In a separate tax filing, the organization disclosed $2.2 million in total contributions and grants in 2022 and $2.6 million in total revenue, which was exceeded by $3.4 million in total expenses.
The organization, founded by former Pulse club co-owner Barbara Poma, has faced scrutiny over the years for paying executives over $100,000 in annual compensation. Poma, who was vacationing in Cancun the night of the Pulse massacre, received $249,580 in reportable compensation from the organization last year as founder and former CEO, according to its 2022 tax filing.
Some survivors of the Pulse shooting, which killed 49 people and wounded over 50, have called on the foundation to dissolve itself and redistribute its remaining assets to survivors and families of victims, some of whom still face steep medical bills and ongoing physical and mental health problems related to the tragedy.
The OnePulse foundation was founded with the expressed intent of providing “immediate financial assistance” to affected victims and developing a permanent memorial to honor the lives lost, according to initial paperwork filed.
A coalition of survivors, victims’ families, and community allies have also called for a forensic audit of onePulse, a third-party inspection of the former Pulse building on South Orange Avenue, and a criminal investigation into code violations and unpermitted renovations that were documented by the city inside of nightclub that survivors believe hindered escape and rescue the night of the shooting. Survivors filed a complaint with Orlando police over the latter in August.
Have you tried to seek a refund for a donation to onePulse Foundation and received a response that your donation is nonrefundable? Contact us by email at [email protected] to share and/or forward the emailed response you received from onePulse to our email shared above. (Your name and other personally identifiable information will NOT be shared publicly.)
Updated to clarify that the $100 million estimate of the Pulse museum included the estimated cost of the museum, Survivor's Walk, and a memorial.
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