A local organization under fire for the way it handled donor dollars is defending how that money was spent before, during, and after a fundraiser in March.

The Fashion Event is a 3-day fashion show that raises money for non-profit organizations in the Brazos Valley.

2016

$50,000 was raised for the Fun For All Playground

2017

$60,000 was raised for Mercy Project

2018

Only $18,000 was raised for Ronald McDonald Charity Houses

Major sponsors and donors for this year's event fear excessive partying by committee members and bad choices lead to a struggling event this year.

According to documents obtained by KBTX, The Fashion Event's revenue for this year was $19,434 less than the amount brought in last year. Expenses paid by the organization also more than doubled this year compared to last, and were nearly $10,000 over budget.

Expenses Paid by The Fashion Committee

2017 - $17,188

2018 - $39,372 (Budget: $29,750)

The committee also had $6,450 fewer sponsorships, not including in-kind donations, for this year's event.

"If the committee knew it was going to be bringing in less money this year, then they should have been better stewards of the donor dollar," said one major sponsor when asked to respond to our report.

"We cut corners where we could," said The Fashion Event President and Executive Director Chance Okonski last week during our first report on this issue.

In response to KBTX's first story, The Fashion Event committee released a 3-page report that attempted to explain what happened this year to all the money.

"This year the committee did not generate the same revenue/sponsorship amounts and, unfortunately, did not have the same financial backing from a generous committee member that covered a large portion of the expenses to ensure past events reached more than what was donated the previous year. The committee would also like to add that the previous Fashion Shows in 2016 & 2017 included children which helped boost ticket sales," said the statement.

The statement by the committee incorrectly reported the amount of money slated for marketing materials, based on a line-by-line review of expenditures by KBTX staff.

It also failed to disclose some of the more questionable spending by the committee during this year's show.

Some sponsors were less than pleased to learn that staff members who live in town stayed multiple nights at the host site of this year's fundraiser, The Stella hotel in Bryan.

Okonski stayed 5 nights in a larger, more expensive room than everyone else, including one night after the show ended. The total cost of his 5-night stay for the 3-day event cost the organization nearly $900.

In response, Okonski said he needed the larger room to help store and protect valuable items used in the show, but didn't explain why a Sunday night stay was necessary, when the final show was Saturday night.

What the statement by the committee also failed to disclose is the $600 "Room Block - Incidentals" charge added to the final bill. KBTX found the line item during a review of internal documents. The only explanation by the committee was it "was due to clean-up."

Sponsors say extra expenditures on Snapchat filters, gift bags, alcohol at a photo shoot for the committee, and recurring software expenses (that have since been discontinued) should have all been reconsidered if coordinators of this year's show knew less revenue was available.

Okonski and the committee claim they were bound to spend a minimum amount of expenses for food and alcohol at The Stella due to a contract signed by the previous committee. However, an email written by Okonski in November 2017 to a local marketing firm, says Okonski signed a new deal with the hotel that would have replaced the old contract.

On Thursday, KBTX also inquired about The Fashion Event's Facebook page claim of being a non-profit organization.

The committee, again, blamed that on previous committee members.

"No one from the current committee initially created the FB page. It was passed down from previous committee members, so even if we wanted to fix that - we would not be able to," said the written response.

All the money spent during this year's show has been accounted for, but supporters are still disappointed with the outcome with the final donation amount.

It's also worth noting that because The Fashion Event is not a charity, it isn't bound by rules and regulations required for 501(c)(3) groups. To learn more about non-profits and how their money is spent, visit the website CharityStar.org.