Wounded Warrior Project a Scam?

I have had nothing but good experiences with WWP, for instances I called when my power was going to be shut off bc I didn't have the money to pay. They had it paid within a few hours and sent me a gift card to help with food and baby care products. I ♡ WWP!

I'm sure others have already stated this but here goes.

I haven't personally dealt with WWP but from what I've read they do seem to spend a good deal of their resources suing other veteran assistance non-profits. In my opinion they should use those assets for improving their brand and proving that our wounded warriors should seek assistance from them rather than the next guy.

There have been some active attempts to falsely portray the WWP as an organization that does not have any interests except for making money.

I can tell everyone here, 1) That is NOT true.
2) The CEO gets paid less than what most CEOs get at other LARGE organizations.
3) More money goes towards helping Soldiers than nearly any other charity out there.
4) Soldiers who are enrolled, their families, and guests of the Soldier, are NEVER charged a fee for ANY service!
5) Immediate family members can use the same educational benefits that the WWP provides to the Soldier for free! This includes wives, children, and even parents if they are dependent on the Soldier or DIRECTLY support the Soldier!
6) It doesn't MATTER what your injury is, or WHERE in the world you got the injury. If you were injured on or after 9/11/2001, you only have to provide a medical document of some sort showing you were injured after that date.
7) WWP has MANY programs and services, including job placement, resume, VA Advocate, Education, get togethers, sport and amusement tickets, sporting events, etc. - all geared toward helping Soldiers, regardless of the type or severity of their injury, participate.

To the naysayers who say their business practices are questionable, or their CEO get's paid too much, or that they don't give enough: I can guarantee you that you don't know what you're talking about and are listening to a false claim that was made a couple of years ago by someone who was either turned down because they weren't actually qualified to be an alumni, or someone who is just a spiteful little b**** looking to smear a really good company doing some REAL good for injured Servicemen and women! Do some research and look it up - I did. The company is way more transparent than 99% of the organizations and companies that are out there, profit or non-profit...

I have heard both bad and good about WWP. I think it depends on rather the person in question got everything they think they deserved.

They spend 60% on charities. The rest are expenses and salaries. They are sitting on $100,000,000 in investments which curtails other non-profit organizations because they are sucking up a lot of money and sitting on it.

First, I will have to assume the WWP operates under a 501(c)3 umbrella. To their credit, and by comparison to other charitable organizations, their return to the veterans is substantially higher than most "non-profits." WWP has done a lot of good work for our fellow warriors. And, they've been able to do this through some solid marketing, recruiting, and basically building on a solid business plan... I suppose that last sentence runs in the face of my opening sentence (?)

The heart of our discord lies here: From the average veterans' perspective, the WWP and Keystone Wounded Warriors are supposed to be helping brothers & sisters. It offends us to hear of these military-friendly organizations get into a courtroom brawl. We're all on the same damned team! Aren't we?

At the end of the day, the WWP has blossomed into a corporate model. At this point, they seem to be threatened by smaller & more agile operations --able to more economically execute their mission. Unfortunately, the WWP is simply protecting its marketing share, logos, and business plan.

Do you homework. And choose to participate where your time, talent, and treasure$ are best spent.

Interesting article; thanks for posting, Jan.

I never supported WWP in the past, and now I never will. 57-58% on vets...and a CEO salary of $330k, with 14 other executives earning $150k +/year...are you f**king kidding me?

Disgusting!

This is very similar to the way the Susan G. Komen foundation operates. They spend too much on "protecting the brand" and not enough on actual charity.

I support DAV and PVA, they actually walk the walk, not just talk the talk

This indeed is sad but unfortunately it is not very surprising. While WWF meets BBB standards it seems to be proving help to some veterans but primarily focused on maintaining or increasing its "market share" of charitable support for veterans.
I am very careful about which charities I support either with funding or prayer. Personally I pray before I offer support to any charity or ministry. Each legitimate charity files reports with the Federal and applicable state governments for tax purposes. There are a number of charity watchdog groups which post percent of donations used for the charities stated purposes versus admin, marketing, etc., costs. [The Clinton Foundation recently went thru a firestorm of scrutiny for funding sources and percent supporting the intended recipients.] As far as Christian ministries, a good benchmark is the ECFA (Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability) seal.
The percentage of Wounded Warrior Charity funds that goes to the Veterans support programs is 57.7% with 35% of fund going to marketing. [source http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=12842#.VUePbXDD9aQ