Wounded Warrior Project a Scam?

Troubling!

Wounded Warrior' Charity Unleashes Hell-On Other Veteran Groups

Are they here to help our wounded warriors or themselves. I haven't attended any of their events or programs. I know they have helped some of our warriors, the articles I see state that they are spending more on the organization members than the wounded warriors. This article seems like they are lawsuit happy and pushing smaller groups out that want to help wounded warriors also.

Isn't there enough room for many groups to assist our veterans across the nation? Maybe the Armed Forces should sue them for using "Wounded Warrior" since it started there and long before WWP was around?

My decision is based on nothing more than personal interaction. At one time i was considering donating and I contacted the organization to get some info. The individual asked me for my name etc., which I provided. Imagine my surprise, when several weeks later, while doing some further checking and I found my name on their site listing me (name and I think town) as a satisfied customer and donor. It took a direct threat from my attorney to get that removed. Turns out I wasn't the only one with that issue.

Let's just say this: WWP is no longer on my radar.

'Nuff said.

I have found the Wounded Warrior Project very helpful. WWP has helped my family and I in many situations that I could find no help elsewhere. They might be under attack, but I know they have helped many soldiers, me being one of them. The problem I can see is the WWP has grown too big with no sound leadership to grow with it. The NPO's are making a big mistake in my opinion by spending so much on merchandise. If a charity is doing their job, their actions will speak louder than words, or merchandise for that matter. I would also like to mention that I only see the negative reviews. What about the positive reviews? I know the title says it all, but when people post things like this I would like to see unbiased reporting that includes both sides of the argument in totality. This allows the readers to look at the issue from a more logical perspective, and make a more informed decision. That is my take on this.

David Shaffer

It's a sad situation. They have done so much good for so many Veterans. At best they have some procedural issues n finance and accounting if not out right misuse of monies. I am the founding Director of a 501 (c) (3) providing training to Veterans, First Responders and Victims of Violent Crimes service dog teams. Ethics is everything when asking groups to donate. It's very difficult and we spend a lot of time making sure that we handle finances properly. It is my hope that WWP will come out of this and be able to continue their mission with proper controls in place.

I've heard so much controversy about WWP. I don't know which end is up on this subject. I've heard it began as a serious charity project which supported wounded warriors in various ways. I've heard it keeps most of the donations to pay salaries, expenses, and advertisements. So, what's the real skinny on this charity's?


I Got This from Wikipedia

Charity ratings
The Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance has accredited WWP as meeting the 20 standards for charity accountability.[24] According to Charity Navigator, WWP allocates 55 percent of its revenue to program expenses and 44.8 percent to fundraising and administrative expenses.[25] WWP received a “D” rating from the American Institute of Philanthropy, C+ by Charity Watch, and "three out of four stars" from Charity Navigator.[26] Although WWP received a “D” rating from the American Institute of Philanthropy, partly due to the small amount of donations that go to wounded veterans, and the fact that the majority of money donated goes to fundraising, salaries, consulting and outside services, meetings and events, and travel. "Depending on the rater, the Wounded Warriors Project seems to have scored low (Charity Watch), high (BBB Wise Giving Alliance) or somewhere in the middle (Charity Navigator)."[26]

I prefer the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund. It's good to compare charities.
WWP
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=12842#.VRCOMNLF_8k
SFF
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=11708#.VRCOb9LF_8k

They are anti-gun rights. I won't donate to them.

The WWP is a non-profit, but has to be ran like a business, so you'd expect overhead and that if you want quality results, you hire good people for them.

In a for-profit company, the CEO would likely make the amount mentioned as a base salary, but would have a ton of other incentives on top of the base. $300K/annual is not a really high salary when you find out that there are SVPs/VPs (lower level execs) in companies that earn that much.

Based on the assessment by the charity checkers, it looks like they assess WWP as a pretty good, but not great investment. While 57% of the ~$230M annual sounds good, there are plenty of other charities that contribute a higher percentage of their annual revenues.

Is there anything I can do? I raise mastiffs that are wonderful service dogs and I can make ribbons and small jewelry.