I just got an email that gave the money totals and the salaries of the management of that organization.

here is part of it.

 

 I recently received an email from Dr. Richard Stiso that exposed exactly how the charity spends the money it receives from patriotic Americans. According to Guidestar, a group that investigates charities, the Wounded Warrior Project might as well be run by the Mafia. In 2012, the WWP received an astronomical $154,958,901, with a measly $4,857,084 going out in grants to veterans' organizations and $671,194 to individuals. That means that the group only used 3.5% of the money it received for the purpose intended.

 

In the meantime, the Officers, Directors and Trustees hauled in $15,415,666 million, with Employee Benefits ($2,226,457), Office Expenses ($12,451,303), Travel ($4,086,509), Promotional Items 
($4,055, 567) and something called Outside Services ($20,915,404) accounting for roughly 50% of what's listed as "Overhead Expenses.

 

Here is the web site you can visit  http://www.veteranstoday.com/2013/12/08/wounded-warriors-project-a-legal-scam/

 

 

 

I can't tell you how disappointed I am

Just as I was thinking to myself "Gee this an awfully long article without any sources" I come across a link to the tax return for Wounded Warriors.

 

I gotta say they have surprised me here.

The image their public relations have created is akin to Motherhood and Apple pie

ouch.

wow.

This is very disturbing as I have been contributing from their very beginning. My wife is going to do a little more research. May change over to supporting "Fisher House". Thanks for the

update

Really ????????????????  A percentage of every military item I sell goes to this organization - tell me this is an early April Fools joke.

Gents, please be careful with this one, and do your research thoroughly. Just because the originator is from Veterans Times, doesn't mean he can't be half cocked himself. There could be some conspiracy theory going on here or not, I do not know yet.

Here is what I found, if you delve into Veterans Times, take a look at some of their articles on Israel and the Jews, take a look at their article on the Holocaust. Pretty strange stuff. When I see an organization putting out literature such as that, their integrity is called into question automatically with me.

Go to Charity Navigator and research the numbers they came up with, Charity Navigator is an excellent resource for this, and I believe there is another called Charity Star.

According to Charity Navigator WWP spends about 42 percent of their funds on the programs the organization is intended to support and the services they deliver. Not the paltry 3 percent the original article is suggesting.

 

Above all, look at the good WWP does. They do a whooooole lot!! And on a huge scale.

 

Now, granted, they do have large overheads and paychecks, but I don't know, 300 grand for a person to run a huge organization, is that so much? Go to WWP website and spend some time on it, see their programs, see their events they hold, they do good stuff.

 

Back a few years ago when we supported WWP they spent 80 cents of every dollar on programs and benefits, now it appears they spend 42 cents of every dollar, bloated? Perhaps. But the scale of work they do can not be matched by any other organization.

 

We work with other organizations now only because I felt WWP had enough attention and help after awhile. My heart has a big place for small grass roots organizations like us, so I chose to start working with Homes For Our Troops and Operation Ward 57 both of whom are pretty small on the grand scale of things.

 

You can see Homes For Our Troops on Charity Navigator, I believe they are at the mid 90 percentile for spending money on the troops, and in the single digits for over head expenses. They are small, they have one tiny office in Taunton Mass, and the CEO gets paid a six figure income somewhere in the mid 100's I believe is still the case.

 

I don't know if the article in Veterans Times is true or not, or some half baked, and some true, but I think we need to do our own research on this and come to our own conclusions as to what is the right charity for us to contribute to.

 

Remember, some time ago, WWP came down on guns in a way that did not make too many pro second amendment folks too happy, they ruffled a lot of feathers on that one. But there was much more to that squabble too then what met the public eye.

 

As a policy WWP does not condone the use of guns, they do not stand behind any religion, nor do they endorse any political party or social agenda but for veterans concerns. I spoke with Jennifer Algers a rep from WWP a couple years ago on these items, and it all made sense. They represent veterans from all walks of life, all religions, all political parties, all sexual origins, all of them, not just the conservative christian gun owning veterans, they represent all. The military is full of Muslims, Buddhist, Christians, Scientology, gays and straights, and all races, and all political parties, WWP if you have not gathered by now is a very politically correct organization, and they have to be, to welcome all veterans into their fold.

 

This is what I know about WWP, all of my interaction with WWP has been positive.

 

Here is another great resource for charity investigations. By the way, you don't have to ask for their 990's, it's public knowledge. Guide Star

 

All I am saying, is watch out for internet rumors, do your research. Hey, there may be some merit to the Veterans Times article, but then again, look at the source, and do your research.

Thank you sire for bring us back to ground.

Thank you sire for bring us back to ground.

Well, I hope I at least spurred some thoughtfulness here Fred, I have been stung many times by articles that looked legit on the internet, just to be disappointed.

42% Is still too low. NO more support from me. I will donate to one of the vet organizations like the American Legion, Their veteran help program leader makes zero a year 

OK I did some more digging and the percentage of income going to help is not 42%   It is more like 57.7%

 

This web site give all the data on many veteran support groups. WW gets a rating of 86.6 out of 100, which isn't too bad

 

I feel better about them and will continue my support. Look before you leap. I thought I did

 

http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=12842#.VM-xyp3F-0U

42% Is still too low. NO more support from me. I will donate to one of the vet organizations like the American Legion, Their veteran help program leader makes zero a year 

I agree Ron, it is low, but not as the article stated at 3 percent.

That being said, donating is a personal choice, and one that folks need to think about and investigate. As far as program leaders or CEO's making a living from helping, there is nothing wrong with that.

Let's say a fella lives and breaths a cause they love, he or she becomes the CEO or program leader, they make it their full time work, something they love, they poured all their heart into, they make it their living, there is nothing wrong with that person wanting to be paid a wage, after all they need to eat and pay housing and raise a family possibly.

I am cautious of those who think that to work in charity or to run a charitable organization, you must take the vow of poverty yourself. There are those who exploit the charity for their own selfish gains, they don't really have the cause in their heart, perhaps they need to be punished or ridiculed publicly, but the man or woman who genuinely loves what they do, the reasons they are doing it for, and they will need to make a living as well, they should be congratulated for choosing a life of service.

Just two cents here, but yes Ron, you are right, 42 percent is low, but much better then most charities out there.

As you can tell, I am coming from a biased point of view here. I know personally the hard work, the heart aches, and the ups and downs, the sacrifices and the financial costs and burdens that just a small group like The Patriot Woodworker can be to run.

We are all volunteers here, nobody is on a payroll, not even yours truly, but someday if I decided to make this my life work, I hope you all would be understanding if I had to take a wage to pay our way through life as a family.

OK I did some more digging and the percentage of income going to help is not 42%   It is more like 57.7%

 

This web site give all the data on many veteran support groups. WW gets a rating of 86.6 out of 100, which isn't too bad

 

I feel better about them and will continue my support. Look before you leap. I thought I did

 

http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=12842#.VM-xyp3F-0U

Their accountability and transparency is excellent too Ron, that is what you really want to look for, are the transparency rating as well. Great job on the research! I feel better now too, 57 percent is much better then 42 for sure.

Our charitable giving is somewhat limited to individual vets who are identified by the local VFW and American Legion. Both, non drinking establishments, BTW. 

We also personally support certain VA programs. And, the Salvation Army.

Except for the Salvation army, we are fairly certain that well over 90% goes to vets in need. 100% where we give goods or services directly to the individual vet.