Posted on 12/30/2015 12:51:34 PM PST by PROCON
Everyone wants to support American vets and when you hear about the great work Wounded Warriors Project does for our own American vets, well, ... you just can't fight the urge to dig deep and give to support the cause. But who/what are you really supporting? Not so much the vets....
DC Clothesline: In the first version of this article, I used the 2012-2013 Wounded Warrior Project 990 Tax Forms. This updated version is using the 2013-2014 Wounded Warrior Project 990 Tax Forms. (Thank you, David Isakson, for all of your assistance) I had made some errors in my original reporting; I am not a forensic accountant and had misread some of the figures or gotten the figures from the wrong columns. I will not be making those mistakes again. The 2012-2013 and the 2013-2014 tax forms are hyperlinked, so feel free to peruse the documents for yourselves. We should not be surprised to find out that yet another 'charity' claiming to 'help' Veterans is more interested in the salaries of their executives and funding the vicious cycle of advertisement...raise funds...spend it on advertisement...raise funds...ad nauseum. But just the raw figures from their own reporting:
FOR THE YEAR 2012-1013
REVENUE: $234,682,943.00
EXPENSES: $158,073,943.00
TOTAL PROFITS: $ 76,609,000.00
FOR THE YEAR 2013-2014
REVENUE: $342,066,114.00
EXPENSES: $248,005,493.00
TOTAL PROFITS: $ 94,060,675.00
TOTAL AMOUNT GOING TO ORGANIZATIONS IN 2013:
$16,849,420.00
TOTAL AMOUNT GOING TO ORGANIZATIONS IN 2014:
$41,305,308.00
TOTAL AMOUNT GOING TO INDIVIDUAL VETERANS IN 2013:
$853,365.00
TOTAL AMOUNT GOING TO INDIVIDUAL VETERANS IN 2014:
$804,393.00
Now, how about some brass tacks about what just their top three executives make per year in salaries alone, not including bonuses, retirement, and insurance.
STEVEN NARDIZZI EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR $375,000.00 in 2013
STEVEN NARDIZZI CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER $473,015.00 in 2014
ALBION GIORDANO DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR $337,500.00 in 2013
ALBION GIORDANO CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER $369,030.00 in 2014
JEREMY CHWAT CHIEF PROGRAM OFFICER $218,267.00 in 2013
JEREMY CHWAT CHIEF PROGRAM OFFICER $262,750.00 in 2014
These are STRICTLY the amounts and descriptions from their own tax forms. This does not even begin to cover their beautiful, modern building or the seven lawsuits that they have launched against much smaller, higher rated Veterans non-profit groups, who either used the words 'wounded warrior' somewhere in their name or used a silhouette of soldiers in their logos.
***But of the more than 56,000 veterans the group counts as "alumni," meaning that they have been registered with the organization, many don't directly engage with WWP. Less than two-thirds (62 percent) of alumni participated in at least one WWP activity or service in the past year, according to a survey of alumni the group shared with the Beast. But according to their internal database, 78.9 percent of alumni have been involved with "engagements and interactions" with WWP this year.
The best advice I can give you is to do your own research. Find small charities that are well-ranked by Charity Navigator or Charity Watch. Stick with local charities with which you have developed an affiliation personally. One of the highest ranked and most respected Veterans charity is The Fisher House.
sounds good to me.
Advertising to solicit donations, legal fees to protect their trademark.
What type of power trip? No hunting, do what we say, but give us the money?
A 26% increase in comp costs for the head honcho? Nice job suckering all the good hearted Americans out of their hard earned money WWP!
It is pretty well known that WWP does a good job digging up support from celebrities and good marketing. Their outlays to vets are notoriously low.
Military input requested.
It’s all about the money. Time for rules on these not-for-profit profiteers. They see the money roll in from the benevolence of the masses and they take it for themselves.
You are correct, WWP will NOT associated with the shooting/hunting industry.
The Military Order of the Purple Heart is a very good charity. They have modest offices and a few selfless employees. (Need PH for membership, but they help ALL vet from ALL wars.)
Charity Nav. does not have them rated well because they accept donated goods and turn them into cash. The Charity Nav. algorithm doesn’t allow for that.
Check them out
http://www.purpleheart.org/Default.aspx
A Marine Mom
A few years ago I heard that WWP would not accept donations from churches. That’s when I soured on them.
The numbers.... Special place in hell for those who exploit the wounded freedom fighters.
I CALLED THEM and asked them what, exactly they do!
Hubby and I were regular monthly contributors to WWP for years. About two years ago I began to do some research to figure out exactly how they helped veterans.
I ended up actually calling a few times (got transferred a lot) and asking things like:
“Do you help with financial assistance?” No.
“Do you help to make houses handicapped accessible?” No.
“Do you help spouses with transportation and housing when their husbands are in the hospital?” No.
“Kids college scholarships??” No.
The ultimate answer is that they don’t do much for individual soldiers at all.
They ‘lobby’.
That’s right. They lobby congress on the behalf of vets.
That’s their primary function.
What pisses me off is that WWP sucks all of the oxygen from the room and smaller organizations that actually DO these things can’t get a footing.
Think about it. TENS of MILLIONS of dollars are donated every year to an organization that DOES NOT HELP VETS. They wine and dine congressmen and advertise. They ‘raise awareness’. That’s their function.
OH, ONE MORE THING.
Every one of those individual soldiers who they helped was counted as “advertizing”. That’s right. ADVERTIZING.
They’ll pick a few particularly high-profile or tear-jerking situations then gladhand their way through it for media attention.
THE WWP IS THE GREATEST SCAM EVER AND IT’S SICK THAT THEY USE WOUNDED VETS TO PROP UP THEIR TOTAL *CRAP*.
I think he should have just asked for expenses, but apparently very high proceeds could be attributed to his appearance.
According to the charity's yearly reports to the IRS, it raised about $2,450,000, after expenses, from the 2012 gala where President Bush spoke. The following year, the gala netted the charity substantially less, about $1,000,000.
The expenses should reflect rent, operating costs, executive compensation, payroll, advertising, etc. What is left is available for distribution to the beneficiaries of the charity. Most non-profits build an endowment so that the giving can continue after the public donations drop off (it will).
But, these guys are earning their reputation as someone living large on the backs of wounded soldiers. You would think that they are the government or something.
Those are grouped under expenses.
Yes, Gary Sinise is a true patriot and friend of the Military.
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