The mission of Wounded Warrior Project is to honor and empower wounded warriors. Our purpose is: to raise awareness and enlist the public's aid for the needs of severely injured service men and women; to help severely injured service members aid and assist each other; and to provide unique, direct programs and services to meet the needs of severely injured service members.
Program names and associated costs are listed for the top programs as reported on the charity's most recently filed Form 990. The top programs displayed will include the largest three programs, or those programs covering at least 60% of the charity's total expenses, whichever comes first.
Program Name
Amount Spent
% of Program Expenses
Independence Program
$72,019,930
27.4%
Alumni Association
$50,455,423
19.2%
Combat Stress Recovery
$47,405,335
18.1%
Within the last year, this charity had a CN Advisory removed. Read More
In accordance with our policy for removing CN Advisories, Charity Navigator removed the Low Concern CN Advisory for the Wounded Warrior Project on October 1, 2016 because the CN Advisory had been in place for more than six months (since January 2016) and because the organization provided public domain information, available in press releases and news reports below, addressing concerns raised in media investigations.
Charity Navigator had published a CN Advisory on the Wounded Warrior Project because we became aware of the following information in connection with this charity:
On January 26, 2016, CBS News investigated the operations of Wounded Warrior Project, in an article titled, "Wounded Warrior Project accused of wasting donation money." For this reason, we have issued a Low Concern CN Advisory. For more information regarding the investigation, please see the CBS News article.
On January 27, 2016, CBS News published an article titled, "Ex-employee: Wounded Warrior Project conduct 'makes me sick'." For more information, please see the CBS News article.
On January 27, 2016, CBS News published an article titled, "Charity watchdogs question Wounded Warrior's spending on vets." For more information, please see the CBS News article.
On January 27, 2016, The New York Times published an article titled, "Wounded Warrior Project Spends Lavishly on Itself, Insiders Say." For more information, please see The New York Times article.
On January 27, 2016, News4JAX published an article titled, "Wounded Warrior Project suing 2 injured veterans." For more information, please see News4JAX article.
On February 1, 2016, CBS News published an article titled, "Wounded Warrior Project publicly responds to 'concerns'." For more information, please see CBS News article.
On March 10, 2016, CBS News published an article titled, "Wounded Warrior Project execs fired." For more information, please see the CBS News article.
On March 10, 2016, Wounded Warrior Project published press release titled, "Board of Directors of Wounded Warrior Project Addresses Independent Review." For more information, please see the Wounded Warrior Project press release.
On March 14, 2016, CBS This Morning published an article titled, "Wounded Warrior Project chair on recovery from spending scandal." For more information, please see the CBS This Morning article.
On March 18, 2016, The New York Times published an article titled, "Senator Wants Data on Wounded Warrior Project, a Charity Under Fire." For more information, please see The New York Times article.
On April 11, 2016, Wounded Warrior Project announced, "Wounded Warrior Project Appoints Interim Chief Operating Officer." For more information, please see the Wounded Warrior Project's website.
On May 16, 2016, News4JAX published an article titled, "Senator questions Wounded Warrior Project spending." For more information, please see the News4JAX article.
On June 16, 2016, The Chronicle of Philanthropy published an article titled, "Pentagon Official to Take Charge of Wounded Warrior Project." For more information, please see The Chronicle of Philanthropy article.
Independent - the organization is an independent organization or an independent auxiliary (i.e., not affiliated with a National, Regional, or Geographic grouping of organizations).
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The mission of Wounded Warrior Project is to honor and empower wounded warriors. Our purpose is: to raise awareness and enlist the public's aid for the needs of severely injured service men and women; to help severely injured service members aid and assist each other; and to provide unique, direct programs and services to meet the needs of severely injured service members.
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