Wounded Warrior Project Tax Returns Analyzed

by Tax Accountant and Former WWP Supporter

Are you a supporter of the Wounded Warrior Project? Before you donate to charity, we hope you'll read our reviews and ratings of veteran charities.

We strive to help you become an informed donor before you decide to give to charity. While our service members and veterans need your support, please make your donation to a charity that uses the vast majority of donated funds to actually support the troops, not to pay fundraising costs.

One anonymous reader, who has been a tax accountant for 17+ years, has reviewed and analyzed the 2010 and 2009 tax returns for The Wounded Warrior Project. You'll find his (or her) review below.

WWP 2010 Tax Return

The Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) 2010 Tax Return has been posted online. It follows the same formula - the percentage of expenses paid for Program Services was only 65% - according to page 10 of their IRS Form 940, posted at their web site.

FYE 2009 Officer salaries = $700,301
FYE 2010 Officer Salaries = $1,021,638

So here's the breakdown -
2008 - 64%
2009 - 62%
2010 - 65% of all expenses paid (out of CASH donated*) being used for veteran/wounded programs.

* Some of WWP's donations are "in kind" rather than cash - such as advertising time on radio and TV.

A+ charities should have 80% + going to programs. Even 75% would be better.

Just think what 10% more for programs could accomplish - we ALL owe it to our veterans to hold accountable the charities that we donate our money to.

Here's a link to the WWP 2010 tax return, if you'd like to examine it for yourself.

Wounded Warrior Project 2009 Tax Return

This is my analysis of the Wounded Warrior Project's FYE 9/30/2009 IRS Form 990 Tax Return.

Most A+ charities have 75% or more of expenses going to program services.

In 2009, the WWP has just 61.6% going to programs, or LESS THAN 2/3.

That means 38.3% of expenses goes to fundraising and admin expenses.

I believe travel for staff is also included in the program services total as well, which means that even less than 61.6% actually goes to programs for our wounded warriors.

What bothers me is that out of the $26,648,849 total expenses paid out for the fiscal year 2009, $16,441,204 is for programs that go to helping the wounded - only 61.9%

That $16,441,204 (for programs) INCLUDES:
Salaries for officers - $700,301,
Salaries for non-officers $4,815,096,
and payroll taxes on those salaries of $1,604,414.

The balance of salaries and taxes is allocated between admin expenses and fundraising expenses.

Ed. note: (So if you subtract the salaries and

payroll taxes included in the "program" total, which most donors consider expenses of doing business, rather than program services, that leaves only $9,321,393 or 35% going to "actual" programs. To be fair, those salaries most likely are for people who are helping administer the programs, which is why they can be included in this total.)

I am getting these #'s directly from the WWP Form 990 FYE 9/30/09 on their website.

If you review the 2009 Annual Report, The WWP uses the AUDITED REPORT for its data, which is misleading.

This is how the WWP can say that they have 81-82% for Functional Expenses.

The AUDITED report (not the actual tax returns filed) ADDs the value of Public Service Announcement air time and Marketing for Public Awareness that was GIVEN (donated) to the WWP to the functional program expense totals. This is what is reported on the BBB website.

Less Than 62% of Cash Donated Goes to Programs

My entire issue is that out of the ACTUAL DOLLARS RECEIVED by the WWP in CASH donations, only 61.7% of THAT money was allocated to programs for the wounded.

(While I have been a tax accountant for over 17 years and stand by my analysis, I am open to others checking my figures.)

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Janet's reply:

Tax Accountant, thank you for taking the time to analyze the latest WWP tax returns and share your analysis with our readers.

Because your comments are too important to be missed, I have published your analysis as a separate page, for those who don't wade all the way down through all the comments on our Wounded Warrior Project review.

(If you're considering making a donation to WWP, you will want to read through the reader comments that follow, which describe personal experiences with WWP.)

Thanks again! Please feel free to submit additional veteran charities reviews. We appreciate your expertise, and your time to share it with our readers.






You may also be interested in these related articles:

Veterans Charities Falling Short

Charity Expose: Veterans Charities Missing the Mark.

To see how the various charities fared in the ratings from the American Institute of Philanthropy 2007 report, go to Veterans Charities Ratings.

For a detailed explanation of how the ratings were derived, go to Veterans Charities Ratings Explained.

For our own review of various veteran charities in response to reader inquiries, see the list at the bottom of questions about specific veterans charities.

You may also wish to check the references listed at the bottom of Veterans Charities Ratings to look up information about the charity you're interested in.

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