Charity Navigator Adds Wounded Warrior Project to ‘Watchlist’

Nonprofit watchdog Charity Navigator added the Wounded Warrior Project to its “CN Watchlist” Friday, citing news reports this week that detailed allegations of wasteful spending, mismanagement, and mistreatment of employees.

Wounded Warrior came under fire from CBS and The New York Times, with both news organizations releasing similar reports about the organization’s alleged lavish spending on hotels, dinners, conferences, and travel. The Times also quoted former Wounded Warrior employees who said they were fired for minor infractions.

Both reports prominently featured data from Charity Navigator about Wounded Warrior’s spending on overhead and mission programs.

The watchdog cites the CBS and Times stories in adding the group to the watchlist, which it presents to the public based on information provided to it by third-party sources. Charity Navigator says it produces the list to make donors aware of problems surrounding certain nonprofits before deciding whether or not to support them.

The group’s website also says a committee reviews the allegations provided to it and considers the reliability of the source before adding charities to the list. The website says the committee does not have the ability to independently verify the allegations.

Charity Navigator’s approach to vetting nonprofit organizations has drawn criticism. Detractors say the watchdog focuses too much on overhead as measure of an organization’s efficacy.

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