Wounded Warrior Project’s Revenue Fell 30 Percent in Fiscal 2017
By Timothy Sandoval
Contributor
April 19, 2018 | Read Time: 2 minutes
The Wounded Warrior Project’s revenue plummeted in fiscal 2017, dropping nearly 30 percent compared with the previous year, according to the organization’s latest Form 990 informational tax return.
Wounded Warrior brought in roughly $227 million in total revenue in the tax year ending September 30, 2017, about $95 million less than in fiscal 2016. Contributions and grants fell to $211 million in 2017, also down 30 percent from the year before.
Last year’s revenue total was 43 percent less than the organization’s peak in fiscal 2015, when it brought in almost $400 million — including nearly $373 million in donations and grants. (The numbers are not adjusted for inflation.)
The veterans organization, one of the largest in the country, was rocked in early 2016 when news-media investigations questioned its spending and treatment of employees. Wounded Warrior’s two top executives were fired following the release of news reports that painted the charity as one that splurged on conferences, travel, and parties.
After the controversy erupted, news reports noted that Wounded Warrior saw a sharp decline in donations, and its television advertising faltered, too.
In September 2016, Wounded Warrior announced it would lay off about 15 percent of its employees and would cut some of its services.
Greater Efficiency
While the figures for fiscal 2017 showed quite a decline, Rob Louis, public-relations specialist at Wounded Warrior, said the organization was ahead of its revenue goal through March. He declined to say what the group’s revenue target is for fiscal 2018, but he noted that it’s higher than 2017’s total.
The group has seen four consecutive quarters of growth in revenue, he notes. “Midway through last year is when we started a return to growth, and we’ve just kept growing,” he says.
Despite the drop in revenue last year, the organization was able to serve 132,000 veterans and their family members, 15 percent more than in 2016. It’s focused more on high-demand services in mental health and career counseling, Louis says, while dropping services like information-technology training, which many other groups provide. “We’re being as efficient as possible to provide as many services as we can,” Jones said.
