The Wounded Warrior Project is most assuredly not a scam.  It is a charity that has numerous programs to help wounded American veterans.  Unfortunately, according to Columbus, Ohio police, the name of this commendable charity was used by Joseph Earl Stewart who was recently arrested for going door to door soliciting donations for the charity when he had absolutely no connection to the organization, and according to police, merely kept the money that generous people thought they were giving to The Wounded Warrior Project.  According to the Columbus police department, Stewart had managed to steal thousands of dollars from unwary donors before he was caught.  This case exemplifies the difficulties in knowing when you make a charitable donation whether the person you are giving your money to is legitimate or not.

TIPS

A good policy to follow is to make your charitable donations directly to the charities either online or by mail and only then after you have confirmed both that the charity you are giving to is legitimate and that the website or address you are using is the correct website or address.  By giving charitable donations in this manner, you can not only be sure that the charity will actually receive your donation, but you also are insuring that more of your donation goes toward the charity’s charitable work rather than having some of it go to a commission to a person collecting from you door to door or by phone solicitation.  In order to check whether the charity is legitimate as well as its correct address and even to learn how much the charity spends on administrative costs as compared to its charitable work, go to http://www.charitynavigator.org.  By the way, charitynavigator.org gives The Wounded Warrior Project a three out of four star rating.  If you want to give to the Wounded Warrior Project directly, you can go to their website http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org.