Who’s not sympathetic to military veterans injured while serving their country, who need some extra help to overcome a disability or impairment? Charities like the Wounded Warriors Project have reportedly done lots of good things for veterans, getting them some of the help they need — and deserve.

But the good work by Wounded Warriors is being questioned by several news reports recently that have employees alleging the charity spends too much on lavish staff meetings and perks, money that could be used to do more for more wounded veterans.

It was reported last week how a major donor to the Wounded Warrior Project charity has publicly called for the nonprofit’s CEO to resign over the questioned spending.

Recent tax filings by Wounded Warriors show $26 million spent on conferences and meetings at luxury hotels in 2014. That compares to $1.7 million spent on meetings in 2010, before the current CEO took over.

Some former employees are questioning the charity’s printing of annual yearbooks for the staff at a cost of more than $20,000 a year.

The CEO of the Wounded Warrior Project, Steven Nardizzi, reportedly hasn’t responded to the allegations in more than a month since the controversy was made public, though the organization’s board of directors has said it takes very seriously the concerns that have been raised and promised a full financial and policy review.

One media outlet reported that Patriots Initiative, described as a California-based charity that grades military charities, has downgraded the Wounded Warrior Project and removed it from a list of “efficient and transparent charities.”

Certainly the Wounded Warrior Project supports a worthy cause and just because someone questions some of the organization’s practices doesn’t mean it’s wasting donated dollars. But $26 million on conferences in a single year does seem a lot, especially when just four years ago it spent less than $2 million on what we’d suppose to be similar efforts. Conference spending could have tripled and it would still have left $20 million that could have gone to projects that provide direct benefits to wounded veterans — a lot of projects with $20 million more to spend.

Sure, sometimes you’ve got to spend money to make money, so programs to get the organization’s staff and volunteers around the country motivated to do good things for deserving veterans is a legitimate expense for an organization like Wounded Warriors. But there’s also an obligation when spending other people’s money to be extra careful about appearances, to maintain the donors’ confidence.

Let’s hope these questions can be addressed soon, but it’s a reminder to all who donate to look beyond the promises and pay attention to how their donations really get used.

WILL CHAPMAN

PUBLISHER