Fund emergency financial aid for veterans in acute crisis
Direct grants paid to landlords, utility companies, and medical providers — preventing eviction, utility shutoff, and medical-debt spirals for veteran families one missed paycheck from collapse. Applications are paused while the current cycle is fully committed; gifts fund the next grant cycle.
The problem
Veterans are dying because the system gaps last 90 days, not 7
The program model
How a dollar becomes an outcome
Why fund through Wounded Warriors
✓ Three things that differentiate us
- Data-infrastructure moat. We operate a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for the US veteran-aid sector — 43 tools exposed to AI assistants (Claude, ChatGPT, Glean) at warriorsfund.org/mcp. Our 144,900-record veteran-resource directory is FIPS-tract geocoded to 75% of records, joined with US Census ACS, CDC PLACES, and HUD CHAS data.
- Machine-readable transparency. Every program reports through structured endpoints: /api/grantmaker/snapshot, /api/health-status, /api/impact-report. Foundation analytics teams can track outcomes programmatically — no PDF wrangling.
- Trust signals. national 501(c)(3), IRS ruling year 2021, EIN 86-1336741. Every Form 990 public on ProPublica. Candid Platinum Seal of Transparency (2026).
Verify directly with any of these third parties:
Funding levels & use of funds
Reporting & accountability
- Quarterly impact reports with anonymized case summaries, geographic breakdown, outcome metrics, and program-expense detail.
- Real-time machine-readable transparency: /api/impact-report, /api/grantmaker/snapshot, and /api/health-status.
- Financial documents: Read the filed FY2025 Form 990. A Form 990 is an information return, not an audit; contact us to request our financial statements (unaudited; Form 990 prepared by an outside CPA firm).
- Public 990s: Wounded Warriors files a public Form 990 every year; every return is on ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer: projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/861336741.
- Restricted-gift policy: donor restrictions honored per Gift Acceptance Policy + IRS regulations on charitable giving. Restricted gifts of $50,000+ require Board acknowledgment.
Common funder questions
How do you prevent fraud or grant misuse?
Three controls: (1) we verify DD-214 / Statement of Service for every applicant, (2) we pay third parties directly — landlord, utility, provider — never the veteran, (3) we cap the size of any single grant (no award size is quoted while applications are paused), and re-review applicants who return within 12 months. Audit trail retained per our Records Retention Policy.
What is the program-expense ratio for this program?
We do not quote a program-expense ratio: Form 990 functional-expense allocation depends on how staff time is attributed and shifts year to year. Our filed Form 990s are public on ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer at projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/861336741.
Can we restrict the grant to a specific state, MOS, or service era?
Yes. We honor donor restrictions provided they comply with our Gift Acceptance Policy and IRS regulations on charitable giving. Common restrictions: state, post-9/11 era, women veterans, formerly-homeless veterans, MST survivors. Restricted grants $50,000+ require Board acknowledgment.
How is reporting handled?
Three layers: (1) a foundation-specific quarterly PDF with award counts, anonymized case summaries, geographic breakdown, and outcome surveys, (2) a real-time machine-readable feed at /api/impact-report and /api/grantmaker/snapshot, (3) published IRS Form 990 filings. A Form 990 is an information return, not an audit; contact us to request our financial statements (unaudited; Form 990 prepared by an outside CPA firm).