They needed to take responsibility, and they werent doing it.. Since Wounded Warrior Project chief executive Steven Nardizzi and chief operating officer Al Giordano were fired by the board on Thursday, donations to the group have fallen, The New York Times reports. 4. The crisis this week centers on nonprofit Wounded Warrior Project and its response to news reports critical of how the organization that helps wounded U.S. veterans spends the money it gets in . The Wounded Warrior Projects roots are more humble. Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. Another organization, Animal Charity Evaluators, gives recommendations on the most effective charities to prevent animal suffering. It said that 94 percent of the travel spending was associated with program services delivered to Wounded Warriors and their families. It noted that the retreat at the Broadmoor cost about $1 million, not $3 million as CBS News had reported. Notably, at its lowest point following the whistleblower reports and leadership churn, WWP's funding still dwarfed that of virtually every other organization in the space. Some of its own employees have criticized it, too. The organization slashed all-hands training costs from $987,000 in 2016 to $110,000 in 2019 for a staff of nearly 700, according to numbers provided to Military.com, in direct response to public criticism. Why was that poor guy placed in front of a CBS News crew? Mr. Kane, who has raised more than $325,000 for the organization, asked in an email sent in February to dozens of high-level donors. "So the needs of our population when that average was 27 years old is different than it is at 38, and it will be different when it's 48.". By Friday afternoon, both phones had been disconnected. And it has become a brand name, its logo emblazoned on sneakers, paper towel packs and television commercials that run dozens of times. 6. We knew VVA had done pioneering work on Agent Orange, so we created a collaborative grant to pair them with TAPS to start gathering data on [toxic exposure] and to help ensure trans-generational knowledge transfer from the Vietnam-era generation of veterans to today's post-9/11 generation.". I have been involved with the Wounded Warrior Project for over 12 years. I would fly to New York for less than a day to report to my supervisor.. Ideally, though, the ratio should be higher. Wounded Warrior Project executives fired in spending scandal. "Wounded Warrior Project helped me reclaim my life," one reads, over a photo of single-amputee wounded veteran Sean Karpf, smiling proudly. Other respected charities . Linnington made clear that he wants to see the organization continue its climb out of a fundraising valley but said he is more concerned about fulfilling the mission than making up numbers. Dan Shannon of the Army, a father of three, who had served in Iraq, and, on Nov. 13, 2004, took a direct hit from an AK-47. But, he says, he doesn't regret what he did; he still believes his assessment of WWP at the time was accurate and his intervention necessary. Ive gone to all of my appointments. But as donations poured in, many former employees say the group became wasteful. As commanding general of the Military District of Washington and commander of Joint Force Headquarters-National Capital Region, a position he held from 2011 to 2013, he said he welcomed many arriving C-17 Globemasters transporting wounded veterans back to the United States from Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. 2. Can we corroborate the information? The group, based in Jacksonville, Fla., has been challenged over how it spends more than $800 million raised in donations over the past four years. Charity Navigator also assessed that Wounded Warriors total revenue for 2014 was well over $340 million. It also began to focus on programs like group bike rides and concert-ticket handouts that left many staff members wondering about how much they were helping veterans. It seemed to me like it was a big lie., Wounded Warrior Project Spends Lavishly on Itself, Insiders Say, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/28/us/wounded-warrior-project-spends-lavishly-on-itself-ex-employees-say.html, William Chick, who was fired from the Wounded Warrior Project in 2012 after a dispute with his supervisor. By the time I left, we were just throwing guys in jobs to check off a box and hit the numbers.. 1 witness for the wounded was Staff Sgt. Ask anyone with a personal stake in the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP), the organization founded in 2003 to provide programs and services for injured U.S. military personnel. Mr. Kane said the leaders failure to take responsibility shows a total lack of regard for the mission, the alumni, the employees, proud supporter organizations and the thousands of other individual and corporate donors. He canceled his own contributions and encouraged others to do the same. All staff members flying to the charitys office at a military hospital in Germany traveled in business class, employees said. He said the charity swiftly fired anyone that leaders considered a bad cultural fit.. The organization has also spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in recent years on public relations and lobbying campaigns to deflect criticism of its spending and to fight legislative efforts to restrict how much nonprofits spend on overhead. But Mr. Melias ex-wife, Julie Melia, who worked at the charity at the time, said in an interview that her former husband felt like the organization was stolen from him.. But once they became outpatients, thousands of service members entered a system that had not kept up with the times, that was understaffed, poorly organized and generally second rate. However, everything changed when CBS News started researching its own story about the Wounded Warrior Project, one with a . Where is this guy? He was medevaced out of Iraq, but only nine days after his near-fatal injury, the Walter Reed staff discharged him into outpatient status. In its commercials, Wounded Warrior Project appeals to the American public's generosity, and it works. People could spend money on the most ridiculous thing and no one batted an eye, said Connie Chapman, who was in charge of the charitys Seattle office for two years. In fiscal year 2013, the Wounded Warriors Foundation took in $234 million in donations and dedicated 80 percent of that amount to programs for wounded veterans, according to tax records. I read with disgust your slanted article on the Wounded Warrior Project. A week after the top executives of the Wounded Warrior Project were fired amid accusations of lavish spending, an influential senator on a committee that oversees nonprofit organizations is. Right now we are in a position where we can still meet our obligations, he said. Will we ever be 380 again? Wounded Warrior Project FAQs 1. As he told Retro Report: It just missed the bridge of my nose and exited over my left ear. "When TAPS contacted us a few years back to say the majority of active-duty deaths they were seeing were suicides and rare cancers that young people should not be getting, we started investigating and funding," Plenzler said in an email. Sometimes employees make poor choices that cant be overlooked, Ms. Tezel said. He has never spoken publicly about his disagreements with Mr. Nardizzi, and declined to be interviewed. In 2007, the scandalous treatment of wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center shocked the nation. John Melia, founder of the Wounded Warrior Project, addressing the Wounded and Injured Veterans Summit in Auburn, Ala., in 2006. "I have zero regrets, and I would do it again," he said. Chief Financial Officer . One significant ongoing organizational investment has provided for a two-week intensive post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury outpatient program at four hospitals: Massachusetts General Hospital, Emory University Hospital, Rush University Medical Center and Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. Have they proved reliable in the past? Connie Chapman, who was the director of the Wounded Warrior Project office in Seattle for two years, at a friends home in Eatonville, Wash. People could spend money on the most ridiculous thing and no one batted an eye, she said. When you are considering whether to give, let your heart be open to stories but also ask how representative those stories are of actual clients or results. Mr. Odierno said the board took issue with cultural and policy findings as well as financial issues when deciding to replace the organizations top leaders. Nonprofit watchdog Charity Navigator says Wounded Warrior Project spends just 60 percent of its budget on veterans. Its a mind-set that keeps the sector small and dooms efforts from the start. The videos are typically 10 to 12 minutes long. In other words, the Wounded Warrior Project scandal will likely reduce trust in all nonprofitsincluding effective ones. The ousted Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer of the Wounded Warrior Project are finding relief in a new independent report on the allegations against the military charity . But Linnington maintains it's not just about the bottom line for him. "Going to a nice fancy restaurant is not team building. Under Mr. Nardizzis direction, it has modeled itself on for-profit corporations, with a focus on data, scalable products, quarterly numbers and branding. Magazines, Digital "We have met with DoD a couple times, when I first came on board, to talk about how we can help inspire young people to serve," he said. " As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. It got under my skin, started eating at me, he said. That moment in February was part of the building pressure by donors, veterans and supporters of the organization that culminated Thursday night in the abrupt firing of Mr. Nardizzi and his second in command, Al Giordano, who together earned nearly $1 million per year. After Public Crisis and Fall from Grace, Wounded . Wounded Warrior Project's CEO, Steven Nardizzi, and COO, Al Giordano, were fired by the charity's board amid criticisms about how it spent more than $800 million in donations over the last four years. In recent years, that dated thinking has been torn apart, appropriately replaced by the expectation that this sector should be judged on how effectively organizations solve social and environmental problems. I would push back and they would get very frustrated and yell. Its television commercials with scenes of men, women and their families coping with deep emotional pain pull at the heart and purse strings. In 2016, they had a bit of controversy, when they fired s. Wounded Warrior Project officials are firing half of their executives, closing nine offices and redirecting millions in spending to mental health care programs and partnerships as part of an. This claim is false. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. "Before, you'd have a retreat and, after that, it was nothing. On the ratings service Charity Navigator, the Wounded Warriors Project earns an overall score of 84.5 out of 100, good for three stars. The Warriors to Work program, for instance, was intended to provide one-on-one counseling to develop rsums and interview skills, then place veterans in suitable jobs. Can we corroborate the information? The Wounded Warrior Project program provides adapted equipment for injured veterans to cycle together. After Jesse Longoria recovered from a roadside bomb blast that nearly killed him in Iraq, he got a job with the organization training veterans to help other veterans. The kind of fundraising figures that most organizations in the space could only dream about. But, as it turned out, reports of the death of Wounded Warrior Project have been greatly exaggerated. This weeks Retro Report is the 13th in a documentary series. While the organization keeps a rating of three out of four stars, the numerical score reflects marginal improvements in program expense growth, Magdalena Kurnyta, a Charity Navigator associate program analyst, told Military.com. Mr. Odierno, who is the son of Gen. Raymond Odierno, a former chief of staff of the Army, became the groups interim chief executive Thursday evening and is conducting a nationwide search for a new leader. "We have 55 peer support groups across the country that meet regularly," he said. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our, Digital It estimates that 80,000 veterans have used its services. About 500 staff members attended the four-day conference in Colorado, which CBS News reported cost about $3 million. Although detailed defenses of Wounded Warrior Project have been mounted -- including a lengthy independent report from nonprofit expert Doug White, published in September 2016 -- Linnington spends little time trying to relitigate the past. You do not reflect the sentiments of the more than 80,000 wounded soldiers we have helped, focusing instead on a few malcontents. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. A three-judge panel has denied an appeal and upheld the original verdict in a battle between two charities that support returning American veterans and were using similar names. In the wake of what organization insiders call "the 2016 event," WWP has cut significantly back on all-staff outings; moved away from pricey ticketed events in favor of addressing complex quality-of-life issues for veterans; made efforts to be more collaborative in the veterans' organization community; and even tweaked its advertising strategy to tell a more positive story about veterans, an effort WWP says is calculated not to bring in the most advertising dollars, but to do the most good for the community. Linnington said the 2015-16 fiscal year will get posted in the spring . Both ad campaigns depict a real part of the wounded veteran experience, and WWP staff acknowledge that donors respond more to portrayals of those with the greatest need. In an interview at the organizations four-story headquarters in a palm-lined office park in Jacksonville, Fla., Mr. Nardizzi, 45, said spending on fund-raising and other expenses not directly related to veterans programs has enabled the Wounded Warrior Project to grow faster and serve more people. That's thanks in part to a soul-searchingly earnest restructuring effort helmed by CEO Mike Linnington, a retired three-star Army general who arrived at the organization in 2016 with a mandate to turn things around. Why don't you offer services to ALL veterans? You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! By giving back, I was helping myself and helping other vets.. Charity Navigator's rating for WWP has fluctuated over the years: It dipped down to two stars in 2010 as the organization grew, then briefly rose to a full four stars in 2017, reflecting the delayed arrival of 2015 data. By the time the board met Thursday to dismiss the two men, contributions were down and it had in hand an internal investigation that convinced it that the top leadership had to go. His tweets and Facebook posts stopped. That's because they include some promotional items, direct response advertising, and shipping and postage. Borochoff also said, however, that despite the public scrutiny, Wounded Warrior Project has always had better business practices than many groups in the space, even some with a good reputation in the community. Today, on a list of 27 founders that was created by the charitys current leadership and handed out to all new employees, Mr. Melias name appears well below the name of the charitys for-profit fund-raising consultant. After Vietnam, many focused on advocacy in Washington. And sometimes those employees are veterans.. 2023 TIME USA, LLC. In news media accounts and at a Congressional hearing, the No. When wounded troops began returning from Iraq in 2003, Mr. Melia remembered how he had arrived in a stateside hospital with only his thin hospital gown, and began visiting military hospitals to distribute backpacks stuffed with socks, CD players, toothpaste and other items. But in its swift rise, it has also embraced aggressive styles of fund-raising, marketing and personnel management that have many current and former employees questioning whether it has drifted from its mission. After Mr. Kanes email to other donors, he said he got a call from Mr. Giordano. According to data provided by Plenzler, a 2018 study on the organization's reputation within the veterans service organization community found that 83% of participants considered WWP a respected part of the military and veterans nonprofit space, up from just 13% in 2017. It is perfectly reasonable to hold Wounded Warrior or any other organization nonprofit, for-profit or governmental accountable for lavish spending or gaming its own metrics. For fiscal year 2015, Wounded Warrior reported a 92.9 percent satisfaction rate with the organizations services. A major donor to the Wounded Warrior Project veterans' charity called Thursday for the nonprofit's CEO's to resign in light of allegations of lavish spending on staff meetings, according to . Among those who say WWP has regained their trust is Erick Millette, a medically retired Army staff sergeant who worked for the organization as a full-time public speaker and representative in the organization's "Warriors Speak" program from 2013 to 2015. Anyone can read what you share. With millions of good Samaritans regularly donating a portion of their paycheck to good causes, charities are booming unfortunately, not all of the money going into them is coming out the way we think. Mr. Chicks own supervisor told him to fire Mr. Longoria. A spokeswoman for the charity said it fired those people because of poor performance or ethical breaches, and that each of them was given the opportunity to address their work problems. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. condemned the mid-morning attack. As WWP has worked to become more collaborative with other organizations, Linnington indicated it has also pulled back from the aggressively protective posture regarding brand and logo that drew criticism in the past. He said he was now interested in returning. Compared with service members who served in Vietnam, troops sustaining combat wounds in Iraq and Afghanistan had roughly twice the chance of surviving. The easiest way to do this is to take the perspective of a savvy investor and research donation options to make sure you do the most good per dollar donated. He said the. Tracy Keil worries that will leave her. And though critics argue that the standards used by watchdog organizations to assess nonprofits are overly subjective and sometimes unfairly punitive, staff with two accountability groups who spoke with Military.com were generally bullish about Wounded Warrior Project's practices and outlook. Report Calls Out Wounded Warrior Project for Excessive, 'Lavish' Spending. Have they proved reliable in the past? 3. Millette said he witnessed lavish spending on staff, with big catered parties. CBS News' investigation into the Wounded Warrior Project's spending on veterans has sparked heated debate online. In 2014 alone, the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) received more than $300 million in donations, yet it only spent roughly 60 percent of that on vets, CBS News reported. Legal Statement. Magazines, Or create a free account to access more articles, The Wounded Warrior Project Scandal Should Encourage More Philanthropy. from the invisible wounds of scandal Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau, via Associated Press. "That report also made clear that the Wounded Warrior Project had made some positive steps to regain the public's trust. Many soldiers have told me they would have committed suicide were it not for the Wounded Warrior Project. "Obviously, we're trying to regain trust with the warriors, first and foremost," Linnington told Military.com earlier this year. The organization has previously been criticized for touting a wide network of veteran members, many of whom were inactive and had received few or no services from Wounded Warrior Project. The programs it did create for veterans often served more as showpieces for marketing than as efforts to address the actual needs of veterans. Recent reports from The New York Times and CBS alleged that the nonprofit has been misspending its donations on lavish conferences and unnecessary business trips for employees.. Wounded Warrior Project Spends Lavishly on Itself, Insiders Say 1244 William Chick, who was fired from the Wounded Warrior Project in 2012 after a dispute with his supervisor. Wounded Warrior Project's Top Execs Fired After Spending Scandal Wounded Warrior Project Denies Claims of Waste, Lavish Spending Wounded Warrior Project Accused of Wasting Donor Money. 7. And it did not appear to prioritize collaboration with other veterans' organizations, taking criticism for relatively small grants it made to support other groups and for passing up opportunities to join forces for advocacy and shared knowledge. Former employees said they questioned the charitys focus on money and marketing techniques. Peter J. Johnson Jr on the firing of WWP's CEO and COO. In an interview Friday, he said donations had fallen, but declined to say by how much. He said that the organization regularly followed up with veterans who receive Wounded Warrior Project services and that the vast majority reported having good experiences. He merely notes that "a lot of what was reported was incorrect," and that, in particular, the reported costs of travel and amenities at all-hands events were far overblown. Several cases of patient neglect and shoddy living conditions were reported as early as 2004. Wounded Warrior Project declined CBS News' interview requests for Nardizzi in January, but instead sent Director of Alumni and a recipient of their services, Captain Ryan Kules, who denied there was excessive spending on conferences. The Walter Reed Story, https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/30/booming/and-this-was-called-care-the-walter-reed-story.html. They began raising millions of dollars and broadening their services to include adaptive sports for disabled veterans, employment and benefits help, and retreats to teach veterans to cope with post-traumatic stress disorder. Anyone can read what you share. It did not dispute findings reported by The Times, including that the organization had fired a number of wounded veterans with little cause. Part of the organizations drive for growth has been a tough stance toward workers considered unproductive or disloyal. March 14, 2016. GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Steve Nardizzi's entrepreneurial approach to charity work transformed the Wounded Warrior Project, which began as a shoestring effort to provide underwear and CD players to. Dinners and alcoholjust total excess." Even with these questions satisfied, The Times uses anonymous sources as a last resort. Do you have a location near me? Mr. Nardizzi said his staff was constantly monitoring metrics to try to get the most out of every dollar donated. The board of Wounded Warrior Project, a well-known veteran-support charity, parted ways with its chief executive and another top official after a board-commissioned review found the nonprofit. Within months, Wounded Warrior Project's two top executives -- CEO Steve Nardizzi and COO Al Giordano -- had been fired, and the organization itself was the subject of a congressional inquiry. But it added that such events would be curtailed in the future.. Celebrity endorsements from the likes of Trace Adkins and Jimmy Buffett. L.A. County Sheriff: 30% of workforce "unavailable". As someone who lives with post-traumatic stress, Millette said he is aware of the wealth of good Wounded Warrior Project could do with its resources in that space. The real tragedy of this scandal is the impact it will have on donors willingness to give to the many worthwhile and more frugal organizations helping our veterans. When Mr. Nardizzi took over, in the depths of the 2009 economic downturn, most charities had dialed back their fund-raising efforts, figuring that the nation was in no position to give. While that percentage, which includes administrative expenses and marketing costs, is not as much as for some groups, it is far more than for many veterans charities, including the Semper Fi Fund, a wounded-veterans group that spent about 8 percent of donations on overhead. "Four years ago, I would have told you to keep your money in your pocket and take it somewhere else," he said. Mr. Kane said he lambasted Mr. Giordano for hiding behind a wounded veteran on camera and said he would cancel his donations. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.