All rights reserved. Since then, however, the rate of investment has grown substantially. In its commercials, Wounded Warrior Project appeals to the American public's generosity, and it works. WWP also put up strong numbers in financial health, with controlled spending on administrative expenses and a healthy reserve of capital, which speaks to the organization's ability to sustain itself over time. Jan 26, 2023. As a result, some philanthropic watchdog groups have criticized the Wounded Warrior Project for spending too heavily on itself. I don't know, and frankly, that's not what I'm worried about. 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. "These are groups that just get together over a pizza and a soda, to talk about the issues that are affecting them and their families, and look for ways to support each other.". The video project was started with a grant from Christopher Buck. The departure of two top executives, CEO Steven Nardizzi and COO Al Giordano comes at a time when the wounded veteran-focused organization is awash in controversy amid news reports accusing the . Mr. Melia could not be reached, but Julie Melia, his former wife, said, He feels he can help get it back in the good direction.. 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. Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau, via Associated Press. Previous reporting from Tim Mak, then at the Daily Beast, had detailed similar claims, but the reports published in January pushed the issue to critical mass. The videos are typically 10 to 12 minutes long. Retro Report has a staff of 13 journalists and 10 contributors led by Kyra Darnton, a former 60 Minutes producer. So we've tried to paint service as a good thing and, I think if you look at the exceptional nature of the young people that are joining the military today, we're seeing a shift now in a higher propensity to serve, I think, over the last year or two.". They also help WWP track how the needs of veterans are changing with time. 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. CBS News' investigation into the Wounded Warrior Project's spending on veterans has sparked heated debate online. Board members called a few former employees this week to thank them for coming forward. It got under my skin, started eating at me, he said. Tracy Keil worries that will leave her. How was the organization founded and by whom? "We focus our advertising campaign on warriors that have succeeded. 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. 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. But what of the veterans in need? 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.". There were charges of spending too much on expenses (e.g., fund-raising, travel, and [] Skip to content Log In You do not reflect the sentiments of the more than 80,000 wounded soldiers we have helped, focusing instead on a few malcontents. "That report also made clear that the Wounded Warrior Project had made some positive steps to regain the public's trust. However, everything changed when CBS News started researching its own story about the Wounded Warrior Project, one with a . One thing the Wounded Warrior Project can immediately do is travel economy class or by train and use the savings to make home visits to veterans to see that they are getting what is needed. Each of us can make a difference by becoming a more effective donor. Do the sources know the information? Soon after the amputation, he said, he was racked by haunting emotions from Iraq and checked himself into suicide watch at a psychiatric ward. Report Calls Out Wounded Warrior Project for Excessive, 'Lavish' Spending. Whats their motivation for telling us? With Linnington at the helm, he said, WWP inspires confidence and appears to be working diligently to meet the real needs of its veterans population. Fred and Dianne Kane, the parents of two Iraq War veterans, have donated $325,000 to the Wounded Warrior Project since 2009 through their personal charity, Tee-off for a Cause. Another response would be for our candidates, who are battling about which countries to send troops to, to have a public conversation about the price our troops will pay and how they will be helped. Lavish Spending by the Wounded Warrior Project, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/30/opinion/lavish-spending-by-the-wounded-warrior-project.html, Jennifer Brown/Northjersey.com, via Associated Press, Helping Veterans Recover, Spending Lavishly on Itself. On March 14, 2016, CBS This Morning published an article titled, "Wounded Warrior Project chair on recovery from spending scandal." For more information, please see the CBS This Morning article. The organization has yet to recover fully from a hemorrhage that saw fundraising drop from a peak of $373 million in 2015 to just $211 million in 2017. If the same warrior attends six different events, you could record that as six warriors served, said Renee Humphrey, who oversaw alumni outreach in Southern California for about four years. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. The organization was reportedly out of favor with some senior officials in the Pentagon, due to the public image it perpetuated of veterans as typically coming home from combat grievously wounded and with long-term needs. Today, The New York Times released a damning report on the renowned . I'm a warrior. 2. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck. About 500 staff members attended the four-day conference in Colorado, which CBS News reported cost about $3 million. 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. As the backpack project grew, Mr. Melia hired a few employees, including Mr. Nardizzi, a lawyer who had never served in the military but was an executive for a small nonprofit, the United Spinal Association, which served disabled veterans. Show your support for Wounded Warrior Project with this tee! 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. 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. John Melia, founder of the Wounded Warrior Project, addressing the Wounded and Injured Veterans Summit in Auburn, Ala., in 2006. But whether those fixes went far enough is, as the video demonstrates, still not clear. Wounded Warrior Project's Chief Executive Officer Steven Nardizzi reported a salary of $473,000. The Wounded Warrior Project is working to rebuild trust with its donors and veterans. The Wounded Warrior Project said Mr. Longoria was terminated at Mr. Chicks recommendation. Trace Adkins talks about his support of U.S. veterans through the Wounded Warrior Project in Rolling Stone's third Salute to . Though many have criticized him for spending too much on fund-raising, and some charity watchdogs downgraded Wounded Warrior Projects rating for its overhead spending, Mr. Nardizzi argued that an organization could not serve its mission without upfront investment. Charity Watch, an independent monitoring group, gave Wounded Warrior Project a D rating in 2011 and has not given it a grade higher than C since. For fiscal year 2015, Wounded Warrior reported a 92.9 percent. Such unjustified distrust of high-quality nonprofits could undermine our society. Millette also marvels at the way the organization has overhauled itself and rebuilt, even as many predicted that it would crumble under the pressure. In the wake of the charity's scandal, Wounded Warrior Project not only ousted its two top executive officers but also slimmed its executive staff by 50 percent overall. So WW cut their spending- not to themselves, but to the people who needed their money most. Crucially, these evaluative organizations, called meta-charities, do not receive any funding from organizations they are evaluating. Today, the charity has 22 locations offering programs to help veterans readjust to society, attend school, find work and participate in athletics. Have they proved reliable in the past? He is a 1998 Elgin High School graduate who served in the Marine Corp. for eight years and . 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. Even with these questions satisfied, The Times uses anonymous sources as a last resort. It's really about the resilience, the exceptionalism of our warriors.". By 2014, the group was spending $7.5 million per year on travel, according to tax forms. See the metrics below for more information. Mr. Giordano tried to refute the news media accounts, Mr. Kane said, and explained that the executives silence had been recommended by a public relations firm as a way to defuse criticism. The problem is the horns effect, one of the many thinking errors that are a consequence of how our brains are structured. Religion and Technology Should Unite for the Greater Good, The 25 Defining Works of the Black Renaissance. On the ratings service Charity Navigator, the Wounded Warriors Project earns an overall score of 84.5 out of 100, good for three stars. Mr. Millette said the charity encouraged him to highlight its role in helping him recover from PTSD and traumatic brain injury. That's a pretty significant drop in a short period of time," he said. " All Rights Reserved. The Wounded Warrior Project, WWP, is a not-for-profit charity that aims to assist wounded veterans with their needs. or redistributed. "It's like walking through a minefield, donating to an efficient veterans charity," he said. He said he felt guilty about what he saw as widespread waste. Perpetuating the myth that the worth of a nonprofit organization boils down to what it spends on overhead is simply indefensible. Millette, 41, who still lives in Jacksonville, Florida, where Wounded Warrior Project is headquartered, told Military.com he stands by all the claims he made about the organization -- $2,500 bar tabs and other prodigal spending at staff-only team-building events, a permissive "good old boys" atmosphere among leadership, and a tendency to push certain badly wounded veterans into the spotlight again and again for what appeared to be promotional purposes rather than for their benefit and well-being. Both bills passed in amended forms that did not significantly affect the charity, Mr. Nardizzi said. The Walter Reed Army Medical Center neglect scandal refers to a series of allegations of unsatisfactory conditions, treatment of patients, and management at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC) in Washington, D.C. culminating in two articles published by The Washington Post in February 2007. What happened next is something out of Billy Lynns Long Halftime Walk, by Ben Fountain, the Catch-22 of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. In fact, they are one of the largest programs out there for wounded veterans. Now, they're doing that follow-up, and they have the capacity to deal with the mental health issues," he said. " Can we corroborate the information? Well, they didnt. This beacon provides an assessment of a charity's financial health (financial efficiency, sustainability, and trustworthiness) and its commitment to governance practices and policies. Anger and dismay greeted the announcement last week that the Wounded Warrior Project, a nonprofit that helps wounded veterans, had fired its top staff. The Wounded Warrior Project is a legitimate multimillion-dollar nonprofit organization with nationwide recognition that helps wounded, ill and injured veterans. The Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) has been helping injured veterans since its inception in 2003, 2 years after the deadly terror attacks that rocked the nation on 9-11. One of the largest veteran's charities in the U.S. has been rocked by scandal over how it is spending its donors' money, and now, the charity's two top execu. And on Tuesday, it started a program to provide care for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries, two of the most common injuries for veterans of recent wars. The veterans' service organization called Wounded Warrior Project has just fired two top executives, CEO Steven Nardizzi and COO Al Giordano. Steven Nardizzi and Al Giordano were fired from their posts as chief executive and chief operating officer, respectively, for the Wounded Warrior Project on Thursday. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, Some were injured or became. Steve Nardizzi, the chief executive of the Wounded Warrior Project, speaking at the 2010 Soldier Ride at Macys in Herald Square, Manhattan. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. Its a fund-raising machine that is a grant-maker for a number of other veterans organizations, said Phillip Carter, a fellow at the Center for a New American Security, which also gets funding from the organization. How do we help them? Dr. Gleb Tsipursky is the President of Intentional Insights, an education nonprofit, and a tenure-track professor at Ohio State University. They needed to take responsibility, and they werent doing it.. Wounded Warrior Project hit back at the initial report Wednesday evening, posting online a letter to CBS News demanding a retraction. First: donations to Wounded Warriors fell by $70 million from 2015 to 2016. "When the negative media event hit in January-February-March of 2016, public support dropped 50%," he said. In 2016, they had a bit of controversy, when they fired s. He was impressed, he said, that so many of those nighttime arrival flights would be greeted by WWP staff members, and that he'd also see WWP teammates visiting veterans at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. You lead from the frontgood or badyou dont hide, he said, If no one is going to talk about this right now and it has to be me, then it has to be me.. Millette is now best known as a whistleblower who went on the record to decry what he saw as WWP's lavish spending and interest in nurturing its public image, rather than providing meaningful support to its constituents. 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. Linnington, who retired from the Army in 2015 and served as the first permanent director of the Pentagon's Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency before taking the helm at Wounded Warrior Project, said he made the move over to the organization because of the positive impression it had made on him while he was still on active duty. In July, along with the publication of a new financial statement for fiscal 2018 showing revenues of $246 million, WWP received an updated score from the watchdog organization Charity Navigator, up to 86.45 out of 100 from 86.02 the previous year. The Wounded Warrior Project no longer holds such events and already has increased the scrutiny on spending for travel and all expenses, he said, adding that he would be paid less than those before . 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. How many others are not scaling up to cure cancer, to help the environment, because there is a belief we shouldnt invest in those things? said Mr. Nardizzi, who was given $473,000 in compensation in 2014. "We're looking for under 10 cents," she said. Linnington also said the organization supports the Elizabeth Dole Foundation in caregiver work, Veterans of Foreign Wars in assisting veterans with VA disability claims, and the National Military Family Association in caring for veterans' families, among many others. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. To best effectuate these changes and help restore trust in the organization among all of the constituencies WWP serves, the Board determined the organization would benefit from new leadership, and WWP CEO Steve Nardizzi and COO Al Giordano are no longer with the organization, the statementsaid. We all have the power to ensure that we can truly trust nonprofits to spend our money wisely. But investigations revealed that the organization spent millions of donor dollars on first-class airfare, employee retreats and extravagant salaries. In 2007, the scandalous treatment of wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center shocked the nation. If that money goes away, its not clear these groups can make it on their own., After Complaints on Wounded Warrior Project, Pressure From Donors, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/12/us/after-complaints-on-wounded-warrior-project-pressure-from-donors.html. Updated: 7:53 PM EST November 8, 2019 JACKSONVILLE, Fla Jacksonville based Wounded Warrior Project was the fastest-growing veteran's service organization before it was rocked by a scandal. Legal Statement. Two former employees, who were so fearful of retaliation they asked that CBS News not show their faces on camera, said spending has skyrocketed since Steven Nardizzi took over as CEO in 2009, pointing to the 2014 annual meeting at a luxury resort in Colorado Springs. The percentage of respondents who stated that WWP was effective at collaborating with other military and veteran nonprofits jumped from 63% to 85% from 2017 to 2018. A report on spending scandal exposed by News4Jax and national media outlets in January blames the Wounded Warrior Project's board, former employees who spoke about the charity's spending practices . As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. The development was confirmed by Abernathy MacGregor, a public relations firm hired to represent the veterans charity. Where is WWP located? Her comment was, Where have you been? And I said, What do you mean where have I been? Look at how they're focused on the real, important issues that have to do with veterans, and go from there.". Wounded Warrior Project execs ousted over spending scandal March 11, 2016 | 3:18am Two top execs at the Wounded Warrior Project one of the largest war veterans support organizations in. After Public Crisis and Fall from Grace, Wounded . Why don't you offer services to ALL veterans? Sometimes employees make poor choices that cant be overlooked, Ms. Tezel said. In January, Charity Navigator, a group that oversees nonprofit organizations, placed Wounded Warrior Project on its watch list, Fox News reported, citing a separate CBS report. 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 . 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. In fiscal 2016, the organization's revenue exceeded $226 million; the closest runner-up was Disabled Veterans of America, with nearly $135 million. He started by handing out backpacks of comfort items to wounded troops. Current price: $30.00. It made me sick, Mr. Kane said Friday in an interview. It wasn't just about lavish all-hands gatherings, although those quickly became a thing of the past. With the support of our community of donors . But after recent tax forms reflected questionable spending by the veterans charity on staff expenditures, including $26 million on conferences and meetings at luxury hotels in 2014 alone, Fred Kane called for Nardizzi to be fired.The expenditure on conferences and travel was up from just $1.7 million in 2010, according to reports. Charity Navigator, which rates thousands of charities, based on how . After Public Crisis and Fall from Grace, Wounded Warrior Project Quietly Regains Ground, UN Nuclear Head Meets With Iranians Amid Enrichment Concerns, Philippine Governor, 5 Others Killed in Brazen Attack, China: Defense Boost to Meet 'Complex Security Challenges', Biden and Scholz: US, Germany in 'Lockstep' on Ukraine War, Air Mobility Command Removes Tail Numbers and Unit Info from Planes, Alarming Watchdogs, All Combat-Injured Vets Would Keep Their Full Retirement, Disability Pay Under Proposal, Better Housing, Health Care, Pay and a Call for National Service Needed to Buoy Recruitment, Enlisted Chiefs Say, 2 Commanders Among 6 Fired from Jobs at Minot Air Force Base, Veterans' Emergency Room Bills Could Get Repaid by VA Thanks to Change, The Pentagon Is Behind on Issuing Policy to Allow Cadets Who Have Kids to Remain at Service Academies, 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, another $165 million committed over the next five years, dwarfed that of virtually every other organization in the space, oversaw a Senate probe into WWP released in 2017, The Personally Procured Move (PPM): Steps to Take, Service Members Get Special Rental and Eviction Protection, The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act - SCRA, Paris Davis, Black Green Beret in Vietnam, Finally Awarded Medal of Honor at White House, Ex-Army Private Gets 45 Years for Plot Against His Unit, Ohio Guard Quietly Removed Guardsman Guilty of Making Ghost Guns Last Year, Some Neck and Hand Tattoos OK for Airmen and Guardians Under New Policy Aimed at Helping Recruiting, Nuclear Base Fired 6 Service Members Over Failed Safety Inspection, Defense Official Says, Hawaii Congressional Delegation Asks IRS to Exempt Red Hill Families, Navy Seabee Battalion Honored in Decommissioning Ceremony, Is Deactivated After 80 Years of Building and Fighting, Navy Investigating 3 Instances of 'Hate Symbols' Aboard Destroyer, Health Net Protests $65.1 Billion Tricare Contract Award, Tricare Dental Program to Expand Choice of Carriers Under New Law, Veterans Group Pushes Cap on Attorney Fees in Camp Lejeune Water Cases Despite Political Divide on Limits, Disabled Vets Post Stunning Job Gains as Economy Remains Hot Despite Inflation, Marine Corps Axes Elite Scout Sniper Platoons, Coast Guard Relieves Commander Following Deadly Collision, Coast Guard Swimmer Recounts Dramatic Rescue of Alleged Oregon Yacht Thief and Goonies Prankster, Coast Guard Gulf of Mexico Rescue to Be Chronicled in Survival Thriller Movie, Celebrated Pearl Harbor Survivor Jack Holder Lived Large for Those Who Didn't Make It, 'Dead Space' Remake Gets Everything Right, Army Veteran Wayne Shorter Was a Titan of Jazz. 6. Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, an outspoken accountability advocate who oversaw a Senate probe into WWP released in 2017, struck a hopeful note in a statement to Military.com. All rights reserved. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Recently, however, they have been accused of being a scam and donating an insignificant portion of their funds to their declared cause. 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. 2023 TIME USA, LLC. Im right here. Magazines, Digital Already, more than $6.9 million in grants has been awarded for this fiscal year. 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. 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. saved my life, he said. WWP has also pressed forward in its role as a legislative advocate, recently mounting a campaign to expand an adaptive housing benefit available to veterans -- legislation named after longtime WWP staff member Ryan Kules. Peter J. Johnson Jr on the firing of WWP's CEO and COO. Some of its own employees have criticized it, too. Copyright 2023 Military.com. "We have 55 peer support groups across the country that meet regularly," he said. March 14, 2016. 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 statement also said apreliminary financial audit found that some policies, procedures and controls at WWP have not kept pace with the organizations rapid growth in recent years and are in need of strengthening.. (Linnington said more than 72% of WWP spending currently goes toward programs.). Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. The councils mission includes defending charity spending on overhead and executive salaries, its website says. He said the charity swiftly fired anyone that leaders considered a bad cultural fit.. A week later, he was back at work when a fistfight broke out between veteran mentors who had been drinking after one of his training sessions. Slightly more than half of the Kanes' donations directly benefitted veterans, according to CBS News. More than 6 out of 10 (64.2%) WWP-registered Alumni say they. Ive Ive never left the hospital grounds. I read with disgust your slanted article on the Wounded Warrior Project. [2] The groups founder, a wounded Marine named John Melia, announced late Friday that he was interested in returning to the organization, which he left in 2009 after a dispute with Mr. Nardizzi and Mr. Giordano. The secret sauce was the brand, and the mission, said Dave Ward, a vice president who left in 2015. Then it took him weeks to track down the nurse who was supposedly overseeing his case, as he tells Retro Report. Part of the organizations drive for growth has been a tough stance toward workers considered unproductive or disloyal. By 2009, the group had grown to about 50 employees and $21 million in revenue. Do the sources know the information? Recently, a social movement called Effective Altruism has been pushing the nonprofit sector to become more transparent and accountable. Mr. Nardizzi fought back. 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.