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. Current price: $30.00. 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. 7. "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.". Jesse Longoria, a former Marine sniper whose right arm was amputated in 2012 after complications from injuries sustained in Iraq, with his 16-month-old son, Noah. 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. 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. Steve Nardizzi, the chief executive of the Wounded Warrior Project, speaking at the 2010 Soldier Ride at Macys in Herald Square, Manhattan. 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.. 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. Mr. Chicks own supervisor told him to fire Mr. Longoria. Its founder, John Melia, was a Marine veteran who had been injured in a helicopter crash off the coast of Somalia in 1992. They needed to take responsibility, and they werent doing it.. A nger and dismay greeted the announcement last week that the Wounded Warrior Project, a nonprofit that helps wounded veterans, had fired its top staff. But investigations revealed that the organization spent millions of donor dollars on first-class airfare, employee retreats and extravagant salaries. 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. "[Now], I would tell you to look at the organization, the changes they've made and make an educated decision. He has never spoken publicly about his disagreements with Mr. Nardizzi, and declined to be interviewed. Since then, however, the rate of investment has grown substantially. 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. All Rights Reserved. series about Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Look at how they're focused on the real, important issues that have to do with veterans, and go from there.". Wounded Warrior Project FAQs 1. "That report also made clear that the Wounded Warrior Project had made some positive steps to regain the public's trust. "Before, you'd have a retreat and, after that, it was nothing. Since its inception in 2003 as a basement operation handing out backpacks to wounded veterans, the charity has evolved into a fund-raising giant, taking in more than $372 million in 2015 largely through small donations from people over 65. "Yeah. First: donations to Wounded Warriors fell by $70 million from 2015 to 2016. The veterans' service organization called Wounded Warrior Project has just fired two top executives, CEO Steven Nardizzi and COO Al Giordano. AIR Awareness Outreach; AIR Business Lunch & Learn; AIR Community of Kindness; AIR Dogs: Paws For Minds AIR Hero AIR & NJAMHAA Conference That said, there are clear indications that the organization is improving its financial practices. As the group grew, it expanded its programs and brought on Mr. Nardizzi, a lawyer who had never served in the military, and his longtime friend, Mr. Giordano. 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. "Their mission is to honor and empower wounded warriors, but what the public doesn't see is how they spend their money," he said. His tweets and Facebook posts stopped. Peter J. Johnson Jr on the firing of WWP's CEO and COO. The organization fired Mr. Chick later the same day for insubordination. "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. Under Mr. Nardizzis direction, it has modeled itself on for-profit corporations, with a focus on data, scalable products, quarterly numbers and branding. Millette said he witnessed lavish spending on staff, with big catered parties. While the most obvious shortcomings were the physical conditions of the hospital housing for the soldiers peeling paint, crumbling walls, mold and rats the more damning problem was an understaffed medical system overseen by a dysfunctional bureaucracy. After Public Crisis and Fall from Grace, Wounded . Another time a woman called to donate part of her sons life insurance after he was killed in Afghanistan, he said. Regarding the criticism that WWP's portrayal of veterans in the past overemphasized traumatic wounds and veterans in need of lifelong help and support, Linnington said the organization's advertising approach is now different. Wounded Warrior Project Survey Shows 6 in 10 Wounded Veterans Are Struggling to Make Ends Meet. He's come in on a Segway, he's come in on a horse, one employee told CBS News. I read with disgust your slanted article on the Wounded Warrior Project. John Melia founded the Wounded Warrior Project in 2003 but left in 2009. Several Effective Altruist organizations, including The Life You Can Save and GiveWell, provide information to donors about the impact of various charities addressing global poverty. Kurnyta said the watchdog group published a "low-concern" advisory for WWP in 2016 as staffing scandals made headlines, but never stopped rating the organization. The videos are typically 10 to 12 minutes long. There was no one there to tell us what was going on or how we were going to get through this.. The board refused to make the report public, but in a summary it found among other things that $26 million had been spent on conferences and events from Oct. 1, 2013 to Sept. 30, 2014. Dinners and alcoholjust total excess." They also help WWP track how the needs of veterans are changing with time. Tracy Keil worries that will leave her. The two top executives of the Wounded Warrior Project among the largest veterans charities in the country were fired Thursday after an investigation into accusations of lavish spending on. One 2013 commercial, "Sacrifices," featured footage of a veteran with severe traumatic brain injury struggling to walk assisted and to enter a car, and of another vet with body-encompassing burn injuries reaching for his prosthetic ears to put them on. "And secondly, with the American people who support our warriors.". Its television commercials with scenes of men, women and their families coping with deep emotional pain pull at the heart and purse strings. Celebrity endorsements from the likes of Trace Adkins and Jimmy Buffett. "When the negative media event hit in January-February-March of 2016, public support dropped 50%," he said. 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. 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. Citing whistleblowers, stories by CBS and The New York Times detailed allegations of waste and abuse, lavish all-hands conferences and unbridled spending on ticketed outings that did little lasting good for the veterans they purported to help. 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.". The chief of Irans nuclear program, Mohammad Eslami, acknowledged the findings of the IAEA report. 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. He watched a young former Army captain who had lost an arm and a leg in Afghanistan offer CBS News awkwardly recited defenses of the group, the nations largest and fastest-growing charity for veterans. 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 . It also closed. 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. "I was always grateful for that mission," Linnington said. With health issues due to toxic exposure becoming an increasing concern for veterans, WWP has invested some $620,000 since fiscal 2017 toward research, partnering with Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) and the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, or TAPS, to study disease linkages, build awareness and create a "tiger team" of organizations to develop ways to help affected veterans and their families. And it took all this bone and everything with it and, of course, my left eye it took with it.. Where was Steve Nardizzi and why didnt he face the reporter? Mr. Kane asked, naming the outspoken chief executive who had been accused of much of the excess. That's because they include some promotional items, direct response advertising, and shipping and postage. Report Calls Out Wounded Warrior Project for Excessive, 'Lavish' Spending. It wasn't just about lavish all-hands gatherings, although those quickly became a thing of the past. 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. L.A. County Sheriff: 30% of workforce "unavailable". The Marine Corps Law Enforcement Foundation provides more than 98 percent toveterans. Once a child came by the office to donate a piggy bank. I loved it, the former Marine sniper said. Perpetuating the myth that the worth of a nonprofit organization boils down to what it spends on overhead is simply indefensible. Legal Statement. You had the same few guys who loved going to free events.. Many Americans gave their trust and. The organization began producing inspirational ads featuring wounded veterans fighting to recover. Ms. Humphrey, an Iraq veteran with PTSD, was fired in 2013. Why don't you offer services to ALL veterans? As Wounded Warrior Project battles allegations its former executives violated public trust, they face the real fear that donations will start to dry up. Charity Navigator, which rates thousands of charities, based on how . 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. The spending began to attract attention. On the opening night, before three days of strategy sessions and team-building field trips, the staff gathered in the hotel courtyard. Kurnyta noted the organization had a near-perfect score in transparency: 97 out of 100. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our, Digital Market data provided by Factset. WWP offers wounded warriors and their families lifesaving programs that help them manage PTSD, traumatic brain injury (TBI), combat stress, and other conditions and help them thrive in their next mission. 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. ', Her reply, he said, was, We can see in the computer that you went to all of your appointments, but nobody knows where you are.. All rights reserved. Both bills passed in amended forms that did not significantly affect the charity, Mr. Nardizzi said. 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.. 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. Mr. Nardizzi and Mr. Giordano did not return repeated calls to their cellphones. 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. That's a pretty significant drop in a short period of time," he said. " Some of the top picks of these charity evaluators include the Against Malaria Foundation, which protects families in the developing world against deadly malaria-carrying mosquitoes, and GiveDirectly, which transfers money directly to some of the poorest people in the world. 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.. Recently, however, they have been accused of being a scam and donating an insignificant portion of their funds to their declared cause. Will we ever be 380 again? As he told Retro Report: It just missed the bridge of my nose and exited over my left ear. 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. 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I knew where the money was going to. Today, the charity has 22 locations offering programs to help veterans readjust to society, attend school, find work and participate in athletics. 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. He was not in the room at the time but was held responsible for the fight, his boss at the time, Mr. Chick, said in an interview. Ideally, though, the ratio should be higher. The group has also historically dinged WWP for having so much capital in reserve -- at one point, Borochoff said, it "socked away" almost one-third of what it brought in. Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau, via Associated Press. 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. I would push back and they would get very frustrated and yell. Crucially, these evaluative organizations, called meta-charities, do not receive any funding from organizations they are evaluating. All rights reserved. Since 2009, the group raised nearly $1 billion. 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.. But some employees assert that the productivity goals were set so high that they eroded program quality. "Veterans, our lives, literally, depend on it.". William Chick, a former supervisor, spent five years with the Wounded Warrior Project. Michael Loccisano/Getty Images "We've changed that too, honestly," he said. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. 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. But Linnington maintains it's not just about the bottom line for him. Over the past few years, WWP staff members have treated themselves to nights at five-star hotels, booked first class cross-country flights to attend minor meetings in-person, attended lavish conferences, and spent nearly 40 percent of their donations . It did not dispute findings reported by The Times, including that the organization had fired a number of wounded veterans with little cause. It no longer invests, for example, in its TRACK college preparation program for wounded warriors, preferring to let Student Veterans of America own the space. The saddest part is that it endeavors to hurt an organization that does so much to help our wounded soldiers. This weeks Retro Report is the 13th in a documentary series. Do you have a location near me? Retro Report has a staff of 13 journalists and 10 contributors led by Kyra Darnton, a former 60 Minutes producer. Her termination was so abrupt that her work phone and credit card were shut off while she was leading an event. 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. 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.