[21] WWP's outpatient care and therapy sessions provide PTSD and TBI treatment through Emory Healthcare Veterans Program. 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. When we dislike one member of a group, our dislike spills over to other members of that group, even if theres no good reason to think badly of them. We recognize these are freedoms our service members fought and sacrificed to protect. He's come in on a Segway, he's come in on a horse.". By providing the space and time for veterans to spend with their loved ones, the transition from service member to civilian gets that much easier. But investigations revealed that the organization spent millions of donor dollars on first-class airfare, employee retreats and extravagant salaries. FALSE: That WWP reported $115,199,467 in overhead expenses on our 2012 IRS Form 990. Plenzler said spending on that program so far has totaled $100 million, with another $165 million committed over the next five years. LTG (ret) Michael Linnington serves as chief executive officer of Wounded Warrior Project (WWP). Former CEO Steven Nardizzi and former COO Al Giordano were fired from Wounded Warrior Project after they were accused in 2016 of spending massive amounts of the nonprofit's money on lavish company retreats and personal enrichment for themselves. All rights reserved. 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. 65,696. attendees of our Invincible Spirit Festivals since 2012. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. His report slammed the organization for not being transparent with donors about tens of millions that had been placed in reserve and not spent; and for "excessive" amounts of money spent on travel, fundraising and staff activities. [42], In 2013, a new employee mistakenly declined to accept a donation from Liberty Baptist Church in Fort Pierce, Florida, and issued this inadvertent statement to the church leaders in an email, "We must decline the opportunity to be the beneficiary of your event due to our fundraising event criteria, which doesn't allow community events to be religious in nature. Here are the charity's self-reported results: As of September, the Wounded Warrior Project said it was serving more than 56,000 wounded vets and nearly 8,000 family members. In July 2006, WWP's headquarters were moved to Jacksonville, Florida. In 2018, the organization gave away $13.6 million in grants to other organizations. 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. John Melia, a Somalia-wounded Marine veteran initiated, the Wounded Warrior Project when he started giving backpacks full of items to returning Iraq war veterans in 2003. "[34], Wounded Warrior Project filed a lawsuit in October 2014 seeking damages and court costs against a Blandon, Pennsylvania, non-profit, Keystone Wounded Warriors, claiming confusing similarities between the Keystone and WWP logo; Hampton Roads, VA Channel 3 TV covered the Keystone story on April 30, 2015,[35] and Nonprofit Quarterly covered the story with a title asking, is WWP "a 'Neighborhood Bully' among Veterans Groups? Since then, however, the rate of investment has grown substantially. While WWP's portrayal of veterans has never stripped them of their dignity, some ad campaigns in the early 2010s emphasized images of wounded warriors in the context of caregivers and included interviews with vets discussing daily struggles and needs that went unmet. 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. Another organization, Animal Charity Evaluators, gives recommendations on the most effective charities to prevent animal suffering. Each of us can make a difference by becoming a more effective donor. WWP Founder John Melia cited a strong local veteran community, access to Jacksonville International Airport, and support from the local business community, specifically the PGA Tour, as the reason for the move. "That report also made clear that the Wounded Warrior Project had made some positive steps to regain the public's trust. 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. 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. This helps prevent another common thinking error called scope neglect, in which our brains fail to ensure that our emotions correspond to the actual impact made by our donations. [47], In March 2016, Wounded Warrior Project's board of directors dismissed the charity's top two executives, Steven Nardizzi and Al Giordano, after hiring the law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett to perform an independent review of spending issues related to the company's funds. [45], In January 2016, The New York Times reported that only 60 percent of the revenue of the Wounded Warrior Project is spent on programs to help veterans; the remaining 40 percent was overhead. Senate. With time and support from donors, new meta-charities will arise to evaluate other areas of nonprofit activity. Peter J. Johnson Jr on the firing of WWP's CEO and COO. "We've changed that too, honestly," he 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. It also closed regional . [40], The WWP did a study of its alumni and found that, "almost half of the respondents indicated accessing care through VA for MST-related conditions was 'very difficult'. Please emailfraudalert@woundedwarriorproject.org. To date, the WWP's . But newly released numbers for fiscal 2018 show a bounce in the right direction, up 16% to $246 million. He noted approvingly that the organization has hired more mental health professionals to do follow-up with wounded warriors, and invested dynamically in meeting the needs of female veterans. 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. But according to public records reported by "Charity Navigator," the Wounded Warrior Project spends 60 percent on vets. GuideStar states the author neglected to include WWP program expenses when presenting their financial facts online, and that overhead ratios are not a fair assessment of the overall impact WWP has on its mission of honoring and empowering wounded warriors. The organization also conducts copious surveys and focus groups among warriors, peer veterans' organizations and others in the military community. As both a national and local veteran charity, we serve veterans, caregivers and families of veterans who incurred a physical or mental injury or illness on or after September 11, 2001. Market data provided by Factset. As the Wounded Warrior Project suffers fallout following the ousting of two top executive in the wake of a spending scandal, other charities that work with American veterans were left. From the inception of WWP's grant program in 2012 to the end of 2015, it awarded in total about $36.5 million worth of grants. "We wrap our arms around those that want to help veterans now, versus looking to protect our brand at every inch and ounce of measure," he said. They also help WWP track how the needs of veterans are changing with time. "Before, you'd have a retreat and, after that, it was nothing. Sign up for our email newsletter and get the latest info on events, fundraisers and ways to make an impact. Nearly 200 athletes from U.S. military branches will. 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 annual surveys of the wounded warriors the organization serves help direct its focus, Linnington says. Absolutely, but the data and quotes cited by those attempting to defame WWP are false. WWP continued to support injured service members by providing them with free WWP Backpacks filled with comfort items. Cool Careers People also search for wounded warrior project clothing wounded warrior project volunteer wounded warrior project topeka kansas Last year, the WWP's people placed 2,555 wounded warriors and their caregivers in jobs generating $87 million in annual income for their families. These agencies have the best available resources to investigate and prosecute these matters. "Wounded Warrior Project helped me reclaim my life," one reads, over a photo of single-amputee wounded veteran Sean Karpf, smiling proudly. TRUTH: Compensation for executive staff at WWP is set following IRS rules, and based on comparison data derived from industry-wide surveys and the IRS 990s of other similar size and scope nonprofits. 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.". Linnington oversees day-to-day operations and works with the leadership team to set and implement the organization's strategic vision. On Thursday, text messages leaked showing that Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) had permanently banned a female staffer from her congressional office for failure to take a COVID-19 test. The organization has awarded an average of $14.6 million in grants each year since 2015, for a total of more than $80.9 million to 158 organizations since 2012, WWP spokesman Joe Plenzler said. [50], In February 2017, the Better Business Bureau released a report clearing Wounded Warrior Project of the "lavish spending" allegations, and "found the organizations spending to be consistent with its programs and mission. 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. "WWP and those donor dollars trained me to speak and be a voice, and that's exactly what I'm doing," said Millette. 2016 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. Crucially, these evaluative organizations, called meta-charities, do not receive any funding from organizations they are evaluating. Magazines, Digital In all those areas, Linnington said Wounded Warrior Project is making strides. Some of the information circulating states: The CEOs salary is set by our board of directors and is in line with other national charity CEO salaries. 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. 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. During the exchange, Porter went on to accuse the staffer of giving her COVID-19, refusing to let her . 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. As of August 22, 2021, WWP served 157,975, registered alumni and 40,520 registered family support members. 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. It operates as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. Anger and dismay greeted the announcement last week that the Wounded Warrior Project, a nonprofit that helps wounded veterans, had fired its top staff. 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. The group did lose points on its fundraising score, with roughly 22 cents spent to make a dollar, per the most recent available data. The bill would extend a VA program of counseling, care and services for military sexual trauma that occurred during active duty or active duty for training to veterans who experienced such trauma during inactive duty training. "If you look at our 990 [annual IRS financial filing], we went from $380 million a year to $200 million. 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