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Old 01-27-2016, 08:29   #1
SouthernDZ
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Wounded Warrior Project reportedly accused of wasting donor money

I'm sincerely hoping this is some kind of misunderstanding. Brian Kolfage's article on the Blaze debunks this, he's a wounded vet. Hopefully O'Reilly can get to the truth quickly.


The charity for wounded veterans, the Wounded Warrior Project, is facing accusations of using donor money toward excessive spending on conferences and parties instead of on recovery programs, according to a CBS News report.

Army Staff Sergeant Erick Millette, who returned from Iraq in 2006 with a bronze star and a purple heart, told CBS News he admired the charity’s work and took a job with the group in 2014 but quit after two years.

"Their mission is to honor and empower wounded warriors, but what the public doesn't see is how they spend their money," he told CBS News. Millette said he witnessed lavish spending on staff, with big “catered” parties. "Going to a nice fancy restaurant is not team building. Staying at a lavish hotel at the beach here in Jacksonville, and requiring staff that lives in the area to stay at the hotel is not team building," he told CBS News.

According to the charity's tax forms obtained by CBS News, spending on conferences and meetings went from $1.7 million in 2010, to $26 million in 2014, which is the same amount the group spends on combat stress recovery.

Two former of 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. "He rappelled down the side of a building at one of the all hands events. He's come in on a Segway, he's come in on a horse,” one employee told CBS News. About 500 staff members attended the four-day conference in Colorado, which CBS News reported cost about $3 million.

Wounded Warrior Project declined CBS News' interview requests for Nardizzi, but instead sent Director of Alumni and a recipient of their services, Captain Ryan Kules, who denied there was excessive spending on conferences.

"It's the best use of donor dollars to ensure we are providing programs and services to our warriors and families at the highest quality," he said. Kules added the charity did not spend $3 million on the Colorado conference, but he was not there and was unable to say what it did cost. He also told CBS News that the charity does not spend money on alcohol or engages in any other kind of excessive spending.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/01/26...?intcmp=hplnws

Last edited by SouthernDZ; 01-27-2016 at 08:32.
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Old 01-27-2016, 08:52   #2
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Just sayin'
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Old 01-27-2016, 10:29   #3
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I don't think it's a misunderstanding. Steven Nardizzi gets paid a yearly salary of $350,000. That doesn't include expenses like those exposed by CBS. That salary comes from the $19 a week that donors are paying, thinking that they're aiding wounded vets when, in truth, they're lining the pockets of Nardizzi and his cronies ....

Just my $0.02.

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Old 01-27-2016, 10:33   #4
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They have been under the spotlight for a long time as this is nothing new. I know many who no longer support them because of it.
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Old 01-27-2016, 11:12   #5
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My stomach turns every time I see that WWP commercial that looks like the commercials for the starving African children or the SPCA commercial with starving and beat animals. It almost looks like they are advertising that for $19 a month, you can adopt a wounded veteran. .... :vomit:
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Old 01-27-2016, 15:42   #6
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Wounded Warrior Project nothing but a scam

Wounded Warrior Project nothing but a scam

Been posted on here for years that the Wounded Warrior Project is nothing but a scam.

Fisher House, donate to them.
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Old 01-27-2016, 16:39   #7
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Yup, their publicly available records ($ to cause vs. "overhead") have long been a big parachute flare to anyone who deigned to pursue such a story. GBF gets my stuff (incl online shopping via AmazonSmile).

Maybe the big entertainment names would like to rethink their "image" for those big-buck prime-time commercials...
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Old 01-27-2016, 20:20   #8
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I cut them off years ago.....
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Old 01-27-2016, 22:22   #9
Tree Potato
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Charity Navigator's review; <60% of expenses go toward programs:

http://www.charitynavigator.org/inde...2#.VqmWiyorKM8

(Fischer House and DAV are both rated much higher)
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Old 01-27-2016, 22:36   #10
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http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/28/us...smtyp=cur&_r=0
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Old 01-27-2016, 22:52   #11
Flagg
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I work with a big US household name that has a partnership with them.

http://www.harley-davidson.com/conte...r-project.html

I'm actually wearing a WWP wristband I got 6 months ago at the annual global corporate circus.

I heard similar anecdotal stories about WWP a few months ago while in the US from both folks working with smaller charities as well as a few service injured folks themselves.

Having a quick look at the WWP website, what I noticed is that they like to share a lot of "powerpoint-y" numbers, but none of them include important things like % ratio of $ received actually going to wounded shooters.

Every dollar spent unnecessarily/frivolously is one that could/should have gone to a wounded shooter.

Are there "tooth to tail" KPIs that are required to be reported and disclosed?

Or is it OK to bury it all and have to dig for it?
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Old 01-28-2016, 00:36   #12
bushmaster11
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Donations

I've been sending to SF Foundation and Special Operations Warrior.

Their tooth to tail is most impressive when compared to all charities.

J R sends
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Old 01-28-2016, 06:09   #13
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When Wounded Warrior Project first began it was small and did great work. As it got larger it seemed to become more interested in fund raising and "administration" than directly taking care of soldiers. I looked through their annual filings and noticed this change.

Needless to say I stopped donating to WWP and now donate directly to SF related projects.
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Old 01-28-2016, 06:48   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Flagg View Post

Every dollar spent unnecessarily/frivolously is one that could/should have gone to a wounded shooter.

Are there "tooth to tail" KPIs that are required to be reported and disclosed?

Or is it OK to bury it all and have to dig for it?
See link to Form 990 - from the web so can't vouch...break out the NoDoz.

https://www.woundedwarriorproject.or...rm-990_wwp.pdf

ETA Forbes magazine snapshot at link below:

http://www.forbes.com/companies/woun...rrior-project/
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Old 01-28-2016, 06:50   #15
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Will second (third?) the Fisher House suggestion.
Quality people, quietly doing some heavy lifting. Every day.

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