christiefan915
Catalyst
Bravs? Rana and I tried to tell you about these guys.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Steve Nardizzi’s aggressive, entrepreneurial approach to charity work transformed the Wounded Warrior Project from a shoestring effort to provide underwear and CD players to hospitalized soldiers into an $800 million fundraising enterprise. It also led to his downfall. A lawyer by training who never served in the military, Mr. Nardizzi traded a career in the courts for one helping wounded veterans. He spent nearly a decade at the United Spinal Association before coming to the Wounded Warrior Project in 2006 with a corporate leadership style that catapulted the organization to the top ranks of U.S. charities.
That success led to lavish spending — the group’s annual staff meeting in 2014 cost $970,000 — prompting complaints from employees, veterans and charity watchdogs that emerged in reports by The New York Times and CBS News in January. Late Thursday, Mr. Nardizzi and chief operating officer Al Giordano were fired, their board of directors said...
...According to the IRS reports, the charity took in $800 million over the past six years, while also paying some of the highest salaries, to many more people, than other major nonprofits. Mr. Nardizzi earned $496,415 annually and Mr. Giordano $397,329, while at least 10 others took in more than $160,000 each for the year ending in September 2014. Compensation accounted for $32 million, or 13 percent, of the group’s $248 million in spending that year.
Other details that appear in the nonprofit’s IRS Form 990 filings also raise questions: the group has built up reserves worth $248 million, mainly held in investments. Charity watchdogs say it’s OK to keep a rainy-day fund, but the money should go as much as possible to the mission. IRS filings said 76 percent of the budget, or $189,558,100, went to veterans programs — a share that charity watchdogs would consider respectable. However,almost $41 million of that programming amount was claimed as the “educational” component of fundraising requests; without it, programming accounted for only 60 percent of the budget. Charitywatch.org says its analysis concluded that Wounded Warriors spent just 54 percent on programs rather than overhead, for a C rating.
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http://www.post-gazette.com/news/na...ver-spending-accusations/stories/201603120088
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Steve Nardizzi’s aggressive, entrepreneurial approach to charity work transformed the Wounded Warrior Project from a shoestring effort to provide underwear and CD players to hospitalized soldiers into an $800 million fundraising enterprise. It also led to his downfall. A lawyer by training who never served in the military, Mr. Nardizzi traded a career in the courts for one helping wounded veterans. He spent nearly a decade at the United Spinal Association before coming to the Wounded Warrior Project in 2006 with a corporate leadership style that catapulted the organization to the top ranks of U.S. charities.
That success led to lavish spending — the group’s annual staff meeting in 2014 cost $970,000 — prompting complaints from employees, veterans and charity watchdogs that emerged in reports by The New York Times and CBS News in January. Late Thursday, Mr. Nardizzi and chief operating officer Al Giordano were fired, their board of directors said...
...According to the IRS reports, the charity took in $800 million over the past six years, while also paying some of the highest salaries, to many more people, than other major nonprofits. Mr. Nardizzi earned $496,415 annually and Mr. Giordano $397,329, while at least 10 others took in more than $160,000 each for the year ending in September 2014. Compensation accounted for $32 million, or 13 percent, of the group’s $248 million in spending that year.
Other details that appear in the nonprofit’s IRS Form 990 filings also raise questions: the group has built up reserves worth $248 million, mainly held in investments. Charity watchdogs say it’s OK to keep a rainy-day fund, but the money should go as much as possible to the mission. IRS filings said 76 percent of the budget, or $189,558,100, went to veterans programs — a share that charity watchdogs would consider respectable. However,almost $41 million of that programming amount was claimed as the “educational” component of fundraising requests; without it, programming accounted for only 60 percent of the budget. Charitywatch.org says its analysis concluded that Wounded Warriors spent just 54 percent on programs rather than overhead, for a C rating.
(Continued)
http://www.post-gazette.com/news/na...ver-spending-accusations/stories/201603120088
