Posted on 03/22/2016 5:49:22 PM PDT by MtnClimber
Wounded Warrior Project said last week's dismissal of two top executives has brought order to the popular veterans charity, but recipients of services are worried, donors are jittery and experts contend it's not going to be that simple to regain the public's trust. "They are on thin ice right now," said Doug White, a teacher who leads Columbia University's master's program in fundraising. "In the nonprofit world, we don't have assets. We have trust. Once you let that go, it's a long, long climb back." The move by the organization's board last week to dismiss the charity's two top executives followed media reports of lavish spending and mismanagement. Since then, the charity's Chairman Tony Odierno, who is acting CEO until a new chief is found, said the board has spent "a great deal of time" talking directly with donors and alumni worried about Wounded Warrior Project's fate -- and its integrity. "We certainly understand the concerns that have been raised and we are moving to address those concerns as quickly and decisively as possible to reestablish donor trust," he wrote in an email. Odierno said he's confident the board can right the ship now that CEO Steve Nardizzi and chief operating officer Al Giordano are out. And some donors and charity partners have expressed similar sentiments.
(Excerpt) Read more at military.com ...
I have stopped contributing. Waiting to see if they straighten things out.
While I’ve given to them in the past (as have extended family), there are too many other military-related charities that don’t have the baggage.
I am curious what took them so long???
The Board needs to go as well. How could the Board miss all this for so long, addressing it after the media blew it up out here in the real world.
The only decency left of this bad outfit is their fabulous name, WOUNDED WARRIORS.
You knew they were messing with you, when every hour was full of their million dollar ads. Do you ever see the Red Cross blanketing the globe with TV ads? Or, the Little Sisters of the Poor?
An all to familiar scam on do-gooders sympathy. Read:
After Cody’s disappearance, former acquaintances would occasionally get calls from investigators. They were told he had popped up in Mexico, California and the eastern United States. Chambers recalled being told that Cody had run a commodities scam in San Francisco. In 2004, 20 years after Cody vanished, Lusk said FBI investigators questioned him about the case.
By then, however, Cody had adopted a new identity — Bobby Thompson, founder of U.S. Navy Veterans Association. Working out of a rat-trap duplex in Ybor City, he had fabricated a charity that claimed to have chapters and officers nationwide.
It was all a charade. The chapters were mail drops, the officers nonexistent. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations went to political contributions instead of to veterans, giving the fugitive access to the top echelons of power. While on the FBI’s most wanted list, Cody, aka Thompson, had his photo taken twice with President George W. Bush. At other events, he posed with House Speaker John Boehner, Sen. John McCain and Republican adviser Karl Rove.
A spokesman for the Secret Service said last week that though names of participants at fundraisers are checked, fingerprints usually are not.
Even if the Navy Veterans’ founder had been fingerprinted, it wouldn’t have set off bells. Despite his “most wanted” status, Cody’s prints, taken in the military, had never been entered into the FBI’s system. A spokeswoman for the agency declined to comment on the omission.
It was only by luck that a U.S. marshal in Cleveland, determined to learn the identity of the man arrested for the Navy Veterans’ fraud, linked Thompson to Cody. Stumbling across Cody’s wanted poster online in late September, the marshal was intrigued by parallels between the cases, as well as similarities in appearance. Though his hair was thinner, his leg was bad and his tear ducts apparently intact, fingerprints showed it was Cody in custody.
Was involved closely for a time years ago—became disenchanted when it seemed to be a way for old officers from other battles to give themselves tedious testimonial dinners honoring—themselves. I didn’t see a lot if practical help to the young disabled veterans it was supposed to benefit. Just lots of self-congratulatory and extremely boring parties. Just my take.
I usually just give to the USO. They’ve always been there when a servicemember needs them.
Detailed information on John Cody’s fraudulent US NAVY VETERANS ASSOCIATION:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Navy_Veterans_Association
John Cody was a creepy guy. In prison now. FBI concern=espionage.
When stories began to leak that is what it seemed charitable donations were going to.
This whole mess is one darn shame. It stops people from giving to organizations that truly do good work. I know I have to think twice and still wonder.
Good thought...thanks.
Too little too late.
L
The Board needs to go as well. How could the Board miss all this for so long
Exactly!!!
This organization’s infrastructure is now so flawed that it’s hopeless. Nothing will save it until everyone associated with it are gone. There are too many local and smaller organizations out there who are begging for help and putting 100% into their effort with no overhead. Help them!
Thank you, Joan.
The powerful in DC are exposed as corrupt and it is not a huge leap to expect some large charities feel free to commit fraud at the expense of the wounded and suffering, as well as scam the ditzie funders of these charities.
Any charity spending particularly TV advertising money, followed by regularly sent glossy, four color mailers certainly at the rate of WW, is automatically suspect. The contributors had to be blind, deaf and mentally challenged to miss this even a two or three years ago.
I really appreciate your directing attention to the honest brokers who are smaller, and are local or in-state organizations— close enough you can get your hands on them when there is funny money expenditures.
Personally, in TEXAS, TRINITY OAKES FOUNDATION rocks. No advertising but word of mouth, banquet fundraisers, serving wounded warriors and terminally ill children and adults, many terminally ill veterans, and also providing miles of track chairs and animal hunts. These are the last hunt for many. God love them.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.