APRIL 1, 2016 THE NONPROFIT TIMES www.thenonprofittimes.com 13

There’s an old Bud Abbott andLou Costello routine whereCostello proves to Abbott andto their landlord that 7 x 13 =

28. It’s a long, screamingly funny ex-change you can view on YouTube athttp://bit.ly/1przmS9

It sounds a lot like charity leaderswhen they say that program costs are 80percent when the self-appointed watch-dog groups say the percentage is closerto 60 when using the same numbers.The watchdogs just call it SOP 98-2, ac-counting for fundraising costs. However,neither the charity leaders nor thewatchdogs are as funny and they don’texplain things as well as Costello.

Convoluted math – and some really dis-astrous public relations – ended up gettingthe quite vocal president and chief execu-tive officer of Wounded Warrior Projectfired last month. It’s a scene that will be re-peated until the charitable sector agreeson a set of operational numbers and stopsapologizing for being successful.

There is little doubt that former CEOSteven Nardizzi had a target on his back.It can be argued that he put it there him-self with this vocal smacking around ofcharity watchdog groups and by makinglarge donations to the Charity DefenseCouncil. The CDC is a small band of non-profit executives and consultants -- alsoself-appointed -- working to educate thepublic regarding fundraising and over-head costs. Nardizzi channeled $150,000in grant money to CDC through WWP,the vast majority of CDC’s budget.

WWP operates some phenomenalprograms for returning heroes ravagedby war. But, there also was plenty ofother flamboyant spending, whichcaused a frenzy when reported by CBS

News and The New York Times. Accord-ing to both news organizations, some 40former employees stepped forward topoint out issues at the organization. Sev-eral large donors rose up in protestwhen the stories aired.

WWP’s reaction of sending a woundedwarrior to face the cameras instead of

Nardizzi made matters worse. A board spokesman said that results of

an internal review proved most of whatwas alleged to be inaccurate, based onhow you add up the numbers and applyaccounting standards. Even though theysaid that news outlets had the facts wrong,Nardizzi and Chief Operating Officer AlGior dano were shown the door.

The final straw appears to have beenCBS sending news crews to the homes ofboard members for comments afterbeing stonewalled by the organization.They expressed shock at elements of thenon-released report and said spendingwould be more closely checked. Really?

The board members’ scrambling andannouncements sound a lot like anotherAbbott and Costello routine, “Who’s OnFirst?” Did the board members not par-ticipate in the organization-wide retreatat The Broadmoor resort in ColoradoSprings? They seem to have kept ahands-off management style so long asthe fundraising dollars were rolling in.Did they not hear the call from thedozens of former employees who endedup going to the media?

There were a few former employeeswho needed to be fired. But the numberof former employees who came forwardis staggering. Where were board mem-bers when all of the people were goingout the door during the past few years?

The board canned Nardizzi but it alsoneeds a major overhaul. If the boardmembers can’t see employees headedfor the door, condone $1 million (or $3million depending on whom you be-lieve) for a retreat and don’t insist ontop executives answering media ques-tions when the seat is a little hot, thenthey need to go, too.

The board needs to engage a manage-ment search firm that will help recruitnew board members. All current boardmembers should rotate off within thenext 24 months. Wounded warriorsstood up for this nation and now theboard needs to stand up for them. NPT

It Didn’t Add UpWWP miscalculated publicreaction to spending

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