Wounded Charity: Lessons Learned from the Wounded Warrior Project Crisis

Book Synopsis: Wounded Charity offers valuable insights into how charities respond to crises based on information no one else has ever covered: documentation from the charity during and after the crisis, as well as candid discussions and interviews with some former members of the charity’s board, executive staff, beneficiaries, and even those who generated or published damaging information. On its primary, story-telling level, Wounded Charity investigates the effort to marginalize one of America’s most vital charities. Its broader level is about what it means for all charities. Wounded Warrior Project is large, important, and effective, and it serves wounded veterans in ways that other charities cannot and that the government does not, and probably never will. This cautionary, provocative narrative describes how WWP came to be so heavily criticized, why much of the criticism was unfounded, why those ultimately in charge of the charity – the board members – failed to do their job, and how individuals and the media need to revise their thinking about what works and what doesn’t work in a sector of our society whose tangible accomplishments, despite steadily increasing philanthropic support, largely remain a mystery. It is also a story of leadership, and the discordancy of punishing, as opposed to rewarding, good ideas and effective management.

"Doug White provides an unbiased explanation of the wrongful injury of WWP. Perception is in the eye of the beholder—and unfortunately, the vast majority of the beholders were on a search-and-destroy mission to take down Al Giordano and Steve Nardizzi. Regrettably, in doing so they succeeded in afflicting collateral damage to countless wounded warriors and their families. I genuinely wish the new regime of WWP Godspeed and success. They have big shoes to fill." —John Loosen Former Member of the Board of Wounded Warrior Project

“Wounded Charity is a cautionary tale for philanthropists, nonprofit board members, and nonprofit leaders to make sure they make decisions based on the facts, not media hype. Otherwise, the people who end up paying the price are the very people the charity is supposed to help.”—Jim Knotts President/CEO, Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Former President/CEO, Operation Homefront

"False accusations are not new, but they appear to be more and more common today. It's shameful when good people’s lives are so easily tarnished by the jealousy and ambitions of others. This book sheds light into the great injustice served upon Steve Nardizzi and Al Giordano. Two very good men."—Matthew Modine, Actor and Veterans’ Supporter