instructions in the attached file

Answer these questions. With at least a total of 150 words or more

Deeds and liens are public documents that are recorded with a government agency like the Lee County Clerk and Recorder. Please answer the following questions:

1. Why is it important that a buyer of property timely record their deed?

2. Why would a General Contractor who did work remodeling a house record a lien?

Read my answer and write a total of 150 words count response

Wounded Warrior Project Questions 1-5.

Are the issues and questions raised in the Wounded Warrior Project case related to the concepts of accountability, performance, or both? How are those concepts related to this case?

It is my perception that the issues and questions raised are related to both concepts of accountability and performance. Our book describes the “narrowest” concepts of accountability for a nonprofit would be to just follow the law. Even if the board is meeting, budgets are met, employee engagement is active and following a strategic plan, it does not mean that the mission is being followed (page 146, Worth).

Three principal mechanisms that nonprofits should be held accountable are to follow the law, abide by self-regulation and to be transparent. Transparency means to show the donors, media and whoever wishes to see that the organization is working towards the mission and following all guidelines.

Performance has two key components; one is performance measurement which will tell what an organization did and how well it did it. The other is performance management, which monitors situations continuously (page 159, Worth).

Melia’s vision for his program was to help Iraq War veterans gain some independence by just helping them with essentials to maintain a quality of life. Because of the success of this program, he expanded the services to include helping veterans into sports programs, employment, and other assistance. Because of the program’s success, he hired additional staff to help him. It was at that time he brought in a former executive of a small non-profit named Nardizzi. In just 6 years, Melia’s program grew into an organization of 50 people and had raised $21 million dollars in revenue. After reading the Case in Worth on page 177, it seemed to be that there may have been some founder syndrome with Melia, because there were disagreements between him and Mr. Nardizzi regarding the growth of the company presenting barriers. Mr. Melisa resigned and Nardizzi became the CEO of the Wounded Warrior Project.

Nardizzi viewed this organization as a “Starbucks”, and it became more of a business model (Page 177, Worth). Nardizzi spent a lot of money on fundraising and continued to increase it. The project had reached 40% of its revenues on overhead and fundraising.

The Mission of the project is to honor and empower wounded warriors. The Vision is to foster the most successful, well-adjusted generation of wounded service members in our nation’s history.

https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/mission (Links to an external site.)

Former staff became critical of the focus on the fundraising and performance metrics on the money took away from the commitment of the mission and the vision mentioned above. Accusations were made that the mission was compromised at times just to meet goals.

In 2016 the Wounded Warrior Project was criticized by the media regarding lavish spending by employees on events and travel. There were four different separate investigations, one that included the board of the WWP. The board back the organization stating the expenses were justified. This would make sense that the board would justify because of the intense scrutiny of the media, and this is something they also should have been accountable while reviewing performance measures. It wasn’t until government officials’ investigations, that the board did dismiss Nardizzi as well as the COO. A Former military officer named Michael Linnington was appointed as CEO in June of 2016 and was given the project of restoring the good name of this program. On page 178 in our book, it states that the most important metric for an organization is not overhead but what is achieved. I believe that sentence says it all.

I think that Nardizzi treated this project too much like a private sector to make money (page 177) and did not focus on the mission or ‘end goal’ which was helping veterans. He and the board did not have good accountability because even if the law was being followed, transparency was not clear, and spending was questioned t/out Nardizzi’s employment.

Performance measurement seemed to be available for this case, but performance management was weak. The board was either money focused like Nardizzi or they were kept in the dark about the day to day operations of the project.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdSO7zmh4qk (Links to an external site.)

Worth, Michael J. (2009). Nonprofit management : principles and practice. Los Angeles :SAGE Publications,

https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/ (Links to an external site.)

Think back on the responsibilities of governing boards discussed in Chapter three. How do they relate to the case of the Wounded Warrior Project:

I discussed this in the above statement. It is of my perception that the board that Nardizzi had was either more focused on getting money by fundraising and lost sight of the mission, which was to honor and empower wounded warriors, or Nardizzi did a really good job of being non-transparent. Our book does state that after Senator Grassley’s investigation, some board members were replaces and programs were readjusted to better serve veterans (page 179, Worth). I feel that this governing board may have ‘turned its head’ because Nardizzi wasn’t breaking the law, even though ethics and morals are questionable.

Worth, Michael J. (2009). Nonprofit management : principles and practice. Los Angeles :SAGE Publications,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdSO7zmh4qk (Links to an external site.)

Accounting rules permit nonprofits to allocate some costs between fundraising and programs; for example, the costs of mailing that solicits gifts but also advocates for a cause may be apportioned between those two functions. Some people defend this practice while others say it is misleading to the public. What is your opinion?

I think it’s important to have fundraising for nonprofits, otherwise nonprofits would not be able to serve communities without contributions from donors. I also think it is very important to be completely transparent with these transactions and go above the law. If there is a fundraiser or an event, I think it is important to be able to mail out notices or letters to the public to notify the community of these events and I do think it is appropriate to allocate costs.

Our hospital has a foundation department. Anything and everything related to donation or making money, even as small as a bake sale, goes through this department because of conflict of interest.

Worth, Michael J. (2009). Nonprofit management : principles and practice. Los Angeles :SAGE Publications,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdSO7zmh4qk (Links to an external site.)

The Chapter discusses the view of Renz and Herman that nonprofit effectiveness is socially constructed, that is, defined by what people perceive about the organization. How does that relate to the case of the Wounded Warrior Project.

My perception is that it is accurate in this case. When Melia started his program, he was focused on helping Iraq War veterans in military hospitals by giving out backpacks with essentials to maintain a quality of life. This was such a good way to give back. News spread of what this man was doing, and others wanted to help him. Once Nardizzi was hired and there were disagreements between Melia and Nardizzi and Melia resigned, it seems the WWP lost its focus on Melia’s passion which was helping the veterans. Once former staff members and news media started criticizing the organization, it didn’t take long for word to spread about the negative reputation the organization was forming (page 178, Worth). Once the media started doing investigation, it didn’t take long for them to find out about the lavish spending and how monies were being spent on other things besides the veterans – it spread like wildfire. Therefore, I feel it can be socially constructed. With respect to the Wounded Warrior Project, I do agree with Renz and Herman social constructionism perspective.

Worth, Michael J. (2009). Nonprofit management : principles and practice. Los Angeles :SAGE Publications,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdSO7zmh4qk (Links to an external site.)

Overall, what is your opinion about the wounded Warrior Project controversy? Did it engage in practices that violated standards of accountability, or was it just a young organization that needed to spend on overhead to grow?

It is of my perception that the WWP did have a conscious when Melia was part of the organization. He initiated the program to help others, he states in the video interview that the program grew way too big too fast. He also states he wasn’t sure he wanted it to grow that big. I believe that Nardizzi was a CEO that was focused more on the money and making money. The board and Nardizzi’s team lost sight of the veterans and the birth of the WWP. I do believe that Nardizzi’s team engaged practices that violated standards of accountability and performance, but I believe Nardizzi’s team was careful to abide by the law, even though they know they were being unethical.

Worth, Michael J. (2009). Nonprofit management : principles and practice. Los Angeles :SAGE Publications,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdSO7zmh4qk (Links to an external site.)

Youth Villages

How are the concepts of effectiveness, efficiency, and organizational performance reflected in the Youth Villages case?

Effectiveness, efficiency, and organizational performance are reflected quite well. They have a model which is called “Evidentiary Family Restoration,” that reflect five core tenets (page 180, Worth).

Programs are research based, data drive, and accountable to children, families, and funders. Follow up is a big part of this program, which is so important for the children and families of the program. Youth Village tracks its own members longitudinally at ages 6, 12 and 24 months after discharge. Because of its success with data sets, it has attracted national donors, one who helped this organization gained even more funds from other funders who were participating in Clarks Growth Capital Aggregation Pilot program (page 180, Worth).

In addition, they have continued to improve performance management to track core indicators.

Worth, Michael J. (2009). Nonprofit management : principles and practice. Los Angeles :SAGE Publications,

Which of the approaches to measuring and reporting performance discussed in this chapter are illustrated in the case of Youth Villages?

It is my perception that Youth Villages utilized both performance measurement and performance management. Performance measurements by being transparent about what they did and how they did it. This was showing by having a model. They were very detail oriented by itemizing the amount of children served, staff turnover, physical interventions required, incidents, if any; perceptions by families services; financial performance; compliance with regulatory guidelines and best practices; and success in moving children to less-restrictive environment.

Performance management because by tracking the accurate data this is monitoring the situation on a continuous basis. This is the process of defining, monitoring, and using objective indicators of the performance of organizations.

Youth Villages distinguished the effectiveness it had on the peoples and families by being transparent with its data. This is showing efficiency by measuring the proportion of resources used to produce outputs or attain inputs – cost ratios. Effectiveness is measured by comparing the results achieved with the results. This is obvious with the data reported (page 159 and 160, Worth).

Worth, Michael J. (2009). Nonprofit management : principles and practice. Los Angeles :SAGE Publications,

If Youth Villages were to apply the social return on investment (SROI) approach, what would be some of the cost savings to society that might be calculated (i.e., the social benefits in dollar terms)?

A social return on Youth Villages’ investment would best be described as that they are giving youths an opportunity to gain a sense of family that was once lost. This program can keep children out of foster care, according to youthvillages.org., more than 435,000 children are growing up in these homes currently. This program is giving these children an opportunity to learn family focused living to be a productive member of society and once they are done with school and old enough to move out on their own, either go to college or obtain and keep a job where they can contribute to the economy and lead a great quality of life (page 171 and 172, Worth).

https://youthvillages.org/ (Links to an external site.)

Worth, Michael J. (2009). Nonprofit management : principles and practice. Los Angeles :SAGE Publications,

How does the view of Renz and Herman that effectiveness is socially constructed relate to the case of Youth Villages?

Renz and Herman board best practices and organization effectiveness can raise questions about the effectiveness of the organization overall, as stated in our book (page 174, Worth).

My perception is that Youth Villages board and CEO are accountable, and the performance is straight on. The organization is transparent with all aspects of the organization making the organization attractive for donors. Because of its strategic organization and following of its core model, Youth Villages has been able to grow and expand by fostering in home services, transitional services and family based care. With respect to Youth Villages, I do not agree with Renz and Herman social constructionism perspective.