Thoughts on the nonprofit sector that supports veterans--are there gaps in services? Is the sector too over-saturated to be truly effective?

LTC David Haines — Tue, 29 Sep 2015 21:24:12 -0400

Response by SSgt Alex Robinson made Sep 30 at 2015 3:45 AM

SSgt Alex Robinson — Wed, 30 Sep 2015 03:45:59 -0400

It seems there is a duplication of efforts but this is not one size fits all and our heroes are being given care

Response by SFC Walt Littleton made Sep 30 at 2015 9:48 AM

SFC Walt Littleton — Wed, 30 Sep 2015 09:48:28 -0400

Tricky question. I've worked in the non-profit help the needy environment and it was one of the worst jobs I ever had. It was border line worker abuse, constant leadership leading by fear of loosing your employment and paying above average wages. I worked for on of the largest non-profit in America and I can tell you that non-profits have become the new career for many because they are very profitable. Drive by any non-profit parking lot and check out the cars in the employee parking areas. You will see high end cars driving by the leadership such as Lexus, BMWs and Cadillacs. There are no laws governing how much money they have to give to the charity they support. Non-profits are growing faster than the economy.

All I can say is do your homework and investigate the agency you would like to support financially. I found only one non profit that truly is and that is the Salvation Army.

Response by SN Joseph Dorando made Sep 30 at 2015 10:57 AM

SN Joseph Dorando — Wed, 30 Sep 2015 10:57:13 -0400

I run a non profit 501c3 called Wounded Eagle UAS to train wounded veterans to build, fly, and maintain remotely piloted aircraft for the commercial UAV industry and recreational use. We are the only group specializing in this field of training for wounded vets. We are filing a gap in wounded veterans services and our goals are effective and achievable. We are an all veteran run organization. Care to help us? If you are a wounded veteran, there is no charge for your training, tools, or material. The only cost is that you join the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) to cover your insurance needs to fly in public and AMA fields. After you complete our course (4 levels of training) you keep your tools, materials, and lab work so that you may continue to fly after you complete our course. One more thing, this career is fun and it's the future. We want to give back to those that have paid the second highest price our country can ask of its citizenry.

Response by LCDR Rabbah Rona Matlow made Sep 30 at 2015 10:57 AM

LCDR Rabbah Rona Matlow — Wed, 30 Sep 2015 10:57:39 -0400

There are areas where services are lacking and areas where services are very saturated. This is true in all service sectors...

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Oct 3 at 2015 2:50 PM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Sat, 03 Oct 2015 14:50:32 -0400

Some nonprofit organizations are crowding out smaller organization. One organization is using pop ups with a picture of a badly burned veteran to solicit funds. This organization uses 40% for salaries, expenses, and advertising, have investment instruments worth $100,000,000, money that can fund other organization.

Response by SN Joseph Dorando made Dec 6 at 2018 2:39 PM

SN Joseph Dorando — Thu, 06 Dec 2018 14:39:49 -0500

I guess that all depends on what sector we are talking about. I'm in a developing sector called unmanned aerial systems and there is a big future ahead for us. It's only now that private sector is seeing the tremendous value in our image collections and data gathering efforts make.