Currently there are about 20 million veterans in the United States (about 6 percent of the population), and in the past, they have sometimes been ignored or even blamed for the challenges that accompany a military service career. In recent years, the American population has become slightly better educated about the challenges that veterans and their families face. Recognition of the lack of adequate support for Vietnam War Veterans, more platforms to share personal experiences through social media, and public education efforts such as First Lady Michelle Obama’s Joining Forces have all contributed to increased financial and community support for veterans and their families.
The Office of the First Lady highlighted the formal commitment to veterans she shares with the philanthropic community earlier this year when the Council on Foundations announced the Philanthropy-Joining Forces Impact Pledge and launched the Veterans Philanthropy Exchange, an online community for funders that want to fund services for military families and veterans. To date, over 100 foundations and other organizations have engaged in the online community, and an unknown number seek to help veterans address needs specific to them. According to the Foundation Center’s Foundation Maps for the exchange, more than 3,500 foundations have provided grants to more than 2,100 veterans-related efforts since 2003.
Supporting the military community should not be a far reach for foundations, because many veterans encounter challenges that are reflected in longstanding priorities of the philanthropic sector – poverty, mental and physical health challenges, lack of viable employment opportunities, domestic violence, homelessness and others. And like any other segment of our population at risk of facing such challenges, philanthropy can best support military families and veterans by funding strategies that empower veterans and ensure fair institutions, as well as by funding strategies that meet their immediate needs. There are several organizations taking this approach that foundations can look to as examples of organizations that have high impact.
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) is an example of an organization that combines direct service with efforts to empower Iraq and Afghanistan veterans by encouraging them to advocate for themselves. Founded in 2004, IAVA conducts activities like training programs and workshops, social events and career fairs to meet the immediate needs of veterans. Partnerships with businesses brokered by IAVA have fostered employment programs and public awareness campaigns. It also advocates for a robust policy agenda that includes systemic reforms for health care, employment practices, housing and homelessness and secured funding for the U.S. Military.
Another organization important to the military community is the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). Although NAMI advocates for all those affected by mental illness, the organization recognizes the unique needs of veterans and has several activities that prioritize them. NAMI includes a Veterans and Military Advisory Council, which helps to craft policy positions specifically related to veterans, form partnerships with other organizations who serve veterans and support advocacy and education initiatives that impact military members, veterans and their families. One notable NAMI program is Treating the Wounds of War, a free online training program to help mental health practitioners and advocates understand the needs of military members and veterans.
Both IAVA and NAMI receive foundation funding; however, the amount is a relatively small percentage of their total funding. Foundation funding made up the smallest percentage of all types of income for IAVA in 2012, except for earned income, at 14 percent (less than $1 million). It’s unclear what percentage of NAMI’s income comes from foundations, but very few foundations grant to NAMI compared to the number of corporations and individual donors that do. Both organizations seem healthy financially and have diverse income streams, but if more foundations granted to them and organizations like them, imagine how much more they could be doing to address the needs of veterans, those in active service and their families, and other underserved populations.
In Criteria for Philanthropy at Its Best and Real Results: Why Strategic Philanthropy Is Social Justice Philanthropy, NCRP illustrated how foundations that commit at least 25 percent of their discretionary giving to systems change strategies (e.g. advocacy, community organizing and civic engagement) have the highest impact in their giving. As foundations rally to support the military community, they would do well to ensure that organizations like the aforementioned that include transformative strategies benefit from philanthropic giving. Only then can we ensure that current veterans, and the inevitable next generation of veterans, will be supported by just and effective systems and structures, and are empowered to advocate for themselves when they are not.
Are veterans members of the communities you seek to serve? How are you supporting organizations that empower veterans and military families to address the unique challenges they face?
Jeanné Isler is the field director at the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP), and a former military spouse. Follow @j_lachapel and @NCRP on Twitter.
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