For Honor and Country

As the debate continues over the crises in Iraq and Afghanistan, politicians and the media often reference the many sacrifices of the active military forces. These passionate troops have left behind families, friends and jobs to serve their country. Who are these servicemen and women, and what philanthropic causes do they care about?

Tom Kilgannon, president of the Freedom Alliance, a nonprofit group committed to honoring and encouraging military service, states that the most important way to reach out to active military personnel is to show that you appreciate their service.

“What I find is they appreciate knowing their service is recognized, especially the service of their family members,” he says.

And today those military personnel have many faces.

“We used to say that the ‘fathers’ may not be coming home,” Kilgannon continues. “Today there are cases where kids are losing their mothers in combat. Over 143 single parents have lost their lives in Iraq. When you’re speaking to the military today, you have to recognize that fact.”

To get to know today’s military personnel, FundRaising Success spoke with Charlie Carey, director of the San Diego County Combined Federal Campaign, which has a large Navy and Marine Corps population. The CFC is the world’s largest workplace charity campaign, with more than 300 CFC campaigns throughout the country and internationally, to help raise millions of dollars to support nonprofit organizations that provide health and human service benefits throughout the world.

FundRaising Success: What should organizations keep in mind when trying to court active armed forces personnel as potential donors?
Charlie Carey: The military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq affect the men and women in both operational and support commands, and their families who support them. When soliciting them, it’s important to recognize how world events have affected their lives, and that it’s not business as usual.

As a group, their pay scales are not as high as their civilian counterparts, but they are generous in supporting causes that strike their sensibilities as worthwhile and important to them as individuals. They are also loyal to organizations they believe in. Their time is important, their future may be uncertain, and the messages to them as potential donors need to recognize their uniqueness and emphasize their ability to make a difference through their support of a program of their choice.

FS: What causes are they most passionate about?
CC: They have a wide range of interests and donate accordingly. Agencies that support military personnel specifically, such as MWR [Morale, Welfare and Recreation] groups, veterans groups and family groups, do well in campaigns with large military populations, but not overwhelmingly so.

FS: Are there unifying issues or traits — beyond occupation — that pull them together as a demographic?
CC: Beyond occupation, no. Military personnel run the full gamut on all issues. They do have one trait that you see consistently in fundraising, and that’s return on investment. Most want to know what the charities are providing for the money they receive. They pay attention to the administrative fundraising rates listed in the [CFC] Charity List.

FS: Do active armed forces personnel respond best to direct mail, e-mail or telephone campaigns?
CC: None of the above. We never communicate with our donors other than face to face in the workplace. The last thing we want our federal campaigners to do is start e-mailing, [doing] direct-mail campaigns or calling people at home.

FS: How do you “talk” to active armed forces personnel in the context of fundraising copy?
CC: We keep the material as brief and to the point as possible using the themes developed for the campaign and directing those who want more information to additional written sources and the Web site. The workplace campaign assumes that there is not a lot of time initially in capturing potential donors. Those who need more information are provided several avenues to obtain it, the most important being the key worker who is doing the soliciting. The charity list provides more details, and the Web site backs up and provides additional information to the charity list.

FS: Are there any fundraising challenges that are more or less specific to the active armed forces personnel demographic?
CC: Yes. Challenges include:

• Schedules and availability of personnel;

• Getting the support of senior enlisted and officers to encourage people to listen to the solicitation;

• Avoidance of undue pressure to donate to make the command or unit look good;

• The continuous state of churn as a result of the military units either preparing to leave, leaving or just returning from deployments to either Afghanistan or Iraq;

• Access to some commands can be difficult; and

• Difficulty in reaching everyone in a command efficiently and effectively due to other requirements for their time (usually only get one shot at gathering everyone together for a kickoff or similar informational event).

FS: How does an organization overcome them and get active armed forces personnel to give?
CC: These challenges can be met through preparation and working early with the military leadership to resolve issues before they become problems. Given time and persistence, the leaders of the various commands will resolve most issues. They have to be supported with clear and concise information on how campaigns run and the guiding regulations from OPM [the U.S. Office of Personnel Management].