Coalition to Salute America's Heroes

Note: The organization did not respond to this question.

Note: The organization did not respond to this question.

All of our management and staff – virtually all of whom are themselves wounded veterans or spouses of same – are encouraged to pursue advanced training and education for which the organization assists in costs and accommodates work schedules as necessary. The organization’s core value of “continuous management improvement”, is evidenced by training line items in the annual budget and individual advancement by now holding certificates and degrees in various disciplines, and by attendance at annual professional development conferences.

Through external mobilization efforts, the leadership and board at the Coalition to Salute America's Heroes are very hands-on. The organization engages in strategic partnerships with other nonprofits like Blue Star Families and Feed the Children to host food distribution events near military bases across the country. Food insecurity in military and veteran families is a priority for the Coalition so by partnering with external organizations, we are making the most impact. Staff members and board members are amongst our volunteers at these events. Our leadership team is highly engaged with raising awareness of the Coalition's mission through marketing and social media efforts. With a staff made up predominately of combat-wounded veterans and/or their primary caregivers, we're dedicated to keeping the public aware of the assistance available through our programs. Our leadership and staff keep a close eye on policy that affects those we serve and when necessary, we advocate for them.

In the last year, our organization has struggled to emerge from a period of intense fiscal pressure as the economy experienced an abrupt decline that continues in what is arguably a serious recession following two quarters of negative growth. Like all charities, the Coalition has struggled to maintain its fragile support base as a growing number of donors are encountering financial hardship or at a minimum anticipating difficult economic times to come. Also, as a charity that serves the military community, the Coalition must contend with a perception that our services are no longer needed, at least not to the degree they were needed when thousands of wounded military people were appearing daily on the national news. In response, we launched new initiatives to serve caregivers, children and mental health and marriage counseling -- all underscoring the ever-changing needs of our veterans.   Financial pressures have required us to impose strict spending limits across the board but we have been determined to accomplish this without reducing our aid to the people we serve. We have gone through our budgetary process to isolate potential waste and achieve new efficiencies wherever possible. Also we have begun coordinating our efforts with other organizations that share all or parts of our agenda, and to connect the people we serve with other groups that provide support and assistance. Identifying such groups and establishing working relationships with them has been a major focus of our efforts, and has paid off handsomely. We are doing everything we can to increase revenues, working closely with our direct mail vendor to pare down distribution lists and improve the quality of our messaging. Also, we are focusing more attention on building our relationships with major donors to make them more committed to our mission.