News

Details

Published: 28 November 2011

Hits: 1595

Onward and upward ! With its charitable registration just completed in the District of Columbia, Support Our Troops, Inc. has completed its "50+1 Footprint" expansion into all 50 states plus the District. To best serve the troops and their families SOT^® steadfastly applies prudent business sense in all manner to maximize charitable performance for its intended beneficiaries. A variety of subordinate and affiliate SOT organizations had existed in most states for a good number of years, and administratively it consumed time which could better be applied to the mission. For reduction of paperwork, creation of more time to focus on the organization's mission, and to keep administrative costs down, the Board of Directors of SOT and the Board of Directors of various subordinate affiliated Support Our Troops organizations determined it was best to merge the subordinate organizations into SOT which will then continue forth to do business within the applicable states. In some cases it was simpler to lodge the parent charity in a state and dissolve the subordinate while incorporating the state advisory board in the parent. In all cases the state chapter continued forward under the new organization format. Martin Boire, Chairman of Support Our Troops, described the 50+1 Footprint milestone saying "We do not wish a federal charter from Congress. We are a state-based charity functioning nationwide in all 50 states at the state level, and the District of Columbia. Our 50+1 Footprint will enable us to greatly amplify our service to America's national defense community and their families." SupportOurTroops.Org's most recent years of performance are as follows: ***goodslist*** SOT takes a simple moral approach to troop-support: "A neighbor goes off to protect us and our families. Morally what should we do for him? For her?" Consistent with its philosophy of personal involvement, Support Our Troops^® operates programs which enable each American to personally take responsibility for their neighbors who are defending them. All of SOT's programs boost support for the troops and their families in a direct citizen-to-citizen manner. The state-based 50+1 Footprint will facilitate and amplify that very well. SupportOurTroops.Org is the charity through which we Americans bolster the morale and well-being of our active duty troops and their families by our highly effective programs that deliver over $10 million a year in care paks and food treats to the front lines, positive public support at home, kids' camp assistance, and more. They Support Us Let's Support Them!^® Bruce Jonas, Vice President of Support Our Troops lists the following practical benefits the 50+1 Footprint now provides for everyone involved:

1. The organization's local corporate presence in each state and the District now begins with our trade name "Support Our Troops."
2. We are now very easy to find.
3. SOT is now better indexed in public records which helps in a variety of manner.
4. Name recognition is increased.
5. Local accessibility is increased.
6. The speed and ease with which people can find and interact with the organization are enhanced.
7. The full performance numbers from the organization's Form 990 will appear in each state.
8. All of the above will increase the enthusiasm of people and companies to participate when they encounter us.
9. All of the above will increase the organization's ability to fulfill its mission.

Trustworthiness and dependability remain the SOT signature. This organization was deliberately designed as a public purpose charity registered at the state level, in order to subject SOT to oversight as a group organization by Attorney's General or other state agencies in charge of charity regulation in most every state, and provide hands-on local access and usability for people in each city and state. SOT holds to a strict donor privacy policy. SOT holds to a strict beneficiary privacy policy. State chapters and boards are growing and becoming increasingly active in bolstering the troops and their families with direct local input and interaction. The issuance of each state Support Our Troops! motor vehicle license plate involves an examination of this organization by the state legislature or a state agency. The maintenance of these plates involves repeated state-level participation, examination and reporting. Because SOT handles state license plate revenue in some cases, and in some states is even required to collect motor vehicle license plate revenue for the state and remit it to them, it is likely the most heavily monitored and safest troop-support charity in America. The majority of the administration is handled through a central office to keep overhead down and maximize the benefits. California has been kept as a standalone affiliated organization under the name Support Our Troops - California Chapter, Inc. Texas and Georgia for various reasons have both the parent charity and an affiliated organization (Support Our Troops - Georgia Chapter Inc., and SupportOurTroops.Org (the d/b/a of Lone Star Support Our Troops, Inc. in Texas). Utah is the only state in which SOT is registered as a corporation in order to do good work for its troops, but is not registered as a charity to solicit donations; this is due to concerns regarding a regulatory structure in which oversight is based on the perception or misperception of one individual, and in the event of a dispute over that person's opinion, a charity's administrative appeal rights are limited to a single individual in an adjacent workspace. The record of growth of Support Our Troops^® results from successful execution of a sound business plan built upon strong fundamentals and financial acumen. Looking to the future we will continue to build upon those same principles to maximize charitable revenue from existing centers, while leveraging our expertise to identify additional charitable revenue opportunities so that we can do the maximum amount of good for the troops and their families. The stage continues to be set for stable, long term success and service. We are uniquely positioned and enjoy significant visibility and financial stability and growth due to the sound business model we both put in place and steadfastly executed. Continuing this approach will enhance operations and further position SupportOurTroops.Org for exceptional long term service to America's remarkable troops and their families. Let's all make the troops is proud of us as we are of them! November 28, 2011 The SOT Team  

Details

Published: 26 November 2011

Hits: 1542

Support Our Troops^® has been appointed to one of the three directorships of the Military Support Groups of America Federation within the Combined Federal Campaign. The board of this federation reviews and admits federation CFC applications primarily from charities focused on servicemembers and their families presently and recently serving in the national defense community. Marin C. Boire, Chairman of SOT, is one of those three votes. 2011 is the 50th anniversary of the Combined Federal Campaign. Established in 1961, the CFC is a program which enables certain carefully screened and approved charitable organizations to solicit contributions from employees of the Federal Government of the United States. The CFC is one of the most successful charity campaigns raising well over $100 million annually. Overseen by the United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM), it is the largest and most successful workplace charity campaign in the world. By law it is the only campaign authorized to solicit for and collect charitable contributions from U.S. federal employees, including civil servants, postal workers, and military personnel. The Military Support Groups of America Federation was established in 2010 to bring Federation listings of military support groups into alignment with CFC approvals made in compliance with law. The Military Support Groups of America Federation will assure that groups supporting the military and their families are always properly and fairly treated in the CFC. Many of the charities participating in the Combined Federal Campaign are grouped into federations, each federation being organized around a particular topic. This enables donors to more easily locate and donate to causes in which they are interested, and allows charities to save money and effort by better organizing their donor awareness campaigns. This federation approach to CFC participation was created by Congress in 1987 at the request of federal employees who disliked exclusion of charities to which they might like to contribute, and the OMB which wanted to avoid any closed-shop arrangement developing as with the United Way. The purpose of this change was to prohibit a monopoly of access to the CFC. New principles were followed in which the charities already in the CFC could no longer vote to keep out qualified new applicants. If an applicant charity met the legal CFC standards, that charity's application would be accepted for participating in the CFC. The standard was to be fair, evenhanded, and equitable administration. Charities are to be listed, and the donative evaluation and decision left up to the donor and not pre-made for the donor based on an exclusion by others. But in recent years many good charities supporting the military community and their families experienced difficulties with a CFC federation known as Military, Veterans, and Patriotic Organizations of America. According to information provided, the board at the time these practices arose was comprised of: Linda Mansfield, President, no member affiliation; Joe Sternburg, Treasurer, Vietnam Veterans Assistance Fund; Kathleen Burke, Secretary, National Military Family Association; Stacy Ale, Director, PVA; Nancy O'Brien, Director, DAV. This Board arbitrarily excluded groups which had been legally approved for participation in the CFC by the OMB under the promulgated CFC rules. These practices of course in turn harmed the military community and their families because the charities that were applying were not included in that federation list to be found by donors looking for them in order to support the military. That board perhaps erroneously believed that by keeping new applicants out, those that were already in would receive more or avoid a decrease. A number of the groups which applied and were turned away by the board of that federation had overhead and performance ratios equal and superior to those of some of the groups within the Federation. In response, just as the federal employees, Congress and OPM moved against monopolization in 1987, the Military Support Groups of America Federation was created in 2010 to step away from this type of federation protectionism and monopolization and assure that groups supporting the national defense community and its families are always properly and fairly treated in the CFC. Support Our Troops^® appreciates the opportunity to perform the important responsibility of the Military Support Groups of America Federation, and will do so in a manner befitting the honor and integrity of America's troops and their families. The fidelity of Support Our Troops led to this appointment, and it is our covenant to follow the same principles and business acumen in properly executing our duties in this critical position. When it comes to nonprofit work to benefit the national defense community it is the philosophy of Support Our Troops that we can all do best by the troops by assisting everybody that is do anything to help them. It is not a contest between competitors, and groups which merely look out for their own self-interest are not acting in the best interest of the troops. It is not Coke versus Pepsi. It is not the case that a dollar might go to one that could've gone to another. It is the simple fact that all groups are working for the same beneficiaries, the troops deserve the best that we can offer them, and the Military Support Groups of America CFC Federation will work diligently to do so. SupportOurTroops.Org was previously in the "Charities With Overhead Less Than 5%" federation. SOT's overhead is consistently below 5%. The record growth of Support Our Troops^® in combination with such extremely low overhead, results from successful execution of a sound business plan built upon strong fundamentals and financial acumen. Support Our Troops will continue to build upon those same principles into the future to maximize its mission for the troops. November 26, 2011 The SOT Team

Details

Published: 16 November 2011

Hits: 1659

Columbia, SC: November 16, 2011 - South Carolina Secretary of State Mark Hammond today announced the top ten Angels for 2011. The Angels were recognized at a press conference and honored with a reception in the Secretary of State's Office following the announcement. This is the sixteenth year of the Angel awards. The Angels honored represent organizations that exemplify charitable giving in South Carolina. Representatives from all organizations were in attendance to receive a plaque and recognition from Secretary Hammond. SupportOurTroops.Org was recognized as an Angel, with 98.3% of its expenditures going toward its program activities. Angels were selected by review of financial reports submitted annually to the Secretary of State's Office, as well as by nominations from the public. To be selected as an Angel, the nonprofit must devote 80 percent or more of its total expenditures to charitable programs; the charity must have been in existence for three or more years; the charity must make good use of volunteer services; and the charity must receive minimal funding from grants. Each year the Secretary of State's Office attempts to showcase Angels with diverse missions, from across South Carolina and outside the state. Secretary Hammond issued the following statement: "As Secretary of State, I have the duty of enforcing the Solicitation of Charitable Funds Act, and of protecting the public against "Scrooge" organizations that want to take advantage of our giving spirit. Charitable solicitations across the state have increased in the last four years because more and more people are in need of assistance. Even though times are tough, South Carolinians continue to be some of the most generous people in the nation and always answer the call when it comes to defending and helping the less fortunate." Martin C. Boire, Chairman of Support Our Troops^®, was on hand to accept the award for the nationwide organization, now registered in all 50 states, and stated "We are honored for this award and grateful for the opportunity to be here to accept it. It takes a sincere, caring attitude by the Secretary of State, and a great number of hours perform the research needed to be able to properly get out the word about where people can safely and effectively donate their hard-earned money for the good of others. We are grateful for South Carolina Secretary of State Mark Hammond for making the time to perform the useful, operative service of helping people identify good charities with which they would like to participate. The more people helping to get the word out, the more good can be done for the troops and their families."  

Details

Published: 10 November 2011

Hits: 1655

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse. A man who has nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety is a miserable creature who has no chance at being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself." ~~ John Stuart Mill, via Charley Price, a vet in Florida