Minnesota Council on Foundations Blog – Philanthropy Potluck

Although the fight in Iraq and Afghanistan endures, a new generation of veterans is coming home. A first-of-its-kind report reveals that many want to serve as volunteers, and that this volunteer work may be crucial to welcoming and re-integrating them into their home communities successfully. Effectively engaging this force for good on the home front will require cultural awareness and new tactics on the part of all of us in the independent sector.

The new report on the civic engagement and volunteerism of veterans is the first of its kind.

The report, released by Civic Enterprises and funded by the Case Foundation and Target Foundation (a member of the Minnesota Council on Foundations), is entitled All Volunteer Force: From Military to Civilian Service.

Report Highlights:

• A Rocky Transition – Only 13 percent of returning veterans strongly agreed that their transition home was going well
• Few Contacted – Nearly seven in ten respondents (69 percent) reported that no community institution, local nonprofit, or place of worship had contacted them after returning home
• Ready to Serve - Ninety-two percent of respondents agreed or strongly-agreed that serving their community is important to them
• Diverse Interests - Veterans are interested in serving many types of organizations, from those involved in environmental conservation, to disaster relief, to those serving other veterans and their families, to those who work with older Americans or at-risk youth

What Nonprofits, Faith-based Organizations and Grantmakers Can Do

Perhaps one of the most powerful things that organizations in the independent sector can do to engage veterans is simply to ask them if they’d like to volunteer. Many of those respondents currently volunteering reported that being asked to volunteer was the reason they began volunteering in the first place.

Faith-based organizations can also help ease the transition for veterans by recognizing them during services and asking congregants to invite veterans into their homes to share a family meal. Many returning veterans are Millenials and members of Generation X. These individuals are high technology users and may be contacted via forums and using other online communications vehicles. If you have a Twitter account or enewsletter, consider making a special appeal to veterans to volunteer at your nonprofit or serve on your board of trustees.

The report outlines many other strategies — from national policy down to the grassroots — for effectively engaging and re-integrating servicemen and women into their communities. The full report can be viewed and downloaded for free at civicenterprises.net

Join the conversation: Have you talked to your colleagues about how to reach out to veterans? If you’re a veteran or service member, what advice do you have for organizations who would like to engage you?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 30th, 2009 at 4:35 pm and is filed under communication, nonprofits, volunteers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.