A Good Nonprofit Died This Week...

There are a lot of great causes out there. Personally, I have a passion for organizations that support the entrepreneurial uplift of our Military Veterans and our Disadvantaged Youth, and I love to engage with organizations that help support the success of other nonprofits. I give my time, treasure and talent to organizations like High School Inc Foundation, Templo Calvario - Banking On Our Youth, Patriotic Hearts, Hire Patriots, Passkeys Foundation, OneOC and Difference Makers OC.

But there is one other organization that I've been part of that died this week...and that's what motivated me to write this article, because I think it could have been avoided if there weren't so many restrictions on how a nonprofit can access and benefit from the Grant dollars it is awarded.

This organization was started by a mother and father, who's son gave it all in Afghanistan when he was Killed In Action on August 6, 2011. They wanted to honor his memory in service to other Veterans...and they succeeded.

Their final news letter boasted their successes over the 6 years they were in operation. They launched 14 Veteran owned businesses, created over 90 jobs, built 4 websites for Veteran businesses, recruited and utilized over 30 Mentors and Subject Matter Experts, and provided resources to over 1073 inquiring Veterans. Those are impressive numbers for an organization with only 3 on staff.

Last year things were really looking up. They had elevated the visibility of their organization, and scored a major grant. But in order to actually receive the grant dollars, they had to achieve milestones that were near impossible to achieve, without adding staff. The other problem with the grant was, none of the dollars could be directed towards salary's for employees. So in a way...the grant was self defeating.

Here was a wonderful, passion driven and successful organization that could do so much more, if only the grant dollars could be accessed.

I've been supporting this organization with my time as a volunteer Mentor to the Veterans who they were helping to launch their businesses. In this role, I had the honor to serve other Veterans with technical advice on Point of Sale and Business Management solutions, and also help keep them on track with goals and milestones in their business plans. I'll continue to support the Veterans I've been working with, but we're all pretty bummed the organization is forced to close down.

So this article is both a plea and a goodbye letter.

My plea is this... Find a good organization that lifts others above their circumstances and Give. Give your time. Give your treasure. Give your talent. Help them to survive and fulfill their missions. Not all of them will make it, but the rewards of being part of their story are immeasurable.

Goodbye to The Jonas Project. It's been an honor to serve your organization and the Veterans it supports. It's also been an honor to serve the memory of Lt. Cmdr Jonas Kelsall, KIA August 6, 2011.

Thank you, Sir.