Gratitude, Service, Impact, Investment...and More Gratitude: It’s National Nonprofit Day

Search engines, social media platforms … and the greeting card industry ... often bombard us with what some would term made-up occasions and holidays. August 17th, however, is one for which I’d appreciate you indulging me bombarding you -- it’s National Nonprofit Day, and it’s a day to promote gratitude, service, impact, investment...and more gratitude.

Too often we in the service sector give funders, members, partners and others an almost mercenary impression when requesting necessary resources to do our important work. Besides being unseemly, this imparts a transactional mentality rather than one of partnership and gratitude for investment in the good we accomplish. Claire Axelrad, a certified fundraising executive (CFRE) and previous Association of Fundraising Professionals Outstanding Fundraising Professional of the Year, advises nonprofit leaders to “practice gratitude continually, as a way of life.” Claire gets it, and I need to make sure I get it -- and set the tone for it -- both on National Nonprofit Day and the other 364 days throughout the year.

At the National Association of Veteran-Serving Organizations - NAVSO, we practice gratitude daily -- for our investors, for our nationwide team, for our boards of directors and advisors, and for the NAVSO member organizations whose work is manifest in thriving and successful veterans, military members, and their families and caregivers. We are extraordinarily grateful for your trust, your confidence, and your investment.

Our mantra, our tagline, our raison d’etre at NAVSO is You Serve Them, We Serve You? Our service to the veteran-serving marketplace, empowering nonprofits to Find Funding, Faster; and to Serve Veterans, Better; is predicated on serving individual veteran-serving organizations, regardless of geography, size, revenue, or specific mission within the military community. The more individual organizations we serve and make better, the more impact we can have to transform the veteran-serving marketplace together.

This week while traveling in Los Angeles, I was privileged to visit with two of NAVSO’s most impactful member VSOs: Operation Mend and Gary Sinise Foundation. Operation Mend is one of the foremost authorities in ensuring broad, deep and continuous care for warriors -- and their families and caregivers -- via medical specialties including but not limited to post traumatic stress, burns, prosthetics, facial reconstruction, brain health, and so much more. OpMend is a welcoming environment, exuding gratitude, and making a huge impact on individual lives and medical advancement, sharing in US News and World Report’s ranking of UCLA Health as the #1 hospital in California and #6 in the nation.

Gary Sinise Foundation serves the nation, inspired by Gary’s personal example and philanthropy, with an extraordinary array of programs and services that entertain, educate, inspire and strengthen communities through service to those who served and sacrificed. In 2017, the foundation transformed 11 wounded heroes and their families’ lives with specially adapted smart homes -- these homes’ impact include restored confidence, self-reliance and independence for these families. That’s one of a myriad of transformational impacts this NAVSO member contributes to our community.

On National Nonprofit Day, and every day, wonderful philanthropists spanning individuals of varying means, corporations, foundations and public entities, invest in the service and impact both NAVSO members and so many other nonprofits of all kinds make on our nation. As we rightfully thank our veterans, military members and their families for their service and sacrifice, please also say thank you both to someone who invests in the work that fuels impactful service, and to a volunteer or staff member at one of those VSOs whose dedication and expertise make this magic happen. 

Regardless of mission, we all have the opportunity to improve our effectiveness, which is why I am grateful to be the CEO of NAVSO in service to our members, empowered by those who invest in all of us in the service sector -- Happy National Nonprofit Day, and thank you!