If We Send Them We Must Mend Them
One of the many hats I wear as the CEO of the Invictus Foundation is that of Chief Fundraising Officer (CFO). As with all my other hats it comes with no salary (: In this role I believe that it is incumbent upon me to fully explain why with all the “white noise” out there this time of year clamoring for your year-end donation dollars the Invictus Foundation’s “ask” should be acted upon. The answer to that question is “because we have earned it”. We believe that “donor fatigue” is real and that hard earned money should and will go to charitable organizations that can prove they have earned it.
I intend to reinforce my answer through throwback commercials that reinforce some principle guiding precepts of the Invictus Foundation: (1) Hard work and organizational craftsmanship produces value, (2) public relations hype and slick, expensive commercials do not trump actions speak louder than words and (3) telephone calls and web based meetings will never replace old fashioned fashion eye contact and a handshake to project donor-centricity.
The first precept is reinforced in this video Click on Link. The second precept is underscored in this video Click on Link. and finally the third precept is brought to life in this video Click on Link. We at the Invictus Foundation have built something of long-term value and have done so by strategically and tactically paying attention to the above precepts to build out the Invictus Foundation.
Our adherence to these precepts produced the attached results in 2018. 2018 Annual Report. We produced this value with an AFR (Administrative and Fundraising) cost of 5% i.e. 95% of every donated dollars goes into services and programs. That number is substantiated and validated by GuideStar, a third-party reviewer of charitable enterprises, where we have a Gold Star rating with them for transparency to donors.
To donors I have likened the Invictus Foundation to the “Quiet Company” whose actions and results do speak louder than words. We use the three-legged stool of grants, corporate donations and grass roots fund-raising to fund our services and programs. Like most non-profits 80% of our donations come from 20% of our donors. Ironically, we operate under conditions similar to what our young men and women in the military experience; 1% of them are expected to be the sentinels of Freedom’s Gate so the rest of us can enjoy those freedoms. Where is the Outrage – A Must Read
In closing, I respectfully ask that you donate to the Invictus Foundation’s vision and mission by going to www.invictusfoundation.org and clicking on the donate button. With your gift you will turn the phrase “support our troops” from a slogan into action. Your gift will support an effort that will contribute to our Nation’s military, veterans and their families who have given so selflessly of themselves to us and replace despair and disconnectedness with hope, resiliency and recovery for those suffering from the invisible wounds of war.
