On Memorial Day, Here’s How Some New and Longtime Funders Have Veterans’ Six

The U.S. recognizes those who serve on Veterans Day. But Memorial Day resonates more deeply for many, as the nation remembers those who made the ultimate sacrifice while serving.

This year, as the war in Ukraine fills the nightly news, and borders and alliances drawn after World War II face fresh threats, turbulent times may raise a greater appreciation for those who volunteer for action.

In philanthropy, a small but stalwart group of funders consistently backs veterans — particularly funders who’ve served or have ties to service members, and companies that employ vets. This year, as a pair of high-profile philanthropists, MacKenzie Scott and Dan Jewett, come on board with support totaling more than $117 million, we look at their commitments and other recent investments in the idea and ideals of military service.

MacKenzie and Dan step up

Private people, MacKenzie Scott and Dan Jewett don’t always share the reasons behind their funding decisions. But a recent piece in the New York Times tracing a young MacKenzie Scott’s introduction to philanthropy may offer some insight into her appreciation for veterans.

Along with other local initiatives like toy drives for farmworkers’ children, Scott’s mother, Holiday Tuttle, helped organize the Palm Beach Fourth of July parade in 1991 after the war in the Persian Gulf. “We want to salute our veterans and show them the respect and gratitude that they deserve,” she said at the time.

Whether it’s because that message resonated, or because they were inspired by past or present service associations — or simply because they view it as a matter of equity — Scott and Jewett recently directed major dollars to organizations that support service members. The 12 recipients focus on military families as well as veterans’ health and well-being, employment prospects, and education.

The two family-focused organizations the couple supported are Operation Homefront, which received $20 million, and Blue Star Families, which received $10 million. Operation Homefront, which acknowledged the “momentous” gift as the single largest in its 20-year history, will use the funding to counterbalance the severe short- and long-term financial strains military families often face. The gift to Blue Star Families, founded in 2009 by military spouses to build their community, is also the largest in the organization’s history, and inspired it to raise an equal or greater amount this year.

Four more investments from Scott and Jewett focus on the health and wellbeing challenges veterans face. A total of $15 million each went to the Bob Woodruff Foundation and Wounded Warrior Project, $6 million to Team Red White and Blue, and $10 million to mental health provider Headstrong. In a statement thanking Scott and Jewett, The Headstrong Project said the funding will help it accelerate the delivery of a “barrier-free” mental healthcare model to military-connected members and family, along with clinical growth.

The four organizations Scott and Jewett funded to help vets gain meaningful employment after service are Hire Heroes USA at $11 million, Workshops for Warriors and The Mission Continues at $10 million. Team Rubicon, which redeploys service members to disaster areas in need of their special skills, received $7 million. Hire Heroes, which last year alone helped more than 12,000 service members, veterans and military spouses find well-paying jobs in the civilian workforce, also characterized the gift as the largest in its history.

Two organizations with educational missions rounded out the couple’s giving for veterans. Student Veterans of America, which helps student veterans and military-connected students, received $8 million. And the Warrior-Scholar Project, which serves vets seeking higher education, received $5 million. Again, both were the largest individual contributions in the organizations’ history.

Got your six

Meanwhile, private foundation leaders with ties that bind continue to expand their loyal support for veterans.

The Bob Woodruff Foundation (BWF) is having a banner spring. Besides the $15 million vote of confidence from Scott and Jewett, Craig Newmark Philanthropies, a longtime leader in support for veterans, announced a $2.95 million grant to BWF’s Got Your 6 Network — the name is derived from a term coined by World War I pilots meaning “I’ve got your back.”

BWF got its start in 2006 after reporter and self-described “old-school nerd” Bob Woodruff was wounded by a roadside bomb while covering the Iraq War. It provides a host of services for vets and their families, from mental healthcare to support for veterans facing food insecurity and service-connected fertility issues. Got Your 6 connects “the nation’s largest network of communities collaborating for impact in the lives of veterans,” fostering shared learning and issue collaboration.

According to Craig Newmark Philanthropies, the March support brings its total contributions to military and veteran communities to more than $18 million. Newmark Philanthropies stated that the latest grant to BWF will allow the organization to “find, fund and shape” programs addressing urgent needs like housing, while gathering data and insights from the Got Your 6 Network to tackle longer-term issues.

Another loyal philanthropic backer of veterans causes is the Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation, which raises and matches big funding annually to provide immediate and long-term support to service members, veterans and military families across all branches of the armed forces.

Since its inception 10 years ago, the foundation has backed vets to the tune of nearly $104 million. Just over $82 million of that went to the Semper Fi & America’s Fund, which helps vets and their families navigate the complex medical and emotional costs of serving though direct, wellness and transitional support services.

The Parsons Foundation’s co-founder, GoDaddy and PXG founder Bob Parsons, is another donor whose long and lasting ties to the cause are grounded in personal experience. Parsons enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps after struggling in high school, and earned a Purple Heart after being wounded in action during a tour of duty in Vietnam.

Parsons’ “boots-on-the-ground” funding approach favors both conventional and less-conventional work. As an example of the former, January marked the 10th consecutive year that the foundation wrapped a Double Down for Veterans Campaign to benefit the Semper Fi & America’s Fund.

But Parsons doesn’t shy away from experimental causes and solutions. “We tackle controversial causes, things people don’t necessarily like to talk about during dinner parties,” Parsons said, looking back on a decade of work.

For vets, that means gifts like $5 million to the Mount Sinai Center for Psychedelic Psychotherapy and Trauma Research for MDMA-assisted therapy to treat PTSD, and $2 million to MAPS, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, to support clinical trials of MDMA-assisted therapy applications. Parsons personally benefited from the therapy, and is committed to broadening its availability to veterans battling PTSD.

Called to duty

Corporations that employ vets, were founded by vets, or have high levels of engagement with the military community are often consistent backers of veterans. They include the Home Depot Foundation, which recently provided $6.6 billion for veterans housing on the way to meeting its overall goal of investing a half-billion dollars in veterans causes by 2025.

Gamers are also on board. Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard, the Santa Monica-based gaming company that created the Call of Duty franchise, also co-founded The Call of Duty Endowment, a nonprofit that works to help vets find meaningful work after serving, and to raise awareness of the special skills they bring to the workplace.

Though not a vet himself, Kotick co-founded the endowment in 2009 with General James Jones, a former national security advisor and retired four-star Marine Corps general, after learning that nearly a third of the 150,000 service members then returning to civilian life struggled to find jobs.

Kotick always felt that his company was inspired by the military ethos and had a duty to help. He was discussing arts funding for a vets center in L.A. one night when another high-ranking member of the military met the idea with profanity, and the clear message that vets “don’t need free art, they need jobs.”

The Call of Duty Endowment has made more than $60 million in grants to veterans’ employment initiatives since its founding, and recently made a new $30 million commitment over the next five years. Activision Blizzard has been responsible for more than $30 million of the total.

The Call of Duty player base is also highly engaged in fundraising, including through an upcoming virtual “run” in which players earn a dollar for the endowment for each 10 kilometer sprint they complete in-game, collectively capped at $1 million.

After a few bumps and starts, the endowment’s Executive Director Dan Goldenberg said that by 2013, it had created a data-driven open application process that awards a “seal of distinction” to grantees based on performance metrics like cost per placement, retention rates and demographics.

A green light from a Deloitte pro bono assessment clears a path for consideration by the endowment’s board, and the $30,000 unrestricted award that accompanies the seal. From there, seal of distinction winners are eligible for consideration for restricted grants averaging $500,000.

Goldenberg cited Vet Jobs as a successful partnership that embraced both the endowment’s process and Deloitte’s recommendations. In 2014, the group, which helps place vets in corporate jobs, placed 949 vets in positions. By 2021, that number had climbed to 6,100.

In May, the Call of Duty Endowment reached its overall goal of placing 100,000 vets in jobs two years ahead of schedule, and at a cost of only $547 per placement — roughly 10% of what the government spends.

The throughline for philanthropic support for veterans is loyalty. Funders typically stay with the community over time, and make it part of any and all special relief efforts, including for COVID. Time will tell if Scott and Jewett show the same sustained commitment — and if turbulent times create a new base of funders with a firsthand knowledge of what it means to serve.

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