PLATINUM2022

SKY SOLDIERS FOUNDATION INC

Delivering on a Promise - Support for a safe landing when dropped into life's challenges

aka Sky Soldiers Foundation   |   Cleveland, OH   |  www.skysoldiersfoundation.org

Mission

Foundation is operated by volunteers. Provides support to those who serve, had served, and/or had given their lives for our nation while serving with the 173d Airborne Brigade, as well as their respective families. Various support programs are identified at the Sky Soldiers Foundation website (www.skysoldiersfoundation.org). The Foundation accepts donations and operates through the following funds: General Assist Fund; Sky Soldier Gold Star Assist Fund; Scholarship Fund; Sky Soldier Assist Fund; Veterans Sky Soldier Assist Fund; and Wounded Sky Soldier Assist Fund under specific guidelines. It operates in full partnership with the 173d Airborne Brigade Association in support of its members and their families and the Sky Soldier community. See 173d Airborne Brigade www.skysoldiers.army.mil

Notes from the nonprofit

Sky Soldier is the legendary designation for those who have served and are serving in the 173d Airborne Brigade. The Sky Soldiers Foundation supports those who currently serve in the 173d Airborne Brigade in defending our country and their families. We provide support to the families of those Killed In Action and also to those Sky Soldiers wounded while serving with this unit. In memory of and respect for the sacrifice made by our Sky Soldiers and their families, we provide scholarships for post high school education in colleges, universities and technical institutions.

Ruling year info

2008

President

Rimantas Ray Saikus

Main address

P.O. Box 32070

Cleveland, OH 44132-0070 USA

Show more contact info

Formerly known as

173D AIRBORNE BRIGADE ASSOCIATION FOUNDATION INC

The Herd Foundation

EIN

33-1139977

NTEE code info

Fund Raising and/or Fund Distribution (Y12)

Fund Raising and/or Fund Distribution (B12)

Fund Raising and/or Fund Distribution (L12)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990-N.

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Communication

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

(1) Encourage and manage a sustaining donor base, plus augment it. (2) Transition leadership to the next generation of Sky Soldiers by operating in an organizational structure that allows incremental assimilation of duties geared to their interests and does not substantially impact their needs for careers, career transitions into civilian life, their family units or communities.

Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

Gold Star Fund

Assist Gold Star family members of soldiers Killed In Action while serving with the U.S. Army 173d Airborne Brigade

Population(s) Served
Military personnel
Young adults
Older adults
Seniors
Children and youth

Granting of Scholarships to those who serve with the 173d Airborne Brigade, Sky Soldier Veterans, and their respective families plus Gold Star family members

Population(s) Served
Military personnel
Veterans
Students
Caregivers
Young adults

Sky Soldier is the legendary designation for those who have served and are serving in the 173d Airborne Brigade.
The Sky Soldiers Foundation supports those who currently serve in the 173d Airborne Brigade in defending our country and their families.
We provide support to the families of those Killed In Action and also to those Sky Soldiers wounded while serving with this unit.
We also provide support for those who had served with the unit, Sky Soldier Veterans, and their families
In memory of and respect for the sacrifice made by our Sky Soldiers and their families, we provide scholarships for post high school education in colleges, universities and technical institutions.

Population(s) Served
Military personnel
Veterans

This program is geared to support those on active duty with the U.S. Army 173d Airborne Brigade, which is based in Italy with some of its elements seving in Germany, and their families.

Population(s) Served
Military personnel

This program is geared to support those soldiers who were wounded while on active duty with the U.S. Army 173d Airborne Brigade, which is based in Italy with some of its elements seving in Germany, and their families. It serves those who remain on active duty while recovering from their wounds or have been discharged from the service and require additional assistance beyond what the government is providing them.

Population(s) Served
Military personnel
Veterans
Caregivers
Students
Veterans
Caregivers
Students

This program supports those who had served with the 173d Airborne Brigade or with one of its directly reporting supporting military units and their families.

Population(s) Served
Adults
Children and youth
Caregivers
Widows and widowers
Veterans

The organization receives donations to this fund from donors who do not specify a fund and designate their donation as "Were needed". The board can allocate moneys form this fund to any of the other funds that might have an immediate or emergency demand beyond its current funding. The board can also support a request for assistance that does not fall withing the scope of the other funds criteria. One such occassion is to provide/fund equipment and supplies to Sky Soldiers and their family members so they can be effective in assisting their community and fellow citizens in a time of natural or manmade disaster.

Population(s) Served
Military personnel
Veterans

Where we work

Affiliations & memberships

173d Airborne Brigade Association 2019

Our results

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.

Number of entrance scholarships and awards and exit scholarships

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Military personnel, Veterans, Young adults, Adolescents, Widows and widowers

Related Program

Scholarship Fund

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Our Sustainable Development Goals

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

(1) Establish a system to keep all the Sky Soldiers Foundation designated funds viable with endowments and/or cash reserves so the response time to support any requests for assistance in any of those fund categories, once confirmed, can be fulfilled as completely as possible and promptly with minimum of delay.
(2) Continue to develop the framework and operating methods, for an organization that primarily runs with majority being Sky Soldier Volunteers from the 20th Century (Vietnam War Era) with support of their family members, to one streamlined to assimilate more 21st Century (Afghanistan, Iraq and Global War on Terror) Sky Soldiers into its leadership ranks.
(3) Our final goal is to pass the torch to them to continue operating the Sky Soldiers Foundation supporting the Sky Soldier Community and preserving our legacy.
(4) Bring onboard the talent that helps the leadership be most effective in executing (1) , (2) and (3)

(1) Educate our supporters as to the continuing need to support the Sky Soldier community and reinforce the impact the existing as well as past support has made.
(2) Creating stories and videos to share on our website and social media in order to increase the base of donors - highlighting the impact we are already making and the need to sustain and enhance such support.

(1) The Sky Soldiers Foundation has a leadership group with diverse professional backgrounds, are committed to its mission and there is synergy in the contributions they all deliver
(2) Constantly reviewing our leadership structure to bring talent on board that will improve decision making, operational quality, response, accountability, and fundraising success

(1) We have added on our volunteer board an individual experienced and widely recognized in the leadership development field
(2) Will continue to enhance the board constituency by recruiting talent that will augment our capabilities to effectively reach out to our constituency and raise the funds required to accomplish our mission

How we listen

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.

done We demonstrated a willingness to learn more by reviewing resources about feedback practice.
done We shared information about our current feedback practices.

  • Who are the people you serve with your mission?

    Through the scholarship program, the applicants and their families. Requests for comments "In my own words" on the impact of the scholarships in their lives and studies. Through the other funds, the applicants for financial support, in follow up with recipients to get updates on status of their situation and to guide them to other resources to supplement what the Sky Soldiers Foundation has granted them.

  • How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

    To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals

  • What significant change resulted from feedback?

    (1) We learned that we need to remind people of our scholarship program numerous times and especially as the deadline approaches. (2) We learned that there is a need to establish local support for the recipients of Sky Soldiers Foundation financial support to access local resources at their time of need so they stabilize their situation.

  • Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

    We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

    We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback

Financials

SKY SOLDIERS FOUNDATION INC
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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Connect with nonprofit leaders

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  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

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SKY SOLDIERS FOUNDATION INC

Board of directors
as of 02/17/2022
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Rimantas Ray Saikus

Sky Soldiers Foundation

Term: 2022 - 2024

Marlene Battelle Hummell

Christopher Kolenda

Thomas Hummell

David Williams

John Barthelemy

Frank Marcantonio

Harold Brent

William C Vose

Thomas McMahon

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 2/7/2022
info Candid has made improvements to the race and ethnicity options.

Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.

Leadership

The organization's leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
White/Caucasian/European
Gender identity
Male

Race & ethnicity

No data

Gender identity

No data

 

No data

Sexual orientation

No data

Disability

No data

Equity strategies

Last updated: 11/05/2019

GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more

Data
  • We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
Policies and processes
  • We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.