PLATINUM2024

Dogs for Our Brave Inc

Save a Veteran. Save a Dog. Save Two Lives.

aka Dogs for Our Brave   |   St. Louis, MO   |  https://DFOB.ORG/

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Mission

Our mission is to provide professionally trained service dogs at no cost to veterans who have suffered debilitating injury or illness while in service to our country. Our goal is to use rescue dogs at every opportunity, thus saving two lives at once. In order to fully realize our mission without adding financial burden, we also provide a continuum of free support that covers all food, veterinary care, and pharmaceuticals for the life of the dog.

Ruling year info

2014

Director of Operations and Communication

Carol Sheahan

Main address

6244 Clayton Ave

St. Louis, MO 63139 USA

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EIN

46-4656908

NTEE code info

Military/Veterans' Organizations (W30)

Animal Training, Behavior (D61)

Animal Protection and Welfare (includes Humane Societies and SPCAs) (D20)

IRS filing requirement

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

Sign in or create an account to view Form(s) 990 for 2022, 2021 and 2019.
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Communication

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

With 22 veterans a day taking their own life, Dogs for our Brave is committed to lowering that number closer to zero. Sometimes as a civilian, the perspective may be, if a service member fulfills their commitment to our country without losing their life, they are going to be okay. Whether our military men and women serve in combat or not, the training they endure to prepare for that situation if and when it presents itself is emotionally, mentally, and physically changing the person forever. The number 22 tells us, veterans need more from us, they need things they may not even know they need or are unable to ask for. We never forget and we never give up. Each approved veteran goes through five phases leading up to receiving their service dog. This allows us to build a relationship with the veteran well in advance of them ever receiving a SD from DFOB. While also providing us the opportunity to help the veteran be more prepared to utilize the SD to the best of their ability.

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?

Service Dog Training

Mobility service dogs with social, emotional support skills:

Turn on and off light switches
Opening doors
Bracing
Retrieval
Pulling
Anxiety Relief
Nightmare Interruption
Other commands will be taught to help and special needs tailored to each veterans needs

Population(s) Served
Veterans

Where we work

Awards

Veteran Ready Organization 2024

Psych/Armor

Certificate of Completion 2024

Extreme Ownership Leadership Course

Videos

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 service dogs provided to veterans

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Related Program

Service Dog Training

Type of Metric

Context - describing the issue we work on

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

We rescue the dogs we train in our program. Past trauma of a dog may present later in the program, causing us to wash and adopted out a dog because it would not meet our standards for a service dog.

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.

We know that a service dog positively impacts the life of a veteran. We have been told by our veterans they are able to live more independently which promotes self-confidence and their service dog is their purpose for waking up every day. Our goal is to help move each veteran in the direction of becoming the best version of themselves.

To hear a veteran say that their family is now their family again and not their caregiver is incredibly rewarding. Task the family was doing are now being done by their service dog.

For those veterans that have not left their home independently for years, are now able to because their dog is by their side helping to reduce anxiety and fear of being in public.

Above all to serve each veteran as the individual that they are. Creating a relationship of trust to allow them to share their struggles so we may help to pair them with the service dog in training that will complement their life not distract from their life.

Getting to know their struggles allows us to provide other resources to support their mind, body, and spirit for a holistic approach to their healing journey.

Our Director of Veteran Services is an Army Combat Medic who is with us to stay in the fight and serve other veterans. Because of him, we have noticed a significant change in our veterans. He is able to have raw, honest, veteran conversations and they open up to him in a safe space. Our goal is to do the right thing, having more personal in-depth relationships gives us the information needed to support our veterans ongoing.

We have connected our veterans with other trusted veteran service organizations to assist in other areas of their life. We challenge each veteran to be the best version of themselves, that may mean they have joined a gym, have started to eat better, read books, and much more. Healing is a journey, and their service dog is a piece of the puzzle.

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 shared information about our current feedback practices.

  • 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 strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals

  • 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 share the feedback we received with the people we serve

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

    We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback

Financials

Dogs for Our Brave Inc
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Operations

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

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lock

Connect with nonprofit leaders

Subscribe

Build relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.

  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.

Dogs for Our Brave Inc

Board of directors
as of 07/22/2024
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Andy Gladstein

Marylynn Gladstein

Curtis Simic

Dick Shalhoub

Lt. Gen. David Fridovich

Dale Burghardt

Jim Scheutte

Sara Gladstein

John Pohlad

Tricia Prentice

Richard Acheson

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • Board orientation and education
    Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes
  • CEO oversight
    Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes
  • Ethics and transparency
    Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes
  • Board composition
    Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes
  • Board performance
    Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 7/22/2024
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
Female
Disability status
Person without a disability

Race & ethnicity

No data

Gender identity

No data

Transgender Identity

No data

Sexual orientation

No data

Disability

No data

Equity strategies

Last updated: 05/13/2021

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 disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
  • We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
  • 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 seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
  • We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
  • We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.