Orion Military Scholarship Fund Inc

Orion aims to provide stable, quality educational experiences for children from active duty military families, and to enrich boarding school communities with children from families who lead lives of military service.

Orion networks with, partners with, connects with and informs other military organizations to spread the word about its scholarship program. These organizations include Blue Star Families, Military Child Education Coalition, Military Family Association Network, First Command Education Foundation, USAA, MOAA, Navy Seal Foundation, Military Spouse Magazine, Military Families Magazine, and the many Military School Liaison Officers stationed across the globe.

Orion maintains social media channels to gain exposure that would attract military families to its scholarship program. Orion has an informative website, and publishes a semi-annual newsletter, Orion's Arrow.

Orion must fundraise to meet its goals. To that end, Orion's executive officers reach out to potential and existing donors throughout the year to ask for their support and inform them about Orion's program. Orion also runs two annual public fundraisers via email blasts and social media posts -- one around Memorial Day and the other during Veteran's Day.

Orion has five active board members, four of which are co-founders and executive officers who run the organization, meeting weekly to accomplish administrative and program goals. Orion's board meets twice per year, and Orion's executive officers reach out periodically throughout the year for guidance from its board of advisors on meeting fundraising goals, expanding donor database, and increasing national exposure.

Orion also has several volunteers that are referred to as "ambassadors" who help periodically with marketing and fundraising.

Despite Orion's large funding need, the program's goals can be met by a handful of dedicated individuals. As the program's fundraising grows, Orion aims to increase its fundraising budget to add staff or contractors who will assist in fundraising for Orion.

Orion has seen steady growth in applications submitted to its scholarship program, indicating that marketing efforts have succeeded in gaining exposure among military families. From 2021 to 2023, application submissions more than doubled, and member schools reported that they were very pleased with the outstanding quality of the applicants in 2023.

Fundraising continues to be very challenging post-pandemic and during inflation; however, Orion's donors show consistency and seem to enjoy seeing that their contributions directly affect the lives of the children in Orion's program. Orion aims to develop donor loyalty, and ask its donors to reinvest each year in the lives of military children. Orion also works constantly to find new donors who want to support military causes and education. Despite well-known fundraising challenges in recent years, Orion has seen steady consistency in its donations, and promising potential growth for 2023 and beyond.