New report focuses on charitable giving to nonprofits serving servicemembers, veterans and their families.
As the giving season is upon us, a recent report found that donations to nonprofits that provide mental health services for active-duty military, veterans and their families increased 178% from 2013-2023.
The Military & Veterans Community Index (MVCI) 2025 report from the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy’s Equitable Giving Lab initiative, measures charitable giving to nonprofits serving servicemembers, veterans, their families and communities. The Equitable Giving Lab conducts studies to better understand charitable giving to under-resourced groups in the United States. So while the report identified an increase in mental health service donations among others, it also showed that military and veteran-serving organizations received less than 1% of total giving over the past decade even as overall philanthropy grew.
“There really has not been growth as far as that measurement goes (for giving to military and veteran-serving organizations),” said Jonathon Bergdoll, the report’s lead analyst and interim director of Data & Research Partnerships for IU Family School of Philanthropy. “But what we also saw was a really large scale growth over the last decade, even when adjusting for inflation, of support for organizations providing mental health services.”
The increase in funding to support mental health services for veterans and servicemembers comes at a time when The American Legion has prioritized veterans mental health through its Be the One mission. The program is working to stop veteran suicide by destigmatizing mental health issues and making it OK for veterans to ask for help. Through suicide prevention training and online resources, The American Legion’s Be the One mission is to reduce the rate of suicide by empowering Legion Family and community members to know when a veteran is in crisis and how to act to save a life.
The only other area that grew faster than mental health services was service animal and animal therapy organizations, which grew 445% from 2013-2023. Meanwhile, organizations that provide basic human services like food and financial assistance for military, veterans and their families receive the most funding ($445 million) annually, followed by mental health or therapeutic service providers ($398 million), survivor care and memorializing organizations ($397 million), and housing services ($353 million).
In this season of charitable giving, you can make a tax-deductible gift to American Legion Charities to support the organization’s programs like Be the One that serve veterans, servicemembers, their families and children and youth. Donate here.
- Be the One