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Fiddleback

Fiddleback

Knifemaker
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Lately, I feel a drive to help our veterans more than just giving discounts on knives. Because of this, I have decided that I am going to start giving 10% of the profits from Fiddleback Friday sales to a veterans charity each week. My problem is that every time I think I've found a veterans charity that is good, it turns out to be less helpful to our vets than I expected.

So I need y'alls help in two ways. First, please help me select a veterans charity that is honorable, and that directs most of its funds to veterans. Wouldn't 100% be nice? And Second, Please help us support the veterans by continuing to support Fiddleback Friday.

Thanks!

Edited with apologies to change revenue to profits from Fiddleback Friday. I apologize for the necessity of this. I will donate the full 10% of revenue for this friday to try to make up for the gaff.
 
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One of my best friends has a veteran-focused 501(c)3 charitable organization in Houston called give us paws. See giveuspaws .org. Also on Facebook. He and a team of service dog trainers have made huge differences in many post-military lives. Thank you.
Jason
 
Fiddleback said:
Lately, I feel a drive to help our veterans more than just giving discounts on knives. Because of this, I have decided that I am going to start giving 10% of the revenue from Fiddleback Friday sales to a veterans charity each week. My problem is that every time I think I've found a veterans charity that is good, it turns out to be less helpful to our vets than I expected.

So I need y'alls help in two ways. First, please help me select a veterans charity that is honorable, and that directs most of its funds to veterans. Wouldn't 100% be nice? And Second, Please help us support the veterans by continuing to support Fiddleback Friday.

Thanks!
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Have you considered the USO? It's not specifically for veterans, I know.

If I might, allow me to warn you off a fallacy many folks fall into: It's the "proportion of income devoted to direct aid" misunderstanding. Organizations like Red Cross are often pilloried for spending as much as they do on their internal operations in comparison to their services. This criticism is based on misunderstanding the economics of scale. Larger organizations, despite whatever proportion of donations go to internal operations, are able because of that size to provide more services to their target population. So don't be put off by some of the big charities even if their operating budgets seem massive. Also don't be put off just because their CEOs might be making what appear to be handsome salaries: Yes, there are some shocking numbers out there and you need not contribute to those that don't pass the smell test, but to lure experienced and effective leaders from the private sector costs a lot and the managerial prowess they bring to these good causes grows the charitable power of their organizations tremendously.

Let us know what you decide!

Zieg
 
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Fiddleback said:
Lately, I feel a drive to help our veterans more than just giving discounts on knives. Because of this, I have decided that I am going to start giving 10% of the revenue from Fiddleback Friday sales to a veterans charity each week. My problem is that every time I think I've found a veterans charity that is good, it turns out to be less helpful to our vets than I expected.

So I need y'alls help in two ways. First, please help me select a veterans charity that is honorable, and that directs most of its funds to veterans. Wouldn't 100% be nice? And Second, Please help us support the veterans by continuing to support Fiddleback Friday.

Thanks!
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Thank You Andy. As a Veteran myself [USN 69-74] You can't imagine how good it is and has been to see Fiddleback Forge's commitment to help veterans of all wars and eras. That said I, and only personally speaking here, have had a skeptical view of Charities in general. The administrative costs alone for the big charities for most ensure that a very small percentage of donations goes to the target recipients, and well you probably know the rest of the story.

Perhaps the ideal charity would be a small one run by volunteers and part timers who are not relying on the business of charity it's self as a full time paid position/career. Does something like that exist? I'm not sure but I will begin to look. I'd like to see something like Habitat for Humanity's business model that rely heavily on volunteering, yet something geared to help veterans. Especially the "combat servicemen and women" of today's military. I'm not going to repeat the statistics here. Suffice to say we loose too many too often.

Disclaimer: because I feel strongly about this topic I jumped right in without reading any other comments, which may have been repeated here.
I would add this one last thought here to your awesome ideas...Act Locally!
 
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Awesome, you should reach out to Ted Nugent. He works with a few good ones and I'm sure they'e been checked out well.
 
Hey here in North Carolina there’s a foundation that builds homes for veterans called Purple Heart homes! They do great work for vets! It’s out of Statesville,NC and one of the founders just passed unexpectedly last month! Check into them and see if it’s something you could help with!
 
varga49 said:
Thank You Andy. As a Veteran myself [USN 69-74] You can't imagine how good it is and has been to see Fiddleback Forge's commitment to help veterans of all wars and eras. That said I, and only personally speaking here, have had a skeptical view of Charities in general. The administrative costs alone for the big charities for most ensure that a very small percentage of donations goes to the target recipients, and well you probably know the rest of the story.

Perhaps the ideal charity would be a small one run by volunteers and part timers who are not relying on the business of charity it's self as a full time paid position/career. Does something like that exist? I'm not sure but I will begin to look. I'd like to see something like Habitat for Humanity's business model that rely heavily on volunteering, yet something geared to help veterans. Especially the "combat servicemen and women" of today's military. I'm not going to repeat the statistics here. Suffice to say we loose too many too often.

Disclaimer: because I feel strongly about this topic I jumped right in without reading any other comments, which may have been repeated here.
I would add this one last thought here to your awesome ideas...Act Locally!
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A small one that needs the $ to keep doing what they are doing sounds great. Also, that Ted Nugent idea sounds good too.
 
I'll have to check how donations work, because it's not exactly a charity, but I volunteer to teach vets college courses through The Warrior Scholar Project at my university. Maybe your contribution can fully fund a vet--something like a Fiddleback scholarship? I'm a professor at USC, but I know the Warrior Scholar Project is a nation wide program--it might be worth checking if it is conducted at a university in Georgia.

Hope that helps. It's great that you are so caring about our men and women who serve!
 
Andy, have you reached out to others in the knifemaking community? Daniel Winkler has had all that military connection. And, I know L.T. Wright designed a knife intended for veterans with some disabilities. Maybe he's had some contact with various organizations. Seems you could leverage your peers to get some insights.
 
rswanson said:
Andy, have you reached out to others in the knifemaking community? Daniel Winkler has had all that military connection. And, I know L.T. Wright designed a knife intended for veterans with some disabilities. Maybe he's had some contact with various organizations. Seems you could leverage your peers to get some insights.
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I have not. Thats a great idea.
 
I don’t know how it is in your area, but as a vet myself, I can recall going to one of the steak nights/banquets at the local VFW here and couldn’t believe how run down the general facilities were (not really falling apart, but just old and worn out). I would imagine that each chapter must get some kind of allowance from the national organization for maintenance and upkeep, but I’m not sure how it all works, so maybe donating to your local VFW post or helping to get their facilities in good condition might be one option for you if you’d like to keep it small and local.

We also have a War Veterans Home nearby for vets who are disabled (or elderly) and who need an assisted living facility. Maybe there’s something similar in your area?

Thanks for your support, Andy.
 
jaz322 said:
One of my best friends has a veteran-focused 501(c)3 charitable organization in Houston called give us paws. See giveuspaws .org. Also on Facebook. He and a team of service dog trainers have made huge differences in many post-military lives. Thank you.
Jason
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:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

I can personally vouch for the amazing impact and improved quality of life that service dogs can provide for veterans with PTSD as well as those with physical disabilities.

Great suggestion, jaz322 jaz322 ! :)
 
Yesterday I misspoke when I used the word revenue instead of profits for the donation. I apologize for this mistake. I cannot afford to do the revenue # at this time. I plan to donate 10% of the profits from each FF sale to the charity we choose. I really like these service dog charities. They seem to make an impact that is tactile.

This Friday, to make up for my gaff, I will donate 10% of the revenue from FF. I hope that in some way it makes up for the error.
 
Lady1911 said:
I don’t know how it is in your area, but as a vet myself, I can recall going to one of the steak nights/banquets at the local VFW here and couldn’t believe how run down the general facilities were (not really falling apart, but just old and worn out). I would imagine that each chapter must get some kind of allowance from the national organization for maintenance and upkeep, but I’m not sure how it all works, so maybe donating to your local VFW post or helping to get their facilities in good condition might be one option for you if you’d like to keep it small and local.

We also have a War Veterans Home nearby for vets who are disabled (or elderly) and who need an assisted living facility. Maybe there’s something similar in your area?

Thanks for your support, Andy.
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I will look into this. Maybe I can volunteer a bit there.

Lady1911 said:
:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

I can personally vouch for the amazing impact and improved quality of life that service dogs can provide for veterans with PTSD as well as those with physical disabilities.

Great suggestion, jaz322 jaz322 ! :)
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I think so too.
 
Fiddleback said:
Yesterday I misspoke when I used the word revenue instead of profits for the donation. I apologize for this mistake. I cannot afford to do the revenue # at this time. I plan to donate 10% of the profits from each FF sale to the charity we choose. I really like these service dog charities. They seem to make an impact that is tactile.

This Friday, to make up for my gaff, I will donate 10% of the revenue from FF. I hope that in some way it makes up for the error.
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I read revenue as profit as I figured you'd need to stay in business for this to come to fruition. No harm no foul.....Line #1 of your original post says it all.

Fiddleback said:
Lately, I feel a drive to help our veterans more <snip>
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Proud to be a fiddleback supporter/addict.

Thanks for all you and your team do making knives and giving back!
 
ndmiller said:
I read revenue as profit as I figured you'd need to stay in business for this to come to fruition. No harm no foul.....Line #1 of your original post says it all.



Proud to be a fiddleback supporter/addict.

Thanks for all you and your team do making knives and giving back!
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Thanks N. Hope to see you soon at TR. You can't imagine how hard it was to go to sleep last night after realizing this mistake.
 
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