Organizing a Military Pro Bono Program

Organizing a Military Pro Bono Program

By COL John R. Power (USA-Ret) CFP®
on behalf of FPA Pro Bono

Organizing a pro bono program to support military personnel in a state or chapter area footprint is a bit different from arranging a program to support other communities. The FPA Pro Bono Directors Guide Book is very useful as a generic resource, particularly as it relates to identifying and making arrangements with local organizations and tools available to volunteers, but there are very unique aspects of the military population that require different strategies and responses. This paper summarizes approaches that might be taken to effectively offer services to service members in your area.

1.Find the key entry points

The military “landscape” will be different in every chapter. There may be an active duty installation within your footprint with whom you could partner. There may be reserve component elements that would welcome participation and support. The key first step is to “inventory” the area to find out who is located in the target space and what the composition of their population might be. Once you have an understanding of the military population that you might wish to serve, you can create a strategy to enter into an agreement.

2.Discover “Chain of Command”

The military are a unique population. They tend to be extraordinarily self-sufficient because that is how they have been trained; to deal with any situation. Commanders and staff tend to be very protective of their troops. They will almost always initially view any attempt to provide pro bono services as a “sales pitch” from which they should protect their troops. There have been and still are many bad tales about financial institutions taking advantage of troops who tend to be, like most of our population, a bit ignorant on financial affairs. Pawn shops, payday loans, high interest rate deals, etc. are quite common despite every effort to teach the troops. Commanders will protect their troops. In particular one must understand the “chain of command”. Every organization has higher headquarters and those headquarters may impose rules. It is important to get as high in the “pecking order” as possible. Low level staff and managers generally find the “no” answer easiest; if there are rules from above that is even easier.

3.Use a former military officer as the “point man”

The military values rank and officers, the more senior the better, can get a hearing with local leaders. If you have a retired or currently serving reserve component officer in the chapter you can probably get them to serve in the pro bono committee and set up the arrangements. Officers will trust other officers so if they are the spokesperson for the FPA effort, you will have almost instant credibility. Otherwise it will be difficult to break through the protective shield.

4.Aim High

Try to make an appointment with the highest official possible; the local commander or deputy/assistant. They are usually the people empowered to make decisions and interpret the rules. Lower level officials are much less likely to take the risks of embarking on a new venture and will gravitate to “no” very easily. As you get higher in the chain of command you will find people who are more attuned to being concerned about troop welfare and less consumed with protecting turf.

5.Go Prepared

The military processes include detailed preparation for every meeting or action. Planning is part of their nature. Make sure you’ve done your homework about the organization, their mission and their population. Have some documents from the FPA Pro Bono program that show how FPA has served in the past. Have a copy of the letter of agreement a planner and client would execute if a detailed planning engagement is envisioned. Have a sample of training material that might be pertinent -budgeting and debt reduction would be spot on in most cases. Have a copy of a proposed MOU between the FPA and the military organization that they might consider. This contains legal language that reaffirms that there is no selling as part of the arrangement.

Hyperlinks Found: Volunteer/FPA Pro bono Tabs: Informational Video/PowerPoint for working with Military Populations provided byFPAPro Bono

FPA Pro Bono Letter of Engagement(Military and all Populations)

FPA Pro Bono Partnership MOU Template

Short Term Pro Bono Agreement

Pro Bono Boot Camp Video Training

Pro Bono Boot Camp Optional CE (1 free credit)

FPA Pro Bono Boot Camp Handout

6.A Message

Here’s a selling point that often works. Most of the military today is married and the best troops are engaged in strong and stable families. Pro bono financial planning is a major contributor to family strength and health. Financial readiness of soldiers and their families contributes directly to military readiness. Troops getting ready to deploy have wills in place; they need financial plans as well. You want to help them be strong. They are serving you; you want to serve them. Simple. The commander will understand that.

7.Look at the National Guard

Every state has a national guard; headed by the state Adjutant General, usually a political appointee from the officers in that state. They in turn command the units that are distributed across the state in the armories in the various cities and towns. Collectively they are the largest entity in the military after the active force; other organizations are more diffused. If you have a state chapter then start with the National Guard headquarters and extend from there. If the state HQ has negotiated a Memorandum of Understanding, that becomes your guiding document for all the National Guard organizations in the state. Most states have a family support organization which tends to focus on family strength and “social work” kinds of things. (Not actual social work per se, but many activities akin to that and sometimes they have social workers on staff.) They will also have a Mobilization office, although that is getting less intense as Afghanistan winds down. These tend to be implementation arms; they get guidance from their higher leaders. They may be entry points however, to get a hearing with the Adjutant General or Assistant Adjutant General. Once you get the endorsement from “on high” you are on your way.

8.Find the Base Commander

Most active duty installations will house a fairly large combat formation, but will have a relatively senior officer who is the base “housekeeper”. That person, usually the Base Commander or the like, is often a Colonel or Navy Captain and has the authority to support such arrangements. They often have a community service center where initiatives like financial education and planning might be held. Connecting with them on an active installation would be an excellent start point. A good activity to consider might be something like a Financial Planning Day, but instead of for a town it would be for a base or post. Again, go in with a plan and some documents to validate the “no sales” nature of the offer.

9.Identify the Implementer

Once you get to the higher level commander, know that they aren’t going to be your contact. Make sure you find out from the commander who is being directed to work with you. Set up an early follow-up meeting with them to get into the details of what is next. They will probably be the agent to get the MOU signed and do other such things. They are the people with whom you will really partner. Strike that tone of partnership with them to help accomplish their mission at no cost to them. It usually works. As an example, in Massachusetts the National Guard Mobilization and Deployment Office and the Family Support Office are collocated and together ran the pre-mobilization and post-mobilization “Yellow Ribbon” weekends. Prior to the staff Personal Financial Counselor (PFC) being funded, the FPA of MA was their only resource and became an extension of their staff. Once the single PFC was in place the FPA provided the financial “foot soldiers” in tight coordination with the PFC. The relationship has gone far beyond trusted partner to just a recognized member of the team.

10. Document Results

You never know when your engagement might be challenged. You never know when you might want to extend your services to another agency. If you have results such as number of troops trained, number of families provided with detailed plans, number of tax returns prepared, number of volunteer hours provided to support military organization events, number of workbooks distributed, etc. it goes a long way. Not only will you be able to “take credit” for what you have done, but you may encourage more FPA members to participate. You may also use that data to encourage other organizations, military or not, to engage in pro bono partnership. It is much easier to sell real product than ideas!

For more Information:

COL John R. Power (USA-Ret) CFP®
FPA National Pro Bono Advisory Committee
508-660-9770 /

770-938-1110 /