Easy Ways to Give Back to the Military During the Holidays Through the USO

By Sydney Johnson

The USO has been dedicated to supporting service members and their families since 1941. As a nonprofit and military support organization, the USO relies on generous donors to fund its efforts so it can continue to strengthen troops with its programs and services.

Have you ever wondered how you can help support service members during the holiday season or all year-round? You don’t need to donate a million dollars or your whole paycheck to make a difference in the lives of service members! Here are a few ways you can support the military through the USO!

Give Back During the Holiday Season

The holiday season can be especially difficult for service members and military families, many of whom are separated from family, home and country. These military families sacrifice so much and deserve to have just a moment to reconnect and enjoy the holiday season, no matter where they are in the world. That’s why USO Holidays programs are there to support the military community. Here’s how you can help us carry out the USO’s festive mission:

Spread the Word About USO Holidays

Help the USO tell the world about USO Holidays programming! You can share USO Holiday videos, social media posts and USO.org stories with your friends and family to encourage others to support the cause.

USO Wishbook

Another way to support the troops throughout the holiday season is by utilizing USO Wishbook, which is an alternative giving catalog that offers military supporters a way to send a heartfelt symbolic gift to a loved one. If you or your friends need some gift ideas, it can’t hurt to browse! You can also help spread the word about this alternative way of giving by sharing the USO Wishbook video with your friends and family via social media.

Combined Federal Campaign (CFC)

If you are a federal employee, you can select the USO as your charity of choice to receive your CFC contribution. Select the USO (CFC# 11381) and show your support of America’s service members and military families.

Give Back All Year Round

Round Up and Donate with Lyft

Whenever you use the ride share app Lyft, you can opt in for their Round Up & Donate program and choose to donate your spare change to the nonprofit of your choice. This setting automatically rounds your payment up to the nearest dollar, and the difference is donated. Select the USO as your nonprofit of choice and automatically donate whenever you take a ride!

Facebook Fundraiser

Have a birthday coming up? Celebrating a patriotic holiday? Want to honor someone you know who served – or is currently serving – in the military? Start a fundraiser for the USO via Facebook. Once the fundraiser is created and shared with friends, people who want to contribute can do so and share the fundraiser themselves to reach a larger audience of potential donors.

AmazonSmile

You can give back every time you shop on Amazon by shopping via AmazonSmile. Go to smile.amazon.com, login and select the USO as your charity. AmazonSmile will then donate 0.5% of your eligible purchases to the USO.

Operation Play it Forward

Do you like gaming? Through Tiltify, you can raise money for the USO via our Operation Play it Forward campaign!

Campaign to Connect

Campaign to Connect makes it easy to send messages of thanks to service members. Through Campaign to Connect, you can send messages of support to military members as a way to boost their morale and make them smile. Kind words can go a long way.

Share on Social Media

Social media platforms are integral to the success of nonprofits, and the USO is no different. Giving the USO a shoutout, sharing USO content, or tagging the USO in a post helps spread the word about the nonprofit’s mission and programming. You can find the USO on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.