2019 San Juan invitational Fly fishing tournament video recap
A couple vets this year brought back some hardware but all brought back some education on the quality waters of the San Juan and some memories of a once in a lifetime chance to be guided in a tournament format on the river.
If you are a vet or know a vet that would like to come with us on a trip like this be sure to share it with them.
Yellowstone 2019 in the bag!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayFEZQ4Gfcs&feature=share
We had wind, we had snow and even frost. Everyone dug in and got to be a part of the snake river corrals construction project. We fished, we hiked and we all had a good time. We are working on a major video project to showcase our work in the park but here is a snippet of this year. Huge thanks to the veteran crew this year for their efforts and always Arch for their contributions.
Click here to watch!
Track chair donations leave no Veteran behind.
Wednesday at Camp Withycombe, Warfighter Outfitters was once again blessed with a donation of 2 more Action Track chairs from the Portland-based Poznanski Family foundation. One chair will be a dedicated chair for Team Overland trips and the other chair will be a dedicated fishing chair leaving the third for fill-ins and as a dedicated hunting chair.
Each chair will have its own special fittings and uses making them perfect for all three events and broaden the spectrum of uses and broaden the reach of not only veterans beings served but the use in the region.
These chairs will allow a much easier time for Veterans to travel into the region with minimal gear knowing they will have the best equipment and help money can buy for their reach when they arrive on a trip.
A huge thanks from the whole Warfighter team goes out to the Poznanski family foundation, KGW, and the Portland Rose festival and Carr family for being such wonderful and spirited supporters of our mission.
Fox 12 “On the go with joe” and Warfighter Outfitters
Our very own Furry army veteran and Warfighter Guide, Dave made his television debut and was featured on Fox 12 Today on an episode of “On the go with joe” sharing his love for what he does and the mission of Warfighter outfitters.
Dave came to us a while back with the enthusiasm and humor that fit right into our mission so we added him to the Warfighter crew. He spends most of his time in the Portland area and really gets the mission and cause of getting Veterans like ourselves out on the water.
Here is the episode
If you are a Veteran that would like to join the Warfighter Outfitters team and helps us get Veteran out on the water or in the woods drop us a line. at Warfighteroutfitters@gmail.com
If you would like to support us by filling our tanks and getting veterans on trips you can donate here
Buy Warfighter Outfitters and Team Overland gear in one place and win some freebies!
We put both brands in one place for you to get gear that supports veterans and are brands worth supporting. Every garment you buy helps get veterans on the water or in the woods and helps us represent a cause we think is worthy.
Not only that you get a decal with every order for free!
Hats, Hoodies, Tee’s, Long sleeves, Fishing shirts!
What is there to lose, you look good, you feel good and people will know what you support!
Buy some gear, tag us in a photo of you wearing it and we will toss you some freebies!
Go to the home page www.warfighteroutfitters.org and click the gear footer at the bottom of the page!
Northwest Fly Fishing Article
We are honored to have made the pages of one of our favorite magazines. The March/April2019 edition of the Northwest Flyfishing magazine had a nice short story about us and the work we do on the rivers. Cheers to the staff and putting it together and getting it in print for us. And Cheers to Aaron Sewall for the pen strokes!
Getting things off the ground……
Starting a nonprofit is not the easiest thing to do by any means. But here are some great tips that will help you if you have the time on your hands, a couple grand to start with and (like all veterans) time to be up late.
When I first started down this road I had really no idea of what it took to get things running. I had been around and served by many non profits such as the Wounded Warrior Project before but these were giant successful entities that I couldn’t comprehend. I have also been a part of small family sized non profits and seen how simple it looked from the outside looking in. After getting to this point and looking back I can tell you this, what you put in is what you will get out.
Have the right reason
I started Warfighter outfitters for a couple reasons. I watched a very close friend to me be on the minutes side of death because he had no contact with the outside world and was drinking himself to death. What saved him? An outing with peers, one simple fishing trip is all it took. Another reason is I am fond of the outdoors and the sportsman’s lifestyle. I am going to be doing it, so I may as well share it with others. If you have the right reason of starting your non profit things will go a lot easier than if you are “working” through the process and not having fun. There is no money in it so don’t even try. There are a lot of charities that are out there for the all mighty buck, but I have yet to see one last for very long. So whatever your passion you can use it to make lives better.
Start with 2 grand
$2,000 bucks is about what you will need to get the ball rolling. I sold some personal items to get the cash and roll forward with the big idea that it will change lives. This will cover your attorneys fees, your state and federal filing fees, and a little left to get your social media, website, and funding campaign up and going.
Find your friends
You will need a trusted group of folks to serve as a board of directors. Gather up about 5 people you know well enough that will be there when you need meetings, they should be locals to you and you know will share the same vision and have a good time doing it.
Get a good Attorney
This is paramount! Find one that knows their way around non profits and the filing processes. this will be your mentor for the first several years. Every time your are in the office ask all the questions you can and take notes to be ready for the next step. Your attorney will make or break your non profit before it even gets started. They are worth every cent.
Be friends with your local paper editor
When you first start out there is only one way to get the word out, Media! These folks are usually looking for these kinds of stories and if you can give them all the info on your newly minted organization and its mission you have multiplied your audience massively. Be sure to have your web/social/funding sites ready before getting the news out so you can be ready for the cascade of folks that will be interested in your cause.
Do it by the numbers
From day zero, make sure you keep records of everything. make copies of anything that has to deal with your non profit. Create folders in your email accounts and organize every message accordingly, take scans of all the checks and donations you receive. Constantly reconcile, categorize and describe your bank statements. Scan all your documents and save them in perspective files on your computer and back them up on an external hard drive. It may sound like a lot to do, but if you do each item when it happens it isn’t such a load.
Once you get to this stage it is pretty apparent how to manage things in your new mission. I would recommend doing all of this by yourself to really understand the key problem areas to your organization. Once you have a good grasp on things you can then get your board involved with sharing some of the weight such as the secretary and treasurer. I find this way to prove very beneficial since you have already made the mistakes and are teaching the rest how to avoid them. But most importantly, you cant be at the helm and not understand the workings of the ship underneath you.