NHA Scholarship Fund Always Says Two Things: “Donate" and "Apply!”

By CAPT Arne Nelson, USN (Ret.) President

Enduring legacy: I’d like to tip my hat this month to the old H-46 Bubbas and their legendary thousand pallet lifts. I am asking you to send in your stories with a challenge, and maybe a fund drive in honor of the aircrews and deckhands doing this stuff at night with a rack of red masthead lights as their only reference. NHASF Legacy Awards can keep the spirit of the Thousand Pallet Lifts alive.

Scholarship News: A round of applause to our NHA Scholarship Fund Committee for their efforts to prescreen the 2021 applicant pool and deliver a slate of 56 highly qualified applicants across three categories, competing for fifteen $3,000 scholarships. The NHASF Committee, assisted by regional selection teams, to include two West Coast CMCs, selected 15 competitive undergraduate, graduate, and active-duty enlisted candidates and 8 designated alternates.

Jim Toone, our Executive VP and VP for Operations, said, “The 2021 selection group was the most competitive group of applicants we’ve seen over the past two years. In every category, we had tough decisions to make. This is a top-quality slate.”

By the end of March, we had closed the selection boards and delivered the slate to the Board of Directors for their approval. The announcement for the awardees will be made in May, when we will notify each of the candidates of their selection status and request additional information needed to make the award.

But, that isn’t all we have been doing. Some of the less glamorous, but important, items on the NHASF Committee’s schedule between now and the end of August include the following:

1. Reviewing lessons learned and implementing good ideas for the next cycle.

2. “Changing the oil” on our website, particularly the donation pages, to codify the methods, or Landing Spots, for donations.

3. Improving the online application process.

4. Streamlining the selection process with better grading gouge for the application review.

Coming out of the summer, our goal is to be ready to “hit-the-deck running” when we open the 2022 Award Cycle on September 1, 2021. Additional information will be provided no later than August 20, 2021. For planning, we will be looking at a fundraising target of $75k for 2022 (scholarships, Admin and investment portfolio increase). We will be asking for your help.

Categories for funding continue to show the generosity of both past and present donors, this year exceeding our fundraising goals for 2020. Our sources of income have grown, particularly the investment income based upon some generous gifts in perpetuity made years ago.

1. Corporate sponsorships (annual and in perpetuity): CAE, FLIR (corporate), Midway Museum, Sikorsky/Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Kaman, and NHA Historical Society

2. Individual gifts increased dramatically with the focused Day of Giving Campaign in 2020. u Legacy and leadership challenge donations - (Mark Starr) u Memorial gifts Emma Therese Jordon, Ream Memorial, and FLIR Memorial u Investment growth based upon a handful of gifts made in perpetuity. Kaman, the Ream Family, and Don Patterson’s Points of Light generosity have anchored our investment, which grew significantly over the past two years – allowing the amount of each scholarships to grow to $3000.

CAPT Jim Toone USN (Ret.), current Exec VP/ VP for Operations will leave the staff in late April after leading the applications process and delivering a highly qualified slate in both 2020 and 2021. Working with the VP Scholarships, and our Committee, he has rewritten the By-Laws and the Ops Manual to capture and clarify our scholarship procedures.

CAPT Bill Keller, USN (Ret.), VP for Scholarships, will leave the committee in May after streamlining the application process and procedures, and personally assisting dozens of applicants to make their way through the procedure. His hands on approach will be missed.

CAPT Jon Kline, CO NSA Hampton Roads, and VP for plans has done a great job reinvigorating our message which increased awareness and grew our scholarship base. He will leave us this summer when he transfers to Naples, Italy to take on the Regional Deputy position. NHA Scholarship Fund

Vice President Operations / Executive Vice President: The Vice President Operations / Executive Vice President shall perform all the duties of the President in his/her absence and shall:

1. Insure day to day operations of the Fund are consistent with the By-Laws and Operations Manual.

2. Oversee the National Scholarship Selections and coordinate with regional and functional selection committees.

3. Maintain an up to date Operations Manual

Vice President, Scholarships:

1. Develop and modify, when needed, the scholarship application and selection process.

2. Work with the NHA Webmaster to streamline prescreen and application procedures and (as needed) assist potential applicants maneuver through the application process.

3. Make notifications to applicants and selectees as to the results of the final selection list

Vice President, Plans

.1Develop the annual strategic plan and determine the marketing effort needed to fundraise scholarship and overhead funds.

2. Recommend the funding targets for the year based on fundraising and investment levels (ex. 15 scholarships at $3k each).

3. Make recommendations to update the NHASF Website.

If interested, please contact the NHASF President, CAPT Arne Nelson, USN (Ret.) at president@nhascholarshipfund.org. Please forward a cover letter and resume/bio for consideration.