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Non-profit

The Mission Continues

Website:

ww.missioncontinues.org
Location:

St. Louis, MO
Tax ID:

20-8742553
Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)

Budget (2019):

Revenue: $7,913,087
Expenses: $13,164,247
Assets: $8,168,961
Type:

Veteran assistance
President:

Mary Beth Bruggeman
Founded:

2007

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The Mission Continues is a national philanthropy that helps ease U.S. military veterans’ employment prospects and transition to civilian life by volunteering with local charities. 1 Future Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens (R) founded The Mission Continues in 2007 as the Center for Citizen Leadership. 2 3

History and Mission

Former Navy SEAL Eric Greitens founded The Mission Continues in 2007 in St. Louis. 4 Its start-up money consisted of a modest, personal donation from Greitens and donations from two of his friends from the military. 5 The organization had reportedly helped 1,000 veterans in 48 states by 2014. 6

The Mission Continues allows veterans to volunteer to serve the poor in their own communities. According to its website, the group led 74 nationwide operations, including 1,479 service projects, in 2019. 7 The group’s “service platoons,” which operate in 40 cities across the United States, accept volunteers “regardless of veteran status.” 8

The Mission Continues has completed four “mass deployments” — week-long charity missions, restricted to local veterans, with all expenses paid — in Detroit, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Baltimore. 9 For example, its 2017 deployment to Atlanta helped repair Mattie Freeland Park, began an urban agriculture project, beautified the Atlanta Beltline trail, turned a vacant lot into a community gathering place, and improved a local apartment complex reserved for veterans. 10 The organization also provides a free leadership training program for veterans who are willing to lead platoons for at least a year, as well as a women’s leadership program. 11 12

Greitens, who would be elected governor of Missouri in 2016, left The Mission Continues in 2014. 13

Donations Scandal

In May 2014, an employee of The Mission Continues emailed Greitens, who was at the time mulling a bid for governor of Missouri, a list of all donors who had donated $1,000 or more to the charity. The Associated Press reported that Greitens’ campaign raised $2 million in donations from the charity’s donors. 14 The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that in August 2016, the group’s president, Spencer Kympton, privately told Greitens’ campaign manager that he worried use of the charity’s donor list would “jeopardize” the organization’s tax-exempt status. 15

After Greitens won the 2016 Missouri gubernatorial election, his campaign admitted it had failed to disclose the donation of the donors list, which the campaign listed as a $600 in-kind donation. The Missouri Ethics Commission fined his campaign $1,000 in April 2017. 16

In 2018, after a woman accused Greitens of taking a nude photo of her without her consent, then-Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley (R) launched a new investigation into both the personal allegation and campaign finance allegations. 17 Hawley ended his investigation without bringing charges when he left his position to become a U.S. Senator in early 2019. 18 In 2020, the Missouri Ethics Commission said it “found no evidence of any wrongdoing on the part of Eric Greitens,” who had resigned as governor in 2018. 19

Finances and Partners

The Mission Continues’ annual revenue grew steadily from $26,372 in 2007 to $14 million in 2017. 20 21 After allegations of Greitens’s wrongdoing, the organization’s donations dropped to $7.9 million in 2018, but rebounded to $11.3 million in 2019. 22

The Mission Continues has extensive corporate support. Partners that have donated $500,000 or more to The Mission Continues include Raytheon Technologies, Boeing, Lowe’s, The A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation and the Marcus Foundation. 23

Donors giving $250,000 or more include The Starbucks Foundation, Citi Foundation, Southwest Airlines, the Robert B. McCormack Foundation, the Bob Woodruff Foundation, and the Wounded Warrior Project. Other major donors include AmeriCorps, JP Morgan Chase, Lockheed Martin, Major League Baseball, Walt Disney Company, General Motors, the Coca Cola Foundation, Target, T-Mobile, Home Depot Foundation, USAA Foundation, and CarMax. 24

References

  1. The Mission Continues. “What Guides Our Work.” Accessed March 28, 2022. https://www.missioncontinues.org/what-guides-our-work
  2. Jason Hancock. “‘The mission really does continue’: Charity moves out of shadow cast by Greitens.” Kansas City Star. July 22, 2018. Accessed March 28, 2022. https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article214954005.html
  3. The Mission Continues. 990 form, 2008. Accessed March 28, 2022. https://pp-990.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/2009_09_EO/20-8742553_990_200812.pdf?response-content-disposition=attachment&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIA266MJEJYTM5WAG5Y%2F20220328%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20220328T073239Z&X-Amz-Expires=1800&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=8de390a5a35a8c220386704b8ef708460172631b1e3813c34c2447f155d3eefd
  4. Dianna Cahn. “Greitens scandal casts shadow on Mission Continues veterans charity.” Stars and Stripes. April 13, 2018. Accessed March 28, 2022. https://www.stripes.com/theaters/us/greitens-scandal-casts-shadow-on-mission-continues-veterans-charity-1.522009
  5. Vince Brennan. “The Mission Continues’ Greitens steps down.” St. Louis Business Journal. July 2, 2014. Accessed March 28, 2022. https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/news/2014/07/02/the-mission-continues-greitens-steps-down.html
  6.  David A. Lieb. “The Mission Continues founder’s salary questioned amid candidacy for Missouri governor.” Military Times Reboot Camp. September 8, 2016. Accessed March 28, 2022. https://rebootcamp.militarytimes.com/education-transition/2016/09/08/the-mission-continues-founder-s-salary-questioned-amid-candidacy-for-missouri-governor
  7. The Mission Continues. “Our Mission.” Accessed March 28, 2022. https://www.missioncontinues.org/our-mission
  8. The Mission Continues. “Volunteer With A Service Platoon.” Accessed March 28, 2022. https://www.missioncontinues.org/service-platoons
  9. The Mission Continues. “Mass Deployment.” Accessed March 28, 2022. https://www.missioncontinues.org/mass-deployments
  10. The Mission Continues. “Operation Westside Surge.” Accessed March 28, 2022. https://www.missioncontinues.org/mass-deployments/2017-2
  11. The Mission Continues. “Service Leadership Corps.” Accessed March 28, 2022. https://www.missioncontinues.org/service-leadership-corps
  12. The Mission Continues.  “Women Veterans Leadership Program.” Accessed March 28, 2022. https://www.missioncontinues.org/women-veterans-leadership-program
  13. Vince Brennan. “The Mission Continues’ Greitens steps down.” St. Louis Business Journal. July 2, 2014. Accessed March 28, 2022. https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/news/2014/07/02/the-mission-continues-greitens-steps-down.html
  14. Jesse Bogan. “Veterans of The Mission Continues shaken by Greitens saga.” St. Louis Today. April 14, 2018. https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/veterans-of-the-mission-continues-shaken-by-greitens-saga/article_36857fd5-0de3-5440-a495-fabf97de7972.html
  15. Sky Chadde. “Timeline of events in Greitens’s use of charity donor list for campaign fundraising.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch. May 2, 2018. Accessed March 28, 2022. https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/timeline-of-events-in-greitenss-use-of-charity-donor-list-for-campaign-fundraising/article_ccdb64da-628d-5bd1-8663-4fa1bb9ea788.html
  16. Kevin McDermott. “In latest secrecy issue, Gov. Greitens is fined by state for undisclosed donor list.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch. April 30, 2017. Accessed March 28, 2022. https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/in-latest-secrecy-issue-gov-greitens-is-fined-by-state/article_f08341ac-aea7-510e-b8fd-a1f5a872964e.html
  17. Daniel Strauss. “‘She’s a lucky duck’: GOP implodes again for McCaskill.” Politico. April 23, 2018. Accessed March 28, 2022. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/04/23/mccaskill-missouri-greitens-republicans-senate-545393
  18. Steve Vockrodt. “Hawley drops Greitens-related investigations as he prepares to leave AG’s office.” The Kansas City Star. December 28, 2018. Accessed March 28, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20181229085129/http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article223692540.html
  19. Heidi Schmidt and Kevin Barry. “Eric Greitens faces calls to drop out of Missouri Senate race after abuse claims.” Fox 4, Kansas City. March 21, 2022. Accessed March 28, 2022. https://fox4kc.com/your-local-election-headquarters/eric-greitens-faces-calls-to-drop-out-of-missouri-senate-race-after-abuse-claims
  20. Vince Brennan. “The Mission Continues’ Greitens steps down.” St. Louis Business Journal. July 2, 2014. Accessed March 28, 2022. https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/news/2014/07/02/the-mission-continues-greitens-steps-down.html
  21. The Mission Continues. 990 form, 2018. ProPublica. Accessed March 28, 2022. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/208742553
  22. The Mission Continues. 990 form, 2020. Accessed March 28, 2022. https://images.missioncontinues.org/wp-content/uploads/9IQMsB6I-THE-MISSION-CONTINUES-2020-FORM-990-Public-Copy.pdf
  23. The Mission Continues. “Partners & Supporters.” Accessed March 28, 2022. https://www.missioncontinues.org/about/partners-supporters
  24. The Mission Continues. “Partners & Supporters.” Accessed March 28, 2022.  https://www.missioncontinues.org/about/partners-supporters
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Nonprofit Information

  • Accounting Period: December - November
  • Tax Exemption Received: September 1, 2007

    • Available Filings

    Period Form Type Total revenue Total functional expenses Total assets (EOY) Total liabilities (EOY) Unrelated business income? Total contributions Program service revenue Investment income Comp. of current officers, directors, etc. Form 990
    2019 Dec Form 990 $7,913,087 $13,164,247 $8,168,961 $447,074 N $7,740,524 $0 $98,857 $665,161 PDF
    2018 Dec Form 990 $14,144,174 $12,659,949 $13,266,972 $336,591 Y $14,025,975 $0 $119,302 $378,775 PDF
    2017 Dec Form 990 $12,958,482 $12,071,304 $11,957,064 $472,490 N $12,914,505 $0 $69,632 $287,559 PDF
    2016 Dec Form 990 $12,287,569 $10,862,831 $11,468,509 $402,536 N $12,271,154 $0 $17,099 $455,675
    2015 Dec Form 990 $8,419,099 $9,238,827 $10,092,297 $451,062 N $8,461,155 $0 $18,200 $219,535 PDF
    2014 Dec Form 990 $10,795,744 $6,843,277 $10,905,366 $444,403 N $10,899,070 $0 $11,692 $215,335 PDF
    2013 Dec Form 990 $7,318,312 $5,929,258 $6,705,369 $196,873 N $7,553,590 $0 $6,935 $382,206 PDF
    2012 Dec Form 990 $6,093,177 $5,490,701 $5,287,804 $168,362 N $6,205,012 $0 $8,963 $359,640 PDF
    2011 Dec Form 990 $7,003,343 $3,675,708 $4,504,924 $35,171 N $7,010,030 $0 $9,460 $264,322 PDF

    Additional Filings (PDFs)

    The Mission Continues

    1141 South 7th Street
    St. Louis, MO