Spend with troop-related charities and products which display the Seal of Assurance.

When you purchase something to show your support or patriotism don't you want to know for certain that your purchase price is going to help the troops, their families, or both?

When you make a donation, don't you want to know the same thing?  You can. It's easy: Buy troop-related products, or donate to troop-related charities, that display the Support Our Troops Seal of Assurance.

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Support Our Troops acts as certifier and accreditor of active-duty troop related charities and products.  As they are reviewed and approved SOT authorizes their use of the Seal of Assurance.  If it doesn't bear the Seal of Assurance your money may not be going to the troops or their families.

Support Our Troops administers the Seal of Assurance accreditation program to help stop profiteers and parasites who would profit off the backs of our troops. Whenever buying or donating in relation to our troops or families, always look for the Seal of Assurance. The Seal of Assurance means that they are accredited and your money is going to benefit the troops, not some profiteer.

There are three simple seals (which may appear in any color):

"L" = Licensed Product or Service.   Licensing is an effective way to generate charitable revenue and vastly expand the goods and services offered. America has millions of products and services --- far too many for one company alone to effectively and adequately offer and distribute to everyone in every market segment. In a licensing arrangement, a company well experienced in a particular product, service or market niche pays Support Our Troops, Inc. a royalty fee to use the Seal of Assurance. That fee varies among the different companies depending on the particular good or services offered, because the costs of manufacturing, marketing and distributing different goods varies widely. The licensing revenue generated is used by SoT for its charitable purposes. Companies that license the Seal of Assurance for their products and services are good companies trying to do the right thing by our troops. They are enabling SOT to access products and services that otherwise would not be offered on a wide scale and thus little revenue generated. By doing so they enable us to generate a lot of charitable revenue for the troops and their families. Support Our Troops® encourages you to deal with them and buy their products and we thank them for their forthright participation in this program. They are supporting our troops, who are supporting all of us. You can help! -- Buy goods that bear the Seal of Assurance. If they don't, it may be that little to none of the money is going to the troops or their families. Ask them to get the seal and you will then buy their product or service. In stores, ask for the manager and politely inform him or her that you will be happy to buy the goods once they bear the Seal, and suggest that they remove items which don't bear it because they may be doing little for the troops. If they have the Seal, thank them!

"C" = Charity-Nonprofit.   Many bogus charities, organizations, and products exist, which pass little to nothing on to the beneficiaries they claim to represent. Many small efficient new charities exist which are not yet well known. You can be sure that a charity displaying the Seal of Assurance is a bona fide accredited charity appropriately helping the troops and their families, not just themselves. Their authorized use of the Seal assures than an appropriate amount of their revenue actually goes to benefit the troops or their families. Exactly what is constitutes an appropriate amount varies among charities and organizations due to different missions and methods, but the point is that it is an appropriate amount based on their activities for the troops. Genuine bona fide charities that benefit the troops or their families may contact Support Our Troops for a $1 a year flat-rate license to use the Seal of Assurance on their goods and services. When a charity applies to Support Our Troops to use the Seal of Assurance, SOT reviews them under a set of objective criteria. If upon review Support Our Troops concludes they pass an appropriate amount of charitable revenue through to the troops or their families, you will find them using the Seal of Assurance.

You can help! -- Whenever you get a mailer or see and advertisement that does not bear the Seal of Assurance, write or call them and ask them why they don't. Inform them that for the good of the troops and their families you must respectfully decline to purchase or donate until they do. There is little reason for them not to bear the Seal, since to have it all they have to do is contact SOT, and demonstrate their validity, and pay the nominal annual $1 fee.

Obviously during the transition period to this protective accreditation program,

do not penalize established well-known organizations which are obviously legitimate

when you know the revenue is going to benefit the troops.