Support The Enlisted Project

What Support The Enlisted Project does

Support The Enlisted Project (STEP) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2012 and headquartered in San Diego, California, that provides financial wellness services to active duty service members in pay grades E1–E6, veterans within 18 months of separation, and their military families. Its core offerings are one-on-one financial counseling delivered by certified financial social workers with lived military experience, emergency financial support paid directly to vendors to prevent loss of housing, utilities, or transportation, and personalized year-long financial education and planning. Adjunct programs include Cammies to College, the Sharing The Joy holiday adopt-a-family initiative, Thanksgiving meal support, WOW monthly food distributions, and a backpack drive for military children, positioning STEP as a holistic financial-stability provider rather than a pure credit-counseling service.

STEP operates a community-led, human-delivered model backed by an 81,357+ hour volunteer base (~10,000 hours annually) and outreach through military installations including Camp Pendleton, MCAS Miramar, and Bremerton, with referral channels via military chaplains and family readiness officers. Technology is intentionally thin: the organization runs on Social Solutions Apricot for case management and Givebutter for event fundraising, with no proprietary platform. Revenue is sourced from individual donations, corporate sponsorships (including the Swing Fore Our Heroes golf tournaments in San Diego and Washington), foundation grants (notably participation in Face the Fight's 2025 $16.5M Veteran suicide prevention initiative), and event proceeds. The organization reports $3.2M distributed in emergency funds, 9,500+ military households served, a 90% long-term success rate, and 84% of funds directed to programs, and holds a 4-Star Charity Navigator rating. STEP is currently executing a nationwide expansion, having opened a Washington state regional office in Tacoma.

Name

Support The Enlisted Project

Legal name

Support The Enlisted Project

Website

https://teamstepusa.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Military Financial Wellness Services

NAICS

Emergency and Other Relief Services (62423), Services for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities (624120)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Health Services (8000)

akta.pro primary industry

Veterans Affairs & Military Family Services (BPAIAHAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Veterans & Military Family Benefits Administration (BPAIAKAI)

Keywords

• Military family support
• Veteran financial assistance
• Emergency financial aid
• Financial wellness counseling
• Nonprofit military services

Headquarters

HQ city

San Diego

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: One-time and recurring donations from individuals supporting military and veteran families
2. Corporate Sponsorships: Business sponsorship of events and programs, including golf tournaments and annual campaigns
3. Foundation Grants: Grants from foundations such as Face the Fight ($16.5M awarded in 2025) supporting suicide prevention initiatives
4. Event Revenue: Golf tournament events and fundraising activities with proceeds directed to financial wellness programs

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

STEP provides free financial wellness counseling and emergency financial support to active duty service members (E1-E6), veterans within 18 months of separation, and their families. Services include one-on-one counseling with certified financial social workers, direct-to-vendor emergency payments to preserve housing/utilities/transportation, personalized financial education plans with up to a year of follow-up, and supplemental programs (food distributions, holiday adopt-a-family, backpack drives, college support, charity golf events).

Product overview

Support The Enlisted Project (STEP) is a nonprofit organization offering a suite of financial wellness programs for military members, veterans, and their families. The core offerings include Financial Wellness Counseling (one-on-one support with certified financial social workers), Emergency Financial Support (direct vendor payments to prevent loss of housing/utilities), and Personalized Education & Finance Plans. Additional programs include Cammies to College, Sharing The Joy holiday program, Thanksgiving meals, monthly food distributions (WOW), backpack drives, and charity golf events (Swing Fore Our Heroes). The organization operates primarily from San Diego, CA headquarters with expansion to Washington state, delivering emergency support and long-term financial counseling with a reported 90% success rate.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Financial Wellness Counseling One-on-one counseling delivered by certified financial social workers with lived military experience, providing personalized support to help active duty E1-E6 service members, veterans within 18 months of separation, and their families build financial skills and confidence.
• Emergency Financial Support Emergency funds paid directly to vendors (not loans) to prevent loss of housing, transportation, or utilities for active duty E1-E6 service members and veterans within 18 months of separation facing financial crisis.
• Personalized Education & Finance Plan Tailored financial education and personalized planning with strategies specific to each family's life, challenges, and goals, including regular check-ins for a full year.
• Cammies to College Educational support program helping military families pursue college and educational goals.
• Sharing The Joy Adopt-a-Family Holiday Program providing holiday assistance to military families in need.
• Thanksgiving Holiday Meal Program Holiday meal assistance program for military and veteran households.
• Monthly Distributions (WOW) Supplemental program providing free groceries and other essential needs through monthly distributions.
• Backpack Drive Donation program providing backpacks for military children to support educational success.
• Swing Fore Our Heroes
• Stand & Salute (Salute Program) Donation program allowing supporters to honor service members and veterans with matching impact opportunities.

Quantifiable outcome

• 90% of families stay on track for the long haul after program completion
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Feeding San DiegocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to provide free food assistance for military families. STEP collaborates with Feeding San Diego to address food insecurity among the military community through hunger-relief programs and food distributions.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Operation Homefront: National 501(c)(3) providing emergency financial assistance, food security, and transitional housing support to military families — directly competes for the same junior enlisted/early-career veteran beneficiary pool and the same donor and corporate sponsor funding pool as STEP.
• USA Cares: Military family nonprofit delivering emergency financial assistance, housing support, and post-9/11 veteran transition programs — closely comparable mission, beneficiary focus, and emergency-fund disbursement model to STEP.
• Swords to Plowshares: Veterans services nonprofit providing financial counseling, emergency support, benefits navigation, and housing assistance for veterans in transition — directly overlapping in social-worker-led financial wellness services.

Broad incumbents

• Wounded Warrior Project: The largest and best-funded military/veteran services nonprofit with a broad portfolio spanning mental health, career counseling, and financial wellness — competes for veteran donor dollars and corporate sponsorship share even though its programming is much wider than STEP's narrow focus.
• Fisher House Foundation: Military family nonprofit focused on housing and emergency assistance near medical facilities — partially overlapping in emergency support provision and veteran family beneficiary pool but anchored in a housing-near-hospitals model.
• USO (United Service Organizations): Iconic military family nonprofit with national installation presence and broad programming for service members — comparable audience and corporate sponsor pool but significantly larger, older brand, and a much broader mandate than STEP's financial wellness focus.
• Disabled American Veterans (DAV): Long-established veterans service organization providing benefits counseling, transition support, and emergency assistance — comparable mission angle but operating at far greater scale and as a congressionally chartered VSO.

Emerging players

• Blue Star Families: Military family support organization providing programming on financial readiness, spouse employment, and family wellness — overlapping beneficiary base and partial overlap in financial wellness programming, though delivered through research and community programming rather than direct emergency aid.
• Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS): Military survivor support nonprofit providing financial counseling, benefits navigation, and case management to families of fallen service members — overlapping financial wellness and counseling capabilities for military families but serving a narrower bereaved cohort.
• PenFed Foundation: Military-focused nonprofit providing emergency financial assistance, veteran small-business grants, and financial literacy programming — directly comparable in emergency aid disbursement and financial education for military families.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/teamstepusa
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@teamstepusa
• Facebookfacebook.com/teamstepusa
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/support-the-enlisted-project
• Instagraminstagram.com/teamstepusa

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Support The Enlisted Project