Members of the military and employees of the federal government can donate to them from their paychecks through the Combined Federal Campaign. Anyone can donate to them and deduct it as a charitable contribution on their 1040 Schedule A. Technically, they are an historical/educational veterans' descendants organization, and officially apolitical. Their rules specifically prohibit racism, religious discrimination, political activism, or using it to recruit for supremacist organizations. But as you said, they are only as good as their local camps, and some do better than others, because of the hostile takeover of some camps by partisans. Although there are members of the low caliber and questionable character of Joe Wilson, and many even worse - honorable members past and present have included President Harry S Truman, who integrated the armed forces, the late "Civil War" author Shelby Foote, and Clint Eastwood - not a liberal, but most certainly not racist. They have Jewish, African-American, and Asian-American members. Judging them by racist members who get away with it due to power grabs and whatnot would be like judging DU by the flakes and tinfoilers who overrun GD - not fair to the organization as a whole, nor representative of its rank-and-file.

This is an example of the good works a local camp can do:

Link: http://www.somdnews.com/stories/03262008/i...

Excerpt:

The Rev. Edward P. O’Connell, a Bronx native, had been trying to get a grave marker for George Brown – a black farmer who fought for the Union – since the 1950s.

No one was all that interested in helping the history buff priest.

He tracked down every lead only to be turned down.

Then, the Sons of Confederate Veterans said they would help.

O’Connell was a guest speaker at a meeting of the Maryland chapters of Confederate Sons when he mentioned Brown’s unmarked grave. Brown, buried beside his second wife, Sarah, in the St. Catherine’s cemetery made sure his wife had a headstone while he was buried in an unmarked grave.

A group of descendants of Confederate soldiers were funding a grave marker for a Union soldier, simply because, ‘‘We like any veterans with unmarked graves to be taken care of,” said Jim Dunbar, commander of Sons of Confederate Soldiers Pvt. Wallace Bowling Camp 1400, in 2006.

On Saturday at the cemetery of what was Brown’s family’s parish, the groups will hold a dedication ceremony honoring the Union corporal’s service.

‘‘This isn’t a black thing, this isn’t a white thing,” said Ben Hawley, one of the program’s organizers and a member of B Company, 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, a re-enactment group out of Washington, D.C. ‘‘This is a historical thing.”