Some members don’t know, and others ask, why the American Legion collects the Consolidated Post and Squadron Report (CPR and CSR) and how National uses them.
The Consolidated Post Report (CPR) and Consolidated Squadron Report (CSR) are the American Legion’s annual tools for collecting data — capturing everything a post (CPR) or a Sons of The American Legion squadron (CSR) actually does in the community over a 12-month reporting period (typically June 1–May 31, due to National Headquarters by mid-year, usually around July 1).
At the National level, they serve two main purposes. First, they function as a centralized activity record: posts and squadrons report their volunteer hours, fundraising efforts, funeral honors, youth program sponsorships (Boys State, Scouting, Legion Baseball, etc.), and other community and veteran-service work. When posts and squadrons submit that information online through myLegion.org, the data flows automatically to both Department and National Headquarters, giving leadership a single, standardized dataset covering activity across thousands of posts and squadrons nationwide.
Second, and just as important, National uses the aggregated data to quantify and demonstrate the Legion’s collective impact — for Congress, for American Legion media and publications, and for national leadership making the case for the organization’s value. In other words, it’s the evidence base National points to when showing lawmakers and the public the scale of what Legion posts and SAL squadrons actually contribute: the hours members volunteer, the funds they raise, the services they perform, and the youth they reach. It also lets National track program participation and community impact at a level of detail no membership-count number alone could capture.
While it’s easy to think of the CPR/CSR as just paperwork, its real function at the National level is turning local, day-to-day post and squadron activity into a nationwide impact record that supports legislative advocacy, public relations, and strategic planning.
The question that often follows is whether Congress requires the American Legion to collect this data and produce the report.
Yes — with a nuance worth spelling out. The American Legion operates under a federal charter (Title 36, U.S. Code, Chapter 217; it’s one of the veterans service organizations Congress has chartered). Under 36 U.S.C. § 21708, the law states:
So yes, Congress does legally require the American Legion to report annually on its activities — that’s a statutory obligation tied to its federal charter, not just an internal preference. (The law also specifies that the report “may not be printed as a public document,” so Congress doesn’t publish it widely.)
What the statute does not do is mandate the specific form or mechanism — it doesn’t say, “you must use a Consolidated Post Report.” The CPR and CSR are the Legion’s own internal tools for gathering the raw activity data (volunteer hours, fundraising, funeral honors, youth programs, etc.) from every post and squadron nationwide. National then rolls that data up to satisfy the congressional reporting requirement, and to support the organization’s own advocacy, PR, and internal planning purposes described above.
So the underlying obligation to report to Congress is real, and the law requires it. The CPR/CSR is simply the Legion’s chosen method for collecting the data it needs to meet that obligation — and to serve its other internal uses.