18Arizona

Gives Day

14Child Crisis AZ Brand

10Marketing

Powerhouse

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Photo Gallery

See some of the best nonprofit and charity photos from 2015

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CONTENTS

Marketing Powerhouse

How targeted events can help market nonprofits

Leaders in the Community

10 Questions with AZ Scitech FestivalExecutive Director Jeremy Babendure

10

18

6

4

8

36

34

38

40

42

32

TED Teaches

You can learn a lot by studying TED talks.

Social Media Report

As a nonprofit, visuals can help you to share your story and engage

From The Publisher

The huge power of nonprofits telling their own story

From The Editor’s Desk

We need to redefine the ‘giving season’ in Arizona

Playworks Fiesta Bowl Charities

How Playworks, Fiesta Bowl are making recess & a blast for kids

Where Are They Now

It also allowed for more opportunity to share with the public who they were and what they planned to accomplish

Leaders in the Community

Kelly McCullough, General Manager for PBS.

Nonprofit Report Revealed

See the biggest challenges facing nonprofits right now

14 Child Crisis AZ Brand Reinvented

The whole is greater than the sum of the parts for this Arizona nonprofit

28 New to AZ

How Western Refining created an Arizona brand through nonprofit work

14

18

10

FROM THE PUBLISHER

If YOU don’t tell your story, who will?

I will always remember when I was at a Business Marketing Association conference eight years ago and the president Jeff Hayzlett was telling the audience that they should embrace the tactic of social media. Most folks didn’t understand the impact it could have, and many thought it was a waste of time. But his statement that resonated with me: “If YOU don’t tell your story, who will?”

I have been on many nonprofit boards and most have one major flaw: The line item on their budget for marketing is poorly defined and supported.

Most nonprofits spend their time nourishing their current donor lists and work on their board’s pipelines. Some will work at PR to tell their story and only a few actually invest in advertising that impacts the community. Most should do more.

Many will spend money on event marketing or a gala’s flowers, but not on promoting the event outside their sphere. Why not?

Are they afraid to invest in their brand, or just don’t know where and how much they should invest? Maybe it’s both.

Over the next few issues of this magazine we will share stories on how companies and nonprofits are marketing themselves. If we can give you one more good idea, then we have done our job. If we have exposed your nonprofit or corporate efforts to our readers and expanded your reach, again we have done our job. But here’s something to keep in mind: If you don’t tell your story to our 40,000 readers, who will?

Editorial and Production Staff

Publisher Al Maag

Editor Adam Kress

Feature Editor Jan Miller

Head of Operations Steven Roberts

Creative Direction Andrew Tamala

Art Direction Andres Orellana

Technology Directors Shaun Roberts

Community Manager Tod Morton

Social Media Katelyn Waara

Contributors

Editorial Mark Vance and Carl Jimenez

Video Rory Gonzalez and Zack Maag

Director of Public Relations Tiffany Hoffman

Board of Advisors

Kristen Merrifield CEO Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits

Kelly McCullough PBS - General Manager

Don Henninger DH Advisors

Robert Anderson CEO Prisma

Steve Zylstra CEO Arizona Technology Council

Kris BrandtPresident New Angle Media

Lorenzo Sierra Councilman, City of Avondale

Jennifer Purcell Director of Community Engagement,

Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits

Advertising

Account Executive

Michael Finazzo, Jack Riedel & Joe Castor

555 N Scottsdale Rd #200, Tempe, AZ 85281

GivingHopeAZ:

Editorial: (480) 272-7671

Advertising: (602) 840-5530

ext. 302

Entire contents copyright 2016, GivingHope

AZ. Reproduction in whole or in part without

permission is prohibited. Products named in these

page pages are trade names or trademark of their

respective companies. Publication of GivingHope

AZ is supported by the GivingHope.tv.

Please reach out directly at contact@givinghope.tv to talk about your nonprofit or business, your services, etc. by running an ad. View our Media Kit.

Al Maagpublisher

AL MAAG

@almaag2

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Shine the spotlight on your nonprofit.

GivingHope.TV is Arizona’s original online media network for showcasing the efforts of Arizona nonprofits. Tell your story with the impact of video and share what you care about most with the world. Raise awareness for your organization by expanding your marketing efforts to include GivingHope.TV!

For more information, visit www.givinghope.tv or call 602-840-5530

Q: Tell us about this year’s event?

A: We’re now in our fifth year of the Arizona Sci-Tech Festival, and this year there are over 1,000 events in about 50 cities and towns. Every year it has grown, and we now have about two dozen communities that are involved creating their own regional events. This year we’re expecting to draw more than 400,000 attendees. Many professions are starting to demand people that have a skill set with science, technology, engineering, and math skills (STEM). It’s about helping to solve problems, and it’s very important to have that technical skill set to do their jobs.

Q: Why is this important?

A: We’re finding that companies such as the Ratheons, Orbital ATKs and Honeywells of the world desperately need skilled workers. As we evolve to a more high-tech, science-related workplace, there’s a groundswell of demand to make sure that our workforce has science and tech skills to be a leader. It’s been called a national crisis that we don’t have enough STEM workers able to enter these professions.

Initiatives like the Arizona Sci-Tech Festival are really working to increase the public’s

LEADERS IN THE COMMUNITY

awareness of what’s happening with science and technology in their lives, but also to hopefully engage both the traditional STEM professionals, STEM workers, but also the general public to recognize science and technology in their work. I’m in conversations with a lot of the people from the workforce community. I’m finding that these days when I’m talking about STEM, people nod their head. They know that it’s something that’s important. They’re not asking me what that acronym stands for. Q: Are schools the key? A: I’m also finding that it’s starting to reach the schools. Almost every school knows about it. I think that’s a strong indicator that the public is starting to demand it, and with that, we’re seeing a lot more response from places that serve the community. It could be small businesses, government entities or community stakeholders. They all want to really engage with STEM events to make that happen. The first year we had about 200 events on the calendar, and that’s grown to 400 to 600. This year we’re breaking over 1,000 events that people are putting on throughout the festival. That’s a general indicator that there are many more organizations wanting to have STEM be part of their repertoire of how they reach their audiences.

Q: Share a few examples?

A: There are several events that we’ve started working with that we like to call Sneaking Science. The first year we started we worked with the Arizona Renaissance Festival and the Glendale Chocolate Affair, and we

worked with Scottsdale to create the science and baseball event. We keep seeing more and more organizations basically “sneaking” science into existing events. Last year we saw the Maricopa Salsa Festival bring science. This year the Ostrich Festival in Chandler is bringing science into it. It’s becoming more of an “in” thing that the public is recognizing is important.

We’ve been fortunate to have a strong foundational partnership from the Arizona Commerce Authority, the Arizona Technology Council Foundation, Arizona Science under ASU, U of A, and the Arizona Board of Regents. We’ve been really lucky to have Cox Communications as a presenting sponsor and then to have State Farm and Honeywell as our gold sponsors continuing to support the festival and keep it rolling. We have an amazing set of sponsors at silver level. We have 11 of them there. We have a dozen at the bronze level. We have a lot of organizations that not only engage providing cash, but they see the importance of rolling up their sleeves and creating events and being volunteers to help create programs with us.

Q&AJEREMY BABENDUREAZ SCI-TECH FEST EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

GivingHopeAZ / 7

Q: What is unique about this model?

A: The advantage is that the events aren’t just events for the sake of throwing an event. It’s about being that vehicle to pull in stakeholders — both the traditional and non-traditional groups. It’s about the community, and we give that platform to communicate. Each event has its own community, its own story, both at the broader event level and at the individual participants.

Q: Most clever thing done?

A: Our Chief Science Officer program. It’s a way to impact culture in schools from the most grassroots component: the students. It increases student voice and ties between industry, postsecondary institutions and students. The Chief Science Officers are students elected by their peers to help advocate for science and technology opportunities both on their campus and in the community.

We actually have about a dozen events that are being co-produced now by the student Chief Science Officers. The kids are getting engaged, they’re getting their peers engaged, and they’re more proactively getting their schools engaged in several of the events.

Q: What marketing programs have been key to success?

A: We have two great events that serve as bookends. We kick off the year with an Innovation Summit for collaborators to share best practices about their events. So many work to create great events but do not have the ability to learn from each other. This provides the ability to share these practices and have unique conversations about key topics in STEM.

The other end is the Collaborator thank-you event. This is a great party to celebrate the success of the year and provide a fun venue for everyone to convene and work with one another.

Our best marketing overall is distributing our program schedules to 700,000 people. 600,000 of those are directly in schools to students.

Q: What tactics will you expand upon?

A: The key is to work with more communities to take on the brand of the festival in their region the best. They know the territory and best way to reach the population. If we can work with them to support the festival we are able to leverage best practices within each community.

Q: Has social media had a big impact?

A: We have several thousand followers on social media that learn about festival events the quickest. Otherwise, we have found the program schedules and promoting events via regional publications the best way to get the word out.

Q: Most important thing to suggest to peers?

A: Focus on relationships with partners. It’s not about the festival but how the festival can be used as a strategy to build cross disciplinary partnerships between industry, education and community.

WATCH NOW: Exclusive Video Interview

PHOTO SUPPLIED BY AZSCITECH

Just about all TED talks are informative, but why do only some of them go viral with millions of views? Vanessa Van Edwards, owner of a company called Science of the People, wanted to find out. She polled 760 volunteers, asking them to rate hundreds of hours of TED talks.

The most surprising discovery reinforces how important non-verbal communication is. Viewers who watched a TED talk without sound rated speakers almost exactly the same on intelligence, credibility and charisma as those who watched with sound.

Also, viewers made their decision about whether they liked a speaker very quickly. Those who watched only the first seven seconds of a talk rated speakers the same as those who watched the entire presentation.

Other TED lessons:

1. Smiling makes you look smarter. The longer TED speakers smiled, the higher viewers rated their perceived intelligence. Van Edwards was surprised at this because existing research has said leaders actually smile less. She thinks the TED results show that speakers who smiled from stage seem more human to people watching.

2. The speakers who gestured most had the most views. Van Edwards says past research has shown that the more speakers gesture, the more charismatic they seem. She believes it’s because moving hands give the mind something else to do in addition to listening.

3. Reciting a memorized script kills charisma. Van Edwards found that speakers who showed more vocal variety rated higher on credibility and charisma. Changing cadence, volume, pitch and emotionality engages the brain and keeps the audience listening.

This adds more proof to the adage “It’s not only what you say that counts, it’s also how you say it.” In order to be successful, speakers who have important messages to convey need to express their passion both verbally and non verbally.

TED TEACHES US IT’S NOT ONLY WHAT YOU SAY...

PUBLIC RELATIONS MARKETING

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For nonprofit organizations, raising money through targeted events is one of the most critical components in reaching yearly fundraising goals. At JDRF, we work with our community, donors and corporate partners year-round to generate funds in several different ways with one of our primary fundraising events being our JDRF One Walk (formerly known as JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes).

The JDRF One Walk has a single goal: creating a world without type 1 diabetes (T1D). The One Walk helps JDRF continue to fund life-changing research for the millions of children, adults and families affected by T1D. T1D is an autoimmune disease in which a person’s pancreas loses the ability to produce insulin—a hormone essential to turning food into energy. It strikes both children and adults suddenly and is unrelated to diet and lifestyle. Since diet and/or exercise cannot help those with T1D, we must rely on science, medicine and technology to provide the critical life-saving therapies that those with T1D need to live an active and healthy life.

JDRF is committed to funding T1D research until we find a cure. To assist in generating these funds, JDRF holds more than 200 walks across the country every year. The JDRF One Walk brings together more than 950,000 people who, as of 2014, have raised more than $68 million for critical T1D research.

The success of the JDRF One Walk is only possible because of the support, commitment and strength of our community. That, coupled with detailed planning and a commitment to providing a memorable and worthwhile experience, has given JDRF a terrific asset in our fundraising tool kit. Below are the steps we take and the strategy we have in place in order to successfully execute what has become the largest T1D event in the world.

Planning and organization

JDRF has several chapters across the country, with the Desert Southwest (DSW) chapter serving the Phoenix area. This is the 26th year that the DSW chapter has held a walk, and what began as a few hundred people at the onset has grown to over 10,000 people in attendance. Currently the JDRF One Walk takes place at Sloan Park, the home of the Chicago Cubs spring training stadium. This location has become a tremendous value-add to our attendees, as our walkers are able to access all the amenities of the park and the kids get to run the bases in the stadium.

MarketingPowerhouseBY PAULA BOMMARITIO

Year-round planning is our highest priority. Our strategy and protocols are consistent year over year, from the recruitment of our walkers to working with each of them one-on-one to reach their personal and team fundraising goals. Even outside of “walk season” we continue to steward and retain our walkers so they stay engaged with the community and are more likely to return as walkers the following year.

In addition to walker engagement, we focus on year-round volunteer recruitment and management, corporate and family walk team recruitment/fundraising and developing and seeking out corporate sponsorship. We aim to create a donor-centric environment in which we give back to our donors as well. Some of our higher-level donors include Arizona Ford Dealers, Bashas’, Londen Companies, Salt River Project, Sloan Valve and Sonora Quest Laboratories.

Our logistics planning is proactive, detailed and thorough, from t-shirt procurement, planning for kids’ zone entertainment, development of banners and flags, and more. We always ensure that we stick to national standards for set up and design of area. Most of all, we are hyper-focused on constituent needs and raising critical funds both in and out of season. It takes a team of full-time staff, weekly and day-of volunteers, board members, sponsors, family teams, corporate teams, individual walkers and more to make our walk successful.

JDRF is committed to funding T1D research until we find a cure. To assist in generating these funds, JDRF holds more than 200 walks across the country every year.

PHOTOS SUPPLIED BY JDRF

Event promotion and volunteers

As soon as registration opens eight months prior to walk day, it’s full speed ahead. We begin regular email campaigns and constituent engagement, and also utilize outreach and third-party fundraising events to promote the walk. Some of these events include JDRF’s Type One Nation, JDRF’s mentorship program, JDRF’s Bag of Hope Program, a family team yearly chili cook-off, and JDRF’s Young Leadership Committee (YLC).We generally have between 200 and 250 volunteers at our walk. We give first right of refusal to past volunteers

before reaching out to our larger volunteer constituent base. If we need to reach outside of our database, we identify volunteers using email, social media and online registration sites. We hand-pick great volunteer leads to take ownership of each volunteer segment and utilize that lead to work hand-in-hand with JDRF staff to train the other volunteers prior to the walk.

How we stand out

The JDRF One Walk offers a unique experience that is fun and creative. Sloan Park serves as a terrific and engaging walk route and provides

kids the rare opportunity to actually run the bases at a major league park. We also incorporate other attractions and activities to engage the community at the highest level. We don’t just ask our attendees to show up and walk; we provide them with an exceptional, exclusive experience that they don’t get anywhere else, all while raising funds for a cause that is so important to so many. By working year-round and continually engaging our community, corporate partners and donors, each year is better than the last.

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Longbow Golf Club supports and other nonprofi t Longbow Golf Club supports and other nonprofi t

Set the scene to downtown Phoenix in 1977. Dr. John (Kipp) Charlton saw a problem that no one seemed willing to solve, so he stepped in and took action.

Charlton, a pediatrician and community advocate for children and families, knew the sad reality facing the Phoenix area: There was a need for a safe shelter and care for children who were abused and neglected. In addition, he was convinced that parents needed a supportive place that they could reach out to when things got tough at home.

Using both his social and professional connections, Charlton brought together a group of community volunteers who launched a public education campaign to convince a wary public that, indeed, child abuse and neglect existed in the community and that everyone had a responsibility to support efforts to prevent it. Under Dr. Charlton’s leadership, Crisis Nursery Inc. opened in 1977 with six beds. That number had grow to 29 by last year.

Just 13 miles away in Mesa, Child Crisis Center opened its doors in 1981 thanks to the women of the

Mahana Club, who also saw the need to provide a safe haven for children in their community. Child Crisis Center began as a 7-bed emergency shelter for abused or neglected children and grew to 42 beds last year.

Flash-forward 34 years, and both the longstanding CEOs from Crisis Nursery and Child Crisis Center were on the verge of retirement. Instead of simply searching for their replacements, these longtime friends and colleagues had entertained the idea to merge these two like-minded entities with the hopes of helping more children and being stronger together.

The boards came together and agreed that a merger would make sense in the broader landscape of our community. It was recognized during negotiations the depths of the agency’s similarities and the concept of a combined, new organization would have an even greater impact on the lives of the children and families.

Services were uninterrupted throughout the yearlong merger process, but it wasn’t without its challenges. The success that these two groups saw in the formation of Child Crisis Arizona is a lesson in nonprofits coming together to strengthen themselves, but more importantly, the community they serve.

How they did it

Crisis Nursery was operating the emergency children shelter, a foster care program and an Early Head Start and preschool. Child Crisis Center had the

BY DANA TERRAZAS

GivingHopeAZ / 15

emergency shelter, a foster care and adoption program, a home-visiting program for families with children up to age five, and a family resource program that offered free classes and workshops to community families.A rebranding process began with an outside agency where staff, the board, community stakeholders and volunteers came together to understand where they saw the organization going.

Just the logo process took seven months from start to finish. It took five months to finalize the new name.

In Sept. 2015, newly named Chief Executive Officer Torrie A. Taj took the helm and was ready for endless, vibrant possibilities as she assessed the agency’s palette of impressive programs.

“The reality is, we need to be here to respond to the crises faced by our most vulnerable, our children and families in need,” says Taj, whose holistic approach begins with praise of both past directors and the current board.

“Traditional CEOs carry out the work,” explains Taj as she marvels at the legacy left by the two long-term CEOs. Necessity demands hands on-attention to detail as well as growth when nonprofits are carving out their niches.

“As a new nonprofit CEO, I am not here to carry out the work. I am here to organize the structure and infrastructure so that the professional staff — the social workers, the counselors, the nurses, and all those specialized, big hearts — can best

carry out the work. I am here to lead... to have the vision, to make sure the resources are in place, to hire the best talent.”

Taj’s job from day one was full of bigger complexities. She worked toward combining more unlikely worlds while her staff replicated some services and smoothed other duplicated services into one consistent product. A self-described “cheerleader for change,” the new environment she’s creating melds “crisis” with “best practices,” bonds “poverty” to “provider of choice,” and infuses “welfare” with a “culture of philanthropy.”

The re-launch takes off

Behind the scenes, processes were put in place for a rebranding launch. A director of marketing and communications was hired, and a plan was established for rebranding the agency and announcing the new organizational name during a fundraising luncheon in Nov. 2015 in front of more than 800 guests.

Just like launching a new business, the Child Crisis Arizona team had been hard at work creating a new logo, tagline, business system, collateral materials, website, social channels and countless other things. What could have easily taken more than a year was put together in several months — just in time for the public launch.

The November launch was a success, but the staff was still racing to launch its Foster Care Tax Credit campaign, which brings in necessary dollars to the agency to support its programs.

“Entering into end-of-year giving season with a new name, and the idea of telling people who were and who we used to be was a challenge, but a challenge we overcame and at the end of the day was a monumental success for the agency,” says Taj.

The timing of rebranding during the end-of-year giving was scary but became an opportunity to get in front of the community with the new name, materials resonating with the public

PHOTOS SUPPLIED BY CHILD CRISIS

to garner support. It also allowed for more opportunity to share with the public who they were and what they planned to accomplish through media relations, social media and community outreach. That work continues today and will be an ongoing process.

“If we want to grow we need to follow models of the next step, not think of ourselves as just a $15 million dollar nonprofit. We need to keep building awareness, creating partnerships and serving the children and families to the best of our ability,” says Taj. “We have to be their safety net. The children can’t pull themselves up by their bootstraps.”

Child Crisis Arizona Vitals

The state-of-the-art services those multiple programs provide represent compassionate fulfillment of Arizona’s most dire needs by a staff that’s 250 strong. Housed within the three promises--Prevent, Advocate, Support--with which Child Crisis Arizona’s logo is tagged, the programs’ two campuses are located in Central Phoenix and in Mesa. The combined Children’s Emergency Shelters annually house, protect

and feed more than 400 children ages birth to 11 years. Along with the waiting closets of soft stripes and bold patterns in the Child Crisis Arizona shelter bedrooms, children with emergency needs are offered warm welcoming sleeves of safety and loving structure at a moment’s notice ... for as many days, weeks or months as are necessary. From vaccinations in the nurse’s office to simple snack bowls of sliced apples and cubed cheese served family-style, the firsts many children experience here are eye-opening.

Their wide-ranging Family Resources and Education programs cover Early Head Start and a preschool in Phoenix, a home visiting program, and onsite classes to more than 3,000 participants on both campuses annually, all at little to no cost. The concept that resilient parents can be the best teachers is as important as the pint-sized bikes that line the playgrounds. From Anger Management to Nutrition to Parenting skills, Child Crisis Arizona is keenly aware that disrupting the unhealthy cycles of violence and neglect, even preventing them, are essential to reconfiguring splintered families into

safe, whole units.

Child Crisis Arizona’s final programming complement is the integral service of finding, training and continuing education for Foster and Adoptive families. Hard to imagine scenarios of the under-developed, drug-addicted baby or the beautifully dark-eyed toddler rescued from a laundromat dryer create daunting care responsibilities for families into which 500+ children are placed annually. The frightening statistic that 100,000 family members locally are raising related minors demands that stunned grandparents and other sudden caregivers be provided concrete assurance and a healthy toolbox of resources as they re-navigate how to parent. Anticipating and providing the specialized medical or emotional tools all these shapes of families require helps ensure and maintain the most delicate but essential of family bonds.

Across this wide array of critical services, Taj is proud to distinguish that re-branding Child Crisis Arizona’s continuum of care as a unified whole with a $15 million dollar operating budget communicates far greater promise than any single program ever can.

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April 5 – Arizona Gives Day

A statewide day of giving. azgives.org

GivingHopeAZ / 19

April 5, 2016 will mark the fourth year of Arizonans investing and rallying behind the nonprofit community for Arizona Gives Day, a day of statewide online giving. Any qualified Arizona nonprofit can register to participate and any person can find their cause to donate to at azgives.org.

Each year, nonprofits compete for additional prize money based on ‘most dollars’ raised in various categories and structure their fundraising efforts around ‘power hours’ to receive the most donations above a set dollar amount within a 60 minute period.This is where every Arizonan and the power of collective giving comes into play. Any donation made, no matter what the amount, is truly an investment being made to our communities.

At the end of the day these investments will total millions for the nonprofit sector to make our state a better place to live, work and play. We encourage every Arizonan to find your cause at azgives.org. (For your convenience, pre-scheduled donations can also be made.)

ARIZONAGIVES DAY

Arizona Gives Day Growth2014 vs. 2015

where are they now

An Inside Look at Last Year’s Prize Winners

As we get closer to Arizona Gives Day 2016, it’s important to take a look back at what last year’s prize winners have done with their donations to move their missions further along.

You’ll notice that the list of prize winners is as diverse as the nonprofit pool you can donate to. Where are they now as they prepare for yet another Gives Day? Here are their stories.

BY JENNIFER PURCELL

Total Doners: 17,260(25% increase over 2014)

Average Donation: $86(41% increase over 2014)

Total raised: $2,054,417

(48% increase over 2014)

We were ecstatic to learn we won $10,000 in prize money on Arizona Gives Day 2015! And there were a lot of ideas on how to get the most (bang for our buck)with that money, but in the end we settled on putting it toward retiring the debt on our community center. That might not sound very innovative or exciting, but that’s because you don’t know our story.

Seeds of Hope began in 1993 as a local faith-based mission in Casa Grande feeding the homeless and offering an after-school program out of a small 1,200 square-foot home. Over the years, as new needs in the community arose, we considered starting new programs to meet those needs. Today we operate six programs under our mission to provide opportunities to improve lives through relationships and community development.

As the number of our programs and participants grew, so did our need for more space. The dream of building a community center started with board president Mondo Anaya, a local plant manager for a national company. He was a champion for children’s causes and had a passion that couldn’t be squelched. He died unexpectedly in 2003, but his dream for Seeds of Hope did not. In November 2012 we opened the Mondo Anaya Community Center in an at-risk and under-served area of our community. This 3,600 square-foot building is a place of activities for kids, youth, and adults. In our first month of opening the after-school program alone tripled in numbers of kids attending!

Today the MACC houses the after-school program, grandparents raising grandchildren program and adult education programs. But in cooperation with other like-minded nonprofits, we offer our building free of charge to programs like United Way’s VITA, UofA’s Strengthening Families, a monthly wellness check by a local medical clinic, summer feeding site for our local school district, Arizona’s Children’s Association Foster Care Training classes, church youth group events and so much more. It’s a hub of activity five days a week.

We’ve been told the MACC is a community treasure chest because of the opportunities for everyone there. Take Agnes for instance. She is a grandmother raising her five grandchildren. She comes to our community center and finds a monthly support group for other grandparents in similar circumstances. Her grandchildren participate in our after school program where they receive tutoring and see pro-social behavior modeled. Her daughter, recently released from prison, uses our computer lab to update her resume, apply for jobs online, and check her email for replies. Not only are we meeting the needs of Agnes’ entire family, we do it under one roof in a location she can walk to.

The Arizona Gives Day prize money has allowed us to invest in the very building that lets us help so many different people with different needs. And we think that’s truly the biggest bang for our buck.

seeds of hope

Arizona Gives Day 2015 Winners

Today we operate six programs under

our mission to provide opportunities

to improve lives through relationships

and community development.

GivingHopeAZ / 21

Support My Club has grown substantially each year since we launched in 2012, serving thousands of students in Maricopa County each year. However, our statewide expansion would not have been possible without the generosity of our donors and the Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits.

When students, club sponsors and coaches started reaching out from other parts of the state, we knew that we could make a difference in their schools, but we didn’t have the capacity and staff to implement programs. But on Arizona Gives Day 2015, our donors rallied together and we won our category and the prize money that came with it.

This new funding allowed us to bring on Rachel, an AmeriCorps VISTA, to specifically focus on outreach and the onboarding of rural high schools. Since she began in the fall semester, Rachel has traveled all over the state from Yuma to the Fort Apache Reservation, Tucson to Flagstaff.

Thirteen new schools have already registered, more than 25 clubs and teams have requests posted and nearly 1,000 new students are being served.

Many new and impactful items have already been delivered to the clubs, including: a camera with video capability (to replace their outdated VHS camcorder), a robotic motor and wheels, leadership conference registration fees, matching shirts to show club membership and pride, sports equipment and athletic training tools.

Once items are funded, the students show gratitude and community engagement by performing one hour of service for every $100 of item value received – thus completing the full cycle of philanthropy.

With another six months left in Rachel’s position, our growth is anticipated to more than double in rural areas.

support my club

For Arizona Gives Day 2015, Watershed Management Group (WMG) unveiled our Restore Sabino Creek campaign and called on our supporters to help us raise $50,000. Restoring this verdant gem in the Sonoran Desert was so compelling that we raised more than $44,000. This upwelling of support took WMG to the top in the competition for Most Dollars Raised (mid-size nonprofits), adding an additional $15,000 in prize money from the Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits—taking us $9,000 beyond our goal!

WMG’s Restore Sabino Creek campaign is blazing a new path for one of Arizona’s most beloved creeks, taking the first step in changing the tragic story of our depleted and dying desert springs, creeks, and rivers to one of hope.

In the past 60 years, the Tucson area has seen the loss of flow in the rivers that sustained human and wildlife populations for millennia. WMG is committed to reversing that trend through our 50 Year Program, and we began with Sabino Creek where once year-round flows have seriously diminished due to groundwater pumping and poor water management.

With the money raised on Arizona Gives Day 2015, combined with other fundraising and small grants, WMG has accomplished our first-year goals for the Restore Sabino Creek campaign and the campaign is coming to life. In the last year:

• The WMG-led stakeholder advisory group made headway in creating a comprehensive watershed plan to restore Sabino Creek with input from residents, local leaders, hydrologists, and river restoration experts.

• Along with videos, social media, and online resources, WMG held a large public event at our Living Lab and Learning Center to

watershed management group

highlight the campaign. More than 75 adults and children came out for Once Upon a Creek: the Sabino Story, to share memories and explore photos of the creek, experience a special “river revival” puppet show, and speak for the creek by contributing Sabino Creek memories to a national oral history project through StoryCorps™.

• We began planning a number of on-the-ground restoration projects that will install water-harvesting and stream restoration features on public and private lands along Sabino Creek to reduce outdoor use of potable water, improve soil health to prevent erosion, and increase infiltration to recharge the shallow groundwater that supports the creek.

This vital campaign has captured the hearts and minds of our supporters and inspired many new individuals and partners to join us. In 2016 we are expanding our work to include Tanque Verde Creek, another vital riparian area that joins with Sabino Creek.

Our 2016 Arizona Gives Day campaign will celebrate these successes and build on our momentum to raise even more money to support and expand this vital work. We look forward to another exciting day of giving in Arizona!

In 2016 we are expanding our work to include Tanque Verde Creek, another vital riparian area that joins with Sabino Creek.

Arizona Gives Day 2015 Winners

GivingHopeAZ / 23

Two-and-a-half years ago, Daring Adventures was in dire straits. Along with a plethora of nonprofits feeling the effects of the recession, it was hit doubly hard by the fact that it was no longer a well-funded program of the Phoenix Parks & Recreation Department program. It’s mission today, as it was 24 years ago, is to improve the lives of people with disabilities through the power of outdoor recreation.

In the midst of the economic downturn, the city chose to close its adaptive recreation program. Fortunately, there already was a 501c3 in place to help it raise funds, but nothing to the degree necessary to run a full-time nonprofit.

The board had the good sense to develop a strategic plan to map what they wanted to be and what they wanted to accomplish. This included hiring an interim CEO to develop the organizational infrastructure—board, fundraising and programs. With no database and no technology, Daring Adventures did not have any infrastructure to participate in the 2014 Arizona Gives Day, raising less than $1000.

Last year we took a new approach. Partnering with a Valley Leadership Class 36 team, we asked for help to build our capacity. Through this amazing partnership, #TeamEverest was created, and we received over $70,000 in funds! We did this by holding our major fundraising event

in conjunction with Arizona Gives Day, utilizing VL #TeamEverest’s knowledge and expertise in marketing, fundraising, social media, law, as well as spreading word of our program to hundreds, if not thousands of new possible donors.

The result—Daring Adventures came in second place...nudged out at 11:59:59, raising more than $30,088 from 186 donors. With the funds raised Daring Adventures was able to move forward on its plans to hire a program director to help build a earned revenue stream, use technology to continue to communicate with donors and friends, hold its strategic plan update and so much more!

2015 was a banner year for Daring Adventures, in many ways due to the new awareness through VL #TeamEverest connections to new friends and funders. It is pretty easy to raise funds for the organization once people see, hear and participate in an adaptive hike, cycling, kayaking, even sled hockey. It is so important that we are able to tell our story to new people to increase the breadth and depth of those we serve and support us.

At this year’s Phoenix Summit Challenge, Daring Adventures had

its largest turnout—22 participants who hiked both the four summit and adaptive summit hikes—including individuals with blindness, paralysis, Down syndrome and amputees. Our purpose is to help people discover their own abilities, sharing our motto, “It’s not about want you can’t do, but what you CAN DO!”

In a nutshell, Daring Adventures achievement of its special event and Arizona Gives Day was collaboration—finding a group of committed individuals who called upon their family, friends and co-workers to support Daring Adventures and share our message. VL #TeamEverest made all the difference in the world!

Fast forward to 2016—Daring Adventures now has a three-year plan to build an earned income revenue stream to increase participation. We have hired our first program director and are in the midst of hiring our first permanent executive director.

About the author: Alisa Chatinsky is completing her service as Interim CEO for Daring Adventures and runs a nonprofit consulting business specializing in strategic planning, organizational and fund development.

daring adventures

“ It’s not about want you can’t do, but what you CAN DO!

A year ago, Michelle was living in her truck with her 7-year-old son. They were evicted when Michelle’s addiction to prescription pain killers and methamphetamines consumed the family’s finances. News of the eviction reached the ears of her son’s teacher and soon, custody of her son was stripped from her as well.

Michelle had been homeless before; she knew where this road led. But with custody of her son hanging in the balance, she lost the taste for the life she was leading. The Department of Child Servicers referred her to Phoenix Rescue Mission’s Changing Lives Center.

Phoenix Rescue Mission’s Changing Lives Center is a place for homeless, addicted and hopeless women to begin again. The 12-month program is an intense blend of relapse prevention, counseling, trauma recovery and life-habilitation. Like Michelle, many of the women who come for help are young mothers. Many dropped out of high school and have never entered the workforce, or did so at entry level jobs.

Thanks to the energy and excitement Phoenix Rescue Mission supporters shared during Arizona Gives Day, we have been able to make an investment in high school diploma obtainment, vocational development and workforce readiness. For the past three years, we have used our incentive prizes for receiving the most donations on Arizona Gives Day to sustain this powerful program.

Michelle was in the first class of graduates from our Food Service Training Program. This 13-week course designed not only to give

women the change to become ServSafe® certified in kitchen management, but to provide an in-depth knowledge about the inner workings of the restaurant business. It is a program designed to teach skill that will serve the women long after they leave the Mission. Michelle thrived and has accepted an offer to stay at the Changing Lives Center and help grow our Mission Possible catering business.

phoenix rescue mission

“On the streets, it was always clear where I was going. I was a drug addict. I was either going to die or end up in jail. Those were my options. That’s what my future looked like. But thanks to this place, the Changing Lives Center, I’m not only sober, I have custody of my son. Now, I have a way to move forward and support my family. For the first time, I have hope for the future!” said Michelle.

Arizona Gives Day has energized our philanthropic community by showcasing the power of the individual giver. Three years ago, Phoenix Rescue Mission wasn’t sure if participating in Arizona Gives Day was a good idea. The date fell around Easter and our Development Department wondered if this would cannibalize donations to our Easter campaign. We called our sister Mission in Denver and they told us we would be crazy not to participate. We threw our hat into the ring and the risk has paid off tremendously. We have used this spirited day to mobilize our volunteers and lapsed donors, as well as some of our faithful supporters. The impact of Arizona Gives Day has gone beyond the raising of dollars – Phoenix Rescue Mission feels more connected than ever to the non-profit community at-large.

“ Now, I have a way to move forward and support my family. For the first time, I have hope for the future!

Arizona Gives Day 2015 Winners

GivingHopeAZ / 25

Since Arizona Gives Day in 2015, the Humane Society of Southern Arizona (HSSA) has grown by leaps and bounds in their ability to serve the communities and beloved animals of Tucson and southern Arizona.

HSSA services continue to be focused on the organization’s three pillars of Shelter & Placement, Prevention, and Education & Outreach. In total, the organization serves more than 20,000 animals per year. The support of donors on Arizona Gives Day 2015 has allowed HSSA the freedom (and funding) to explore some exciting new programs, including:

Jog-A-Dog, an initiative that pairs volunteers who like to run with a four-legged friend they can take out one or two days a week. This is especially beneficial to animals that benefit from additional exercise beyond the daily walks already provided to all dogs in HSSA’s care. Healthier and relaxed dogs are easier

to adopt, and in its first two months of existence, ten Jog-A-Dog canine participants found new homes.

The creation of a Cattery in our Park Place PAWSH retail location, giving cats a more feline-friendly place to call home while waiting to meet their new families. The Cattery offers both humans and cats a more natural setting in which to explore their friendship. Its addition has spurred both adoptions at PAWSH and window shopping by visitors to the mall.

Pets And Their Heroes (P.A.T.H.), which provides a unique opportunity for military veterans to continue their tradition of service in collaboration with some of our extra-extraordinary dogs. Developed for veterans who may still be adjusting to civilian life, P.A.T.H. pairs them with

humane society of southern arizona

shelter dogs in need of socialization and enrichment. By training, exercising and socializing adoptable dogs at HSSA, the veterans enable these dogs to find forever homes faster. The veterans benefit as well from seeing positive outcomes and through the creation of a therapeutic human-animal bond.

Hand in Paw Youth Internships, a service program for older youth who have an interest in animals, animal welfare and compassion, and in role modeling behavior for younger children. The program provides practical volunteer experiences for youth between 12 and 18 who might have a career interest in working with animals or children.

A new adoption partnership with Aloft Hotel, which places adoptable dogs at the hotel. Staff there are trained on animal care

and are able to directly process the adoptions for guests at Aloft. The dogs serve as ambassadors to greet and comfort worn-out travelers, enhancing the overall hotel experience. It’s worked out pretty well for the dogs, too: HSSA is happy to report an average of one adoption per week at the hotel. The program even got recognized by animal advocate and legendary singer Emmylou Harris, who invited some of HSSA’s dogs and staffs to join her onstage during a concert at the Fox Tucson Theatre.

The aforementioned programs, and many others created in the last year, give animals further hope and help support HSSA’s vision of a community in which all pets are cared for and loved. 2015 Arizona Gives Day donations made it possible; what will YOUR gift do in 2016? Learn more at HSSAZ.org.

Arizona Gives Day 2015 Winners

Arizona is home to more than 20,000 nonprofits that provide services we rely on every day. Our nonprofits create safe places to learn, live, and fulfill dreams. They enrich our lives through art and culture and protect our natural wonders, cultural heritage and human dignity.

It’s also important to remember nonprofits are more than “charity” – collectively Arizona’s nonprofits are a powerful, economic engine employing more than 150,000 workers and generating more than $27 billion in revenues annually.

In order to strengthen Arizona’s nonprofit community, Arizona Gives Day was created as a way to create awareness, connect the public/businesses and increase financial support for these important, and often critical, organizations.

Arizona Gives Day offers a unique opportunity for your business. Using tactics like discounts and donations, sponsorship, social media and more, you help make Arizona Gives Day 2016 successful.

HERE

YOUR

AND

GIVES DAY

Social Media

Like us on Facebook (Arizona Gives Day) and share our posts about Arizona Gives Day 2016 before and on April 5. Follow us on Twitter (@azgives) and share our tweets about Arizona Gives Day 2016 before and on April 5.

Communcation

Encourage your employees and customers to participate, through your e-newsletter, website, social media, and email marketing between March 1- April 5, 2016. Donors can schedule their donations in advance. Can schedule their credit/debit card donations in advance.

Posters & Postcards

Display posters in your store or workplace to drive awareness between March 22 - April 5, 2016. Order from azgives.org > Info For Businesses. Insert postcards in customer shopping bags between March 22 - April 5, 2016. Order from azgives.org Info For Businesses

In-Kind Advertising

Donate your advertising (digital, print, radio, tv, outdoor) or specify an ad for Arizona Gives Day. Creative available upon request. Prominently display Arizona Gives Day on your outdoor reader or public space between March 22 - April 5, 2016. Can schedule their credit/debit card donations in advance

Matching Gifts

Provide a “matching” campaign gift for a participating nonprofit. For a full list go to azgives.org.

Discounts & Donations

On April 5 or even after, offer a discount on your products or services to customers who show a receipt confirming they gave to Arizona Gives Day. On April 5, set up a giving station in your store or lobby to encourage giving. Assistance with any ‘whitelisting’ computer issues can be requested beforehand. On April 5, host a party or event and encourage your attendees to give. Donors can schedule their donations in advance.

Sponsorship

Partner with Arizona Gives Day to assist with critical operating and administrative costs. Contact ArizonaGivesDay@arizonanonprofits.org for a complete list. Opportunities start at $2,500.

Join us* for Arizona Gives Day 2016 and strengthen the Arizona nonprofit

community. It’s easy and fun!

Ensure a successful Arizona Gives Day by following some of these

marketing tactics!

The brand of any company is not what its executives say it is, or what the marketing team says it is. The true brand of a company is what everybody else says it is. I’ve always believed that, and I’m proud to say that the entire leadership team at Western Refining believes it. That’s why our brand focus includes, to a significant degree, community relations. We want people outside of our company to feel the right things about our brand, and you can’t achieve that unless you peel away the corporate layers and show them who you really are and what you stand for. One of the most powerful ways to do that is through community relations.

At Western Refining, we use the words community involvement instead of community relations. Although the latter term is certainly understood in the generic sense, to us, there’s an important difference. Since the company bought its first refinery in 2002, we have never wanted to simply be “related” to the communities in which we live and work in the expected ways – giving to high-profile charities and attending major fund-raisers. Rather (and here’s the difference for us), we want Western Refining to be fully immersed in those communities and interact with people in meaningful ways. Sure, it takes a financial commitment to do that, but more, it takes a personal commitment. So we try to find ways to support Arizona’s nonprofits in ways that engage our employees. In many cases, it not only increases our giving amounts, it also provides a real sense of “team effort” as well as individual fulfillment among our employees.

Several years ago our company went through a comprehensive brand analysis, and we asked ourselves some tough and thought-provoking questions. One of those questions was: What do we really stand for? Of course, many of the answers were the standard and expected top-of-mind replies: integrity, honesty, safety, great people, etc. While those descriptions are all true of our company, they didn’t get deep enough. And frankly, many companies can say those things. But what kept bubbling up from this analysis was how Western Refining touches people in their everyday lives. What we refine and sell (fuel and petroleum products) helps them get to work, get the kids to school, gets goods to the grocery store, gets emergency vehicles where they need to go, supplies the military with jet fuel, gets shipments delivered by trains, and helps build the roads we drive on. If it involves a car, truck, train, or plane in their community or region, it was most likely our fuel that helped make it happen. In other words, we provide the fuel that helps people do what they do in their everyday lives. From these insights, our brand statement emerged: Fueling our lives. But something else came out of that

NEW TO AZ:

Community Relations Lead Western Refining’s Brand Efforts

BY GARY HANSON

New Leaf ice cream social

GivingHopeAZ / 29

analysis, and it ties specifically to what we do and contribute to a community. It is the fact that Western Refining provides another kind of fuel, too -- the fuel of our financial commitment and the fuel of our employee commitment to non-profits. Together, they represent our day-to-day mission as a company to do what we can to affect meaningful, sustainable change in people’s lives. So “Fueling our lives” has a dual meaning -- one focused on our products and one focused on our charitable and civic support. The first makes the second one possible; the second fulfills our brand promise of community involvement and giving back. We could not achieve that brand promise without our employees.

All of us at Western Refining are extremely proud of what our employees have done to be involved in their communities. They

have excelled in this regard, both on a company level and a personal level. They are the driving force behind our ability to positively impact people’s lives, and they have made our brand stronger by bringing it to life.

As I stated earlier in this article, our brand is not what we say it is; it’s what others, outside of our company, say it is. And who better can represent Western Refining outside of the company’s offices than our employees? They’re the ones who can truly touch people where they live, work, and play. They are the ones who can best provide the “people fuel” to affect change. To us, that’s the “community relations” definition that really matters – it’s our employees volunteering their time, energies, and talents to help their neighbors. It’s community involvement at a grass-roots, people-to-people level.Here are some ways in which

Western Refining’s Fueling our lives brand statement becomes real because of our dedicated and caring employees.

In 2013, 19 firefighters from the Prescott Fire Department died while battling the 2,000-acre Yarnell Hill fire. We initiated a fund-raising drive at Western Refining through our Phoenix-area employees, but never imagined the compassion and desire to help that would come from that effort. With our pledge to match their contributions and with very little encouragement, over 200 Western Refining employees wrote personal checks or made payroll deductions totaling over $108,000. You can do the math, but that’s a significant contribution per employee. All of the funds went to the families of those firefighters. One of our employees summed up what defines the “people fuel” of Western Refining: “It was an honor for me to give what I could. I wanted to show my appreciation for the sacrifices

PHOTOS SUPPLIED BY WESTEN REFINING

Gary Hanson (left) an the team the Balsz School painting program

made by these firefighters who gave their lives to protect others.”

This year, our convenience stores throughout the Southwest raised almost $525,000 during the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s summer camp mobile program to help support children fighting muscular dystrophy and related life-threatening diseases that limit muscle strength and mobility. But this was not just a company program – it required creativity and work from our store employees. Many of them decorated their stores and did out-of-the-ordinary things that generated those kinds of customer donations. It was employee driven, and that was the foundation of the program’s success.One other example of how our “fuel” of support and help works is the Summer Hydration program initiated

for A New Leaf in Tempe. A New Leaf is a nonprofit that operates programs across the Valley, providing homeless and domestic violence shelters, affordable housing, behavioral health services, foster care and community access services. Our employees came through -- again with very little urging from corporate leadership -- and purchased, unpacked, and then loaded over 1,000 cases of water for transport to A New Leaf. This was a tremendous outpouring of help from employees, and represented one of the largest product donations ever provided by Western Refining to a nonprofit partner organization.

These examples represent a very small portion of the “fuel” of support and involvement that our employees provide and are engaged in. It is an important part of our brand, and it is

brought to life by the daily dedication and commitment of our employees to their communities.

The results of our focus on community involvement is cemented in our reputation. Western Refining is widely recognized as one of the nation’s best refining companies, and an exceptional place to work. So while we relentlessly pursue giving back to our communities in meaningful ways, the “outside” perception of our company and brand is consistently lifted up and embellished in a positive way. We plan to continue that in Arizona for many years.

New, outstanding graphics will separate Western Refinery from other trucks by displaying their support of our military and first responders.

GivingHopeAZ / 31

GIVE SOMETHING TO THOSE WHO GAVE

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BECOME A MEMBERDONATE SPONSOR*

Playworks and Fiesta Bowl Charities are working together to make sure recess is as fun as we all remember it to be.

As part of a three-year legacy grant totaling $90,000, Fiesta Bowl Charities is donating $30,000 a year to Playworks in an effort to sponsor a school, as they seek to connect daily recess with an overarching positive school experience.

Playworks’ mission is to provide an organized recess with opportunities for physical activity and safe, meaningful play. Playworks currently serves more than 1,200 schools across the United States and reaches more than 700,000 students. On their playgrounds, children feel a sense of community and inclusiveness while cheering for one another which quickly transformed the organization into a leading, nationally recognized brand.

From the beginning, Playworks Arizona Executive Director Chuck Warshaver’s approach to obtaining a grant was unique. Rather than asking for a dollar amount, Warshaver invited Fiesta Bowl Charities out to preview one of its sponsored recesses and give them the opportunity to see first-hand what an impact Playworks makes on the greater Phoenix community.

Playworks, Fiesta Bowl Charities

The Fiesta Bowl Organization was instantly hooked on the idea.

“The partnership between Fiesta Bowl Charities and Playworks is a natural fit as both of our organizations believe in serving the community and empowering youth through education. We are extremely excited to continue building this relationship beyond the means of the legacy grant,” said Jose Moreno, director of community relations for the Fiesta Bowl.

PARTNER TO KEEPS KIDS ACTIVE

Matt Winter (Chairman of the Board 2015-16 Fiesta Bowl), Marcus Sipolt (Charitable Giving Chair 2015-16), Paul Bork program director, Chuck Warshaver executive director of Playworks, Mike Nealy (Executive Director of Fiesta Bowl) and Spirit.

BY JORDAN LEWIS

GivingHopeAZ / 33

Since its inception in 1971, the Fiesta Bowl Organization as a nonprofit has focused on fostering a culture of community involvement and giving, hosting a variety of events including the two elite bowl games - the Fiesta Bowl and Cactus Bowl. A long-standing tradition, the Fiesta Bowl is dedicated to cultivating a culture of community outreach and philanthropy, through which they strive to make Arizona a better place to live, work and play.

Playworks believes in the importance of seeing its benefit programs come to life. This past season, its volunteers spent gameday at the Motel 6 Cactus Bowl selling 50/50 raffle tickets and getting the crowd excited for the big game. In return for their efforts, Fiesta Bowl Charities named Playworks as the beneficiary of $6,000 from the raffle.

In addition, Warshaver actively engages the Fiesta Bowl Staff and Committee to volunteer at Playworks events throughout the year. This helps to fulfill Fiesta Bowl’s volunteer initiatives and strengthens the ties to Playworks beyond the requirements of a grant partnership.

Both organizations look forward to an exciting 2016, including school beautification projects, volunteering and the opportunity for Playworks children to attend the 2017 Cactus Bowl.

PHOTOS SUPPLIED BY PLAYWORKS

Q: What’s the biggest change in public broadcasting

you’ve seen in your time PBS?

A: It’s now a multiplatform world. The title of my Rotary speech is “this is not your father’s PBS.” We are much more than just good ol’ Channel 8. We are 3 channels (HD, Life, World), online, mobile, in schools and in the community.

The multiplatform world not only affects how we produce, package, repurpose and distribute content, it also effects how we fundraise. We do so much more than just pledge drives — which account for only about 20 percent of our annual operating revenues. We do lots of direct mail, telemarketing, e-fundraising, sponsor sales, mid-level giving, major giving, studio rentals, production services and more to generate much-needed revenue.

Q: Where do you see PBS in 10 years?

A: Continuing on the path we’ve been on for a few years… embracing new platforms, establishing new and more local partnerships, and producing more local content. The key theme here is local.

It recently occurred to me that Arizona PBS is the greatest producer of local PBS content of any PBS station in the USA (sans sports). Not national productions like Nova, Masterpiece, Great Performances and the like, but rather uniquely Arizona productions such as … Cronkite News, Arizona Horizon, Check Please Arizona, Arizona Collectibles, Books & Co., Horizonte, Arizona Wildlife Views, ArtBeat Nation and so many more. See Local Programs drop down. We are also a leading producer of classical performance audio programming with our KBAQ production studio, now known as

LEADERS IN THE COMMUNITY

Q&AKELLY MCCULLOUGHGENERAL MANAGER, PBS

GivingHopeAZ / 35

Central Sound at Arizona PBS. And, Arizona PBS is a leader in education outreach. We are an exemplar PBS station relative to PBS Learning Media with nearly half of the 65,000 teachers of Arizona registered and using this valuable education resource. Q: How has Netflix and other

streaming TV affected public

broadcasting? A: Well it certainly doesn’t help that there are even more content platforms that could detract from our primary TV services. Having said that, I think other channels are affected much more so than PBS due to the unique nature of our content and our relationship with our viewers. We treat them as citizens, not consumers.

Viewers are certainly embracing content-on-demand, but they are also rediscovering over-the-air viewing (the TV antennae) whereby one gets typically 80 percent of what they watch via the main TV networks and they get the rest via the internet (Netflix, Hulu, etc.). I think it’s cable and satellite that are in trouble.

Q: What’s your favorite PBS and

Non PBS show on TV right now?

A: PBS: Just one? Nah… how about Nova,

Frontline & American Experience. Non-PB: Sports, mainly MLB and NFL.

Q: Top 3 things a nonprofit should

do to raise awareness?

A: Grow your social media. Deploy your staff and board into the community. Seek out community partnerships.

Q: Top 3 things you do to garner

more donations.

A: Build a clean and robust database of donors and prospects from as many sources as possible – phone system, emails, etc. Develop a strong retention program… thank you calls, compelling events, e-communications. The fewer donors you lose, the fewer you have to acquire just to stay even. Get you and your board out there in the community to tell the story. Seek out others who are interested in your mission.

Q: Worst program you did?

A: Do you mean worst fund-raising program? If yes, then the answer is many. We failed with affinity marketing programs (several). We’ve had many a direct mail appeal perform poorly. We’ve had unsuccessful events (thankfully, not many). The key with all such efforts is to test, test, test …

PHOTO SUPPLIED BY PBS

and as importantly learn, learn, learn.

Q: Most effective marketing

campaign elements to date?

A: Synchronized multimedia appeals via… on-air, online, e-communications, direct mail, telemarketing, etc. Synchronized message and creative, offers and appeal/s…especially over time. Our recent Newman’s Own Foundation Challenge grant was a terrific execution of this and succeeded mightily.

Q: What do you gain from being on

community boards and networking

so much?

A: I’m always looking for new partnerships of which there are three types. Content – people who have expertise in specific topics. Promotional – people who would help or be interested in promoting specific programs and/or projects that we undertake. Revenue – people who can or know others who might make a financial contribution to specific programs and/or projects. I rarely know who I might meet or even bump into at such events and I can usually identify at least one good connection (or reconnection) at nearly every

Check Please with host Robert McGrath.

Does your organization take a lot of photos? If not, you should be; visuals have been proven to increase engagement and are, of course, pleasing to the eye. As a nonprofit, visuals can help you to share your story and engage with your supporters on social media platforms like Instagram.

Since its inception, Instagram has evolved to be a community of over 400 million users, incorporating video, advertising and other features. Nonprofits and charities can use this visual tool to connect, engage and interact with their target audience, and help to raise awareness of what they care about most. How can you use Instagram to interact with your audience?

Tell Your Story with Images and Video

With cellphone cameras as great as they are today, anyone can take photos of shareworthy moments – yes, even at a fancy gala! – to post in real-time. Whether you’re at a bake sale, walk-a-thon or telethon, assign a volunteer or someone else in the organization to take photos. Later on, you’ll be so glad you did. Plus, if your images fall victim to bad lighting, need cropping or other adjustments, Instagram offers editing tools and filters right in the app so you can get as creative with the photos as you want to. Instagram also offers 30-second video capabilities, and they’re now testing out 60 second video ads with large companies like T-Mobile and Warner Bros. For smaller organizations, 30 seconds of video and a catchy description can be enough to engage the viewer, get a “like” and even a follow of support.

Use Hashtags for Branding

Just like on Twitter, hashtags on Instagram serve as keywords attached to your photos. Adding relevant hashtags to the description of your photo

will ensure your post shows up if someone does a search for that hashtag. Do some brainstorming with your team and come up with your own hashtag, which you can then use on all of your Instagram posts. This could be as easy as your nonprofit’s name or catch phrase, or something more creative and original.

Be Active!

Building up a following on Instagram doesn’t happen overnight; it takes some effort. If you can, posting multiple times a week (if not once a day) is ideal, as long as you have the content to do so. The more original content, the better. It is important to be strategic about what you post; if you use other social media sites, you’ll want the messaging (including your photos) to be consistent across all platforms, always tying back to your organization’s purpose and goal.

Advertising with Instagram

Under its parent company (Facebook), Instagram has implemented an advertising platform, allowing users a more direct way to connect with their target audience. You must have a Facebook ad account and a Facebook page in order to run ads on Instagram. Offered in a number of formats, including single image, carousel, video and marquee, the images you use in your ads should be high quality and, of course, visually interesting. Another tip is to make your ad blend into the feed; in other words, don’t make it look like an advertisement! Check out the Instagram Advertising Basics from Facebook for Business to get ideas and learn more.

Now that you know a little more about Instagram, get your team on board and start sharing. The app is available in the App Store and Google Play.

USING INSTAGRAM FOR PICTURE-PERFECT PHOTO SHARING

SOCIAL MEDIA REPORT

GivingHopeAZ / 37480-272-7671

One of the main responsibilities of the Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits is to continually check the pulse of the sector. In that spirit, late last year we held a group of statewide focus group sessions with our members, as well as key stakeholders and partners. We set out to understand the top challenges and opportunities facing nonprofits, including whether or not they felt they had access to the right level of resources to help them be most successful.

We also wanted to hear about their interaction with the Alliance and what we could do to better serve them in the years ahead. More than 100 participants provided us with a wide breadth of invaluable feedback that was rolled into a 150-page report. Here’s a snapshot of what we discovered.

Top Challenges It will come as no surprise that the No. 1 challenge facing nonprofits continues to be access to funding, specifically that which is flexible, diverse and adequate as needs rise and resources dwindle. We were pleased to see that one area in which the Alliance has excelled was in grant-related resources,

REPORT SHOWS FUNDING, FINDING RIGHT TALENT ARE BIGGEST CHALLENGES FOR NONPROFITS

TRENDS IN NONPROFITS

BY KRISTEN MERRIFIELD

GivingHopeAZ / 39

specifically through Arizona Guide to Grants Online and access to Grant Station.

Participants also requested that the Alliance use its influence and communication platform to help nonprofits connect and partner with funders. It will be important for the Alliance to strategically expand its programs to provide members with the support they need in grant-writing, fund-raising and other fund-development initiatives.

Along with access to funding, participants identified the following top challenges currently facing their organizations (listed below in order of frequency of mention): Funding, Attracting/Retaining Talent Organizational, Bandwidth/Capacity Building, Sustainability, & Branding/Marketing.

Resources Assessment The Alliance also wanted to gain a better understanding of what the need for resources would be over the next three years, including whether or not the nonprofits felt that they had success to the right types and levels of resources in order to sustain their work in the future.

The Big Picture One of the top challenges for the Alliance moving forward will be to determine the best strategy for serving an extremely diverse set of members and nonprofits, while remaining focused on the organization’s strengths.

In the hundreds of responses that participants candidly provided,

there are several recurring messages, opportunities, challenges and needs represented. There is an overarching call for the Alliance to truly operate as a statewide organization, paying thoughtful and meaningful attention to all areas of the state. This must include physical outreach, constant gathering of feedback, and keeping a pulse on regional issues and collective needs. It should also include strategic partnerships and collaboration with organizations already providing critical resources in each geographic area.

The Focus Group project was the first step in strengthening the Alliance’s commitment to its members and the nonprofit community they serve. However, it is only one step in a long journey. Keeping the doors of communication open with all stakeholders will be critical to the Alliance’s future growth, success and ability to impact and serve the nonprofit community in Arizona. Now, we must use this critical input to guide our path and forge ahead.

We invite you to share your feedback, challenges and opportunities with the Alliance to help us better serve your nonprofit. You can email us at info@arizonanonprofits.org. Also, a full summary of the Focus Group project is available upon request.

By Kristen Merrifield,

CEO Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits

Communications

Average Rating

1 = strongly disagree

5 = strongly agree

The external resources/programs we have are PRICED RIGHT to meet our current needs and challenges.

2.6

The external resources/programs we have are SUFFICIENT to meet our current needs and challenges.

2.1

The external resources/programs we have are SUSTAINABLE to meet our current needs and challenges.

2.6

The external resources/programs we have are EFFECTIVE to meet our current needs and challenges.

3.0

The external resources/programs we have are EFFICIENT to meet our current needs and challenges.

2.8

Statement

Our need for external resource will either stay the same or increase over the next three years.

4.3

Fashion model walks adoptable Cocker Spaniel, Anya, down the runway

The Desert Foothills Library honors the Gold Mine Thrift Shop for their generous donation of $10,000 over the past three years.

Cupids for Kids: Students at Mesa’s Pomeroy Elementary School teamed up with Run to Fight Children’s Cancer to create 600 handmade valentines for children battling cancer. The cards are available for $5 each and will be delivered with messages of inspirations to patients at race beneficiaries Phoenix Children’s Hospital and Children’s Cancer Network. For more information, call Marissa Rutherford at (602) 639-5522. For details about the sixth annual race, visit www.runtofightcancer.com.

The Board of Visitors recently presented Circle the City with a check to benefit the organization’s medical respite hospice program for women and elderly patients experiencing homelessness. Circle the City is a rapidly growing nonprofit community health organization dedicated to providing high quality, holistic care to men, women, and children facing homelessness. Pictured: BOV Chairman, Sydney Fox; BOV member Susan Westra; Circle the City Founder and Chief Medical Officer Sister Adele O’Sullivan; BOV member Susan Tymins; Circle the City Chief Executive Officer Brandon Clark; and Circle the City Chairman of the Board Dr. William Ellert.

2 of more than 1,000 young ladies who found their perfect prom dresses at the 2015 Cinderella Affair.

Cancer-fighting superhero Cooper Gokee wheels his way to the finish line of last year’s Run to Fight Children’s Cancer. The sixth annual race is slated for March 12 and is expected to draw 3,000 runners and walkers. For details, visit www.runtofightcancer.com.

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PHOTO GALLERY

Because a better Arizona is everyone’s business.The Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits would like to thankArizona’s business leaders for encouraging employees togive back to the community. Whether making a financialdonation or giving the even more valuable resource of timeand expertise, employees that support Arizona nonprofitssupport all Arizonans.

One way that business professionals can support theirfavorite nonprofits is through board membership. By servingon a nonprofit board, professionals of all disciplines can drivechange and make our state a better place.

To help your staff learn more about the rewards and responsibilities of board membership, visitArizonaNonprofits.org/OnBoard.

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

Giving is about much more than just the holiday season

ADAM KRESS

Adam Kresseditor

@KressOnBusiness

Most of us equate the giving season with the holidays around the end of the year, but in Arizona, big-time events early in the year are some of the most powerful giving tools we have.

A lot of this revolves around sports, specifically the Waste Management Phoenix Open and Cactus League spring training. The way these two have grown over the decades has been astounding. Each has set a new attendance record each year for the past several years, and on Saturday at the Open this year, the tourney topped 200,000 in attendance for the first time.

Arizona nonprofits have been among the biggest beneficiaries of the success of the Phoenix Open and the Cactus League. The Thunderbirds, who organize the Open, have donated more than $75 million to Arizona charities just since 2003, and more than $100 million in the history of the tournament. They handed out just over $9 million to local charities last year – a single-year record for the tourney.

Between the Major League Baseball teams represented in the Cactus League and nonprofit groups like the Scottsdale Charros, who support individual teams and stadiums, millions has been raised over the years for local charities. As the Cactus League grows busier and better, there will only be more ways for it to give back.

Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention another one of Arizona’s early-year traditions that has a huge positive benefit for local charities: The Barrett Jackson Collector Car Auction held in Scottsdale each January. Some of the most expensive cars sold each year are sales where the proceeds go to charity. Over the past 45 years, Barrett-Jackson has raised nearly $85 million dollars for charity, with much of that money staying in Arizona.

Highlighting the giving impact of mega-events like the Open, the Cactus League and Barrett Jackson serves as a reminder to all of us that we shouldn’t just think of the holidays as a time to give back.

At this magazine we’re trying to create a culture where giving back is a constant state of mind. Whether you’re a corporation looking to implement a new giving program or an individual just looking to help someone in need, we encourage you not to wait for the calendar to change to make an impact. Needs are constant, but the resources of many nonprofits are limited. With a little change in mindset, we can create a more consistent impact throughout the year, and countless charities would be better off for it.

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