Charity

Charity Arizona Gives Day Registration Deadline Nears for Local Nonprofits

Arizona Gives Day raised a record $7.1 million for nonprofits in 2021

FEBRUARY 28 IS THE REGISTRATION DEADLINE FOR LOCAL NONPROFITS INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING IN ARIZONA GIVES DAY, THE 24-HOUR ONLINE FUNDRAISING EVENT, FROM NOON ON APRIL 5 UNTIL NOON ON

APRIL 6. Since 2013, Arizona Gives has raised more than $30 million for nonprofits statewide, setting a single-year record in 2021 by raising $7.1 million.

Presented by FirstBank, one of the nation’s largest privately held banks with a focus on “banking for good,” Arizona Gives is hosted by the Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits and the Arizona Grantmakers Forum.

Re-enrollment and payment of a refundable registration fee is required and can be completed at azgives.org/eligibility. Registrants receive access to workshops and training, marketing and graphics toolkit, and can fundraise all year on AZGives.org.

The Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits’ Senior Vice President and Director of Development Jennifer Purcell shares that new features rolled out in the past year include peer-to-peer fundraising, an earlygiving leaderboard, and a collective listing of events and volunteer opportunities for viewing in one place.

“These features were created to encourage year-round use of the website and assist with connecting the community with nonprofit organizations of interest,” Purcell says. “This year, returning participants can take advantage of special QR codes, donate buttons to imbed on a website, and an auto-generated repeating donation feature to encourage previous donors to give again.”

Arizona Gives unites nonprofits, big and small, new and established, to celebrate and increase philanthropy in Arizona through online giving. Arizona Gives helps raise awareness about the critical role Arizona nonprofits play in our communities and inspires people to give generously to create a thriving and stronger Arizona for all. Information required for registration and re-enrollment includes general information about the nonprofit, an IRS Determination Letter, the most current completed financials through Form 990 or the organization’s operating budget, and a bank account and routing number for electronic distribution of donations.

Arizona Gives provides virtual workshops to assist in making each participant’s fundraising experience a success. Workshops take place through March. Registrants can participate in real time or view the recording later.

“Arizona Gives offers a number of significant options for both nonprofits and donors including the ability for year-round giving and for donors to create personal fundraiser campaigns,” says Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits CEO Kristen Merrifield.

New 2022 campaign features for nonprofits include:

• New ways for nonprofits to direct traffic to their Arizona Gives Day profiles including options for an embeddable donation button and QR code. • Ability to send thank-you emails directly from the Arizona Gives Day platform. • An option for the peer fundraiser page

“hero image” to be either static or as a video. • Ability for nonprofits to link to their

Vimeo videos in addition to YouTube. • A new Repeat Your Donation feature which enables donors to review previous donations and then make that specific donation again or add to it with a click of a button.

For interested donors, AzGives.org offers an advanced search filter to find nonprofits by specific criteria, area of focus, and which donations may qualify as an Arizona tax credit. In addition to creating a fundraiser page, donors also can create a donor account to set up recurring donations, track their giving throughout the year, or they may simply check out as a guest.

Complete information, including answers to important questions about Arizona Gives Day, can be found at AZGives.org.

Tickets Now Available for Dinner in the Desert Fundraiser Benefitting Benevilla

Benevilla is kicking up their heels by hosting their annual fundraising event, Dinner in the Desert, on Friday, March 25 at the beautiful Barn at Desert Foothills venue, located at East Jomax Road in Phoenix. While the fundraiser happens next month, tickets are now on sale.

At the event, attendees can join Benevilla for fireside cocktails at sunset, a desert sky full of stars, dinner, dancing, raffles, and music by the popular local western band Honeygirl, performing old and new country favorites. In addition to a lovely evening of dinner and dancing, there will be exciting fundraising activities for guests to help support the work Benevilla does in the community. These include chances to win raffle prizes for various dining, sports, shopping, staycation, and entertainment items.

Individual tickets to the event are $175, or guests can host a preferred table for 10 guests for $2,000, which includes their name on event signage and listing in the event program book. There are also several sponsorship levels available: from the $500 Silver Spur level or a Cowboy Coffee Bar sponsorship for $1,000 up to the $3,000 Campfire Cocktail Reception sponsor. For more information about the Dinner in the Desert event, tickets or sponsorship opportunities, visit benevilla.org or call Daphne Vincent, Donor Relations Manager, at 623-5844999. The Dinner in the Desert event is made possible through the generous support of local sponsors, including Presenting Sponsor Arrowhead Lexus.

Benevilla (benevilla.org) is a Valley-based not-for-profit enriching the lives of older adults, intellectually disabled adults, children, and the families who care for them. Benevilla has been serving others for 41 years through life enriching programs and services including day programs for adults with dementia and other disabilities, intergenerational programs, free grocery shopping services, transportation to medical appointments, caregiver support groups, and many other vital services.

Charity

Happy Hooves Continues to Grow; Welcomes Neighbors to Come Out and Volunteer

By Jeremiah Sosa Photos Courtesy of Happy Hooves

What started out as a small hobby farm for one North 32nd resident has transformed into a growing nonprofit called Happy Hooves, an organization that helps locals heal through animal-assisted therapy.

Located at 15220 N. 27th Street, Happy Hooves is an animal farm owned and operated by Jesse Pekarek.

Pekarek grew up on a dairy farm in Minnesota, which was where his love for animals was sparked. After moving to Arizona 22 years ago, he felt like his heart was being pulled to work with nonprofit organizations, so he started working with a nonprofit that raised funds for underprivileged children.

After doing this for over 11 years, he was happy that he was able to make a difference in the community, but he was missing something that has been a part of his life since he was a child—working with animals. This all changed when he found a property in North 32nd that was the perfect place to start his dream farm.

He originally started his farm with just two miniature horses that he rescued from a slaughter pen. He then started taking the horses to nursing homes, memory care centers, and anywhere else that desired animal-assisted therapy. Fast forward a few years and the Happy Hooves operation has grown to house over 20 animals ranging from miniature horses, to alpacas, to a Barbados Blackbelly sheep.

With his organization growing, Pekarek decided to shift from the old model of transporting animals off-site to now mostly offering the therapy on site at the Happy Hooves farm. This is so that the visitors can choose from a variety of animals rather than being only allowed to see one or two during off-site visits.

“It’s a completely different experience by doing it the way I’m now doing it,” Pekarek says. “Since the pandemic, it’s kind of organically evolved into me doing more on-site types of activities.”

The pandemic also sparked another business venture that has helped to fund the Happy Hooves farm: virtual visits. Pekarek started offering virtual tours of his farm to people from all over the world who want to learn more about the animals.

After the past few years of trying out different business ventures and ways to expand the farm, Happy Hooves has grown in popularity and become a hotspot for people looking to volunteer. The farm has a steady flow of volunteers; from those that help a couple times a year to others who help out every week. “I don’t want people to have the presumption that it’s going to be about mucking stalls, picking up poop, and filling up water troughs and hay bags,” he says. “I like to keep it open where people can find what they enjoy doing while working with the animals.”

To learn more about Happy Hooves, including how to sign up to volunteer, visit happyhoovesaz.org.

Earn Tax Credits Through Donations

We are a 501©(3) non-profi t all volunteer food bank. All gifts are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.

The food bank also qualifi es for the Arizona State Tax Credit. Give to the Community Food Bank and receive a dollar-for-dollar tax credit on your Arizona state return.

You can now quality for up to $400 if you fi le as a single person, or up to $800 if you fi le jointly.

Visit us at pvcommunityfoodbank.org or scan the QR Code to learn more about how you can get involved in our variety of programs