Nonprofit Social Innovation Hub

The expanding domain of nonprofit journalism, which is frequently overshadowed by prominent corporate news organizations, is gaining traction within the media industry, including in Arizona. Launched in March 2022, AZ Luminaria is a Tucson-based digital, nonprofit newsroom that is dedicated to truly local news and community-centered journalism.

In February 2023, Amazon shut down its AmazonSmile program, which allowed customers to pick their favorite charitable organizations to receive donations from Amazon. But nonprofit leaders have alternative programs to explore and leverage.

Influencer marketing has emerged as a popular social media strategy used by brands to reach a younger population. This has opened a world of possibilities to nonprofit organizations that seek to reach wider audiences. One example is Truth Initiative, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that inspires young people to quit smoking and nicotine.

The foundation established by MacKenzie Scott, Yield Giving, utilized a small team to identify donation candidates and amounts entirely in secret. Organizations were approached unceremoniously with a no-strings-attached donation to be used however they wished. Many of them took advantage of Scott's unorthodox approach to launch innovative programs not otherwise possible.

Last year, the ASU Foundation made the decision to accept donations in the form of cryptocurrency, joining the trend of nonprofits and philanthropic organizations that have started doing the same. The reason for this: demand. “Alumni wanted to donate crypto,” said Daniel McAuley, a member of the Next Generation Council of the ASU Foundation.

After years of cooking meals for people going through cancer treatments, Jennifer Caraway came to the board with a business idea: open up a commercial kitchen and diner. Two days a week, they use the kitchen to prepare the meals for their nonprofit clients, then the rest of the week they open up as a diner to create an earned revenue stream for the organization.

The mission of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul of Arizona is to house, clothe, feed and heal people in the community, as well as to provide service and volunteer opportunities. They accomplish this with a number of standard programs, such as a dining room and health clinics. However, they’ve been able to break the mold in several ways, both before and during the pandemic, and forge innovative programs and partnerships.

A new nonprofit collaboration hopes to increase fresh produce donations within the Phoenix area. Enter Fresh Food Connect, a food donation mobile app that is pushing the boundaries for how gardeners can provide fruits and vegetables to the community, and Nourish PHX, a nonprofit fighting poverty in Phoenix since the 1980s.

When Fresh Start Women's Foundation made the difficult choice to shut down the center in March 2020 because of COVID-19, staff faced the challenge before them head-on: How do we keep serving women? Two weeks later, with a combination of teamwork, determination and ingenuity, Fresh Start took to Zoom, offering all core programs and services virtually.

As Free Arts for Abused Kids of Arizona got further into the pandemic, they developed “to-go art projects” that they started to deliver across the Valley. From April through August 2020, they delivered over 8,000 of these projects to more than 2,000 children across the Valley.

Despite COVID-19 canceling shows and postponing performances, Prescott Center for the Arts used the pressures of the pandemic to create opportunities for engagement and innovation so that communities could still experience all facets of the arts, safely.

Yavapai Big Brothers Big Sisters bears an important mission: Create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth. In 2020 the nonprofit found a way to turn the uncertainty of the pandemic into a step towards innovation within their operations.

ASU student Anthony Valencia founded the nonprofit organization ShelterShare, an online platform that connects members of a community to local shelters and allows them to buy specific items of need.

At Our Neighbors Farm & Pantry in Safford, Ariz., donations have taken a drastic downturn - especially in bread, which is down 80%. But the nonprofit has shown resilience by reaching out to local businesses to form unique partnerships and put food on the tables of community members.

The Foundation for Blind Children expanded its reach to not just Phoenix families, but a national and global audience through a series of webinars and online programs for children who are blind or visually impaired and their families.

It has been the year of great change and challenge. With incredible staff coming together with profound creativity and resilience, we have been able to successfully overcome one of the hardest years educators have experienced and carry on with promise.

Nikki Kontz, the clinical director for Teen Lifeline, said they immediately saw that teens were going to need their services “more than ever.” They received twice as many texts as the previous year, and overall use of the hotline increased as well. Members at the organization thought these would go down as the summer went on, but they continued to climb. Learn how the organization handled the challenges.

The American Modeling Teachers Association continued to support educators across the country during the pandemic as they faced new instructional challenges.