Dear CFSA Community,
The Steady Saguaro is a new email update designed to provide valuable community updates, action items, and inspiration—straight from the desk of our President and CEO, Jenny Flynn. Just as the resilient saguaro weathers droughts and storms while offering shelter to the desert’s inhabitants, the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona (CFSA) strives to support our region when it matters most.
Since 1980, CFSA has united individuals, families, businesses, nonprofits, and ideas to create a better Southern Arizona for all. We remain steadfast in our mission through uncertain times: to build a thriving Southern Arizona through philanthropy.
For CFSA, “philanthropy” encompasses donors and nonprofits, all in service of creating a vibrant and equitable community for all Southern Arizonans, now and forever. It often surprises people to learn that the nonprofit sector is the 6th largest industry in Arizona, “surpassing construction, transportation and warehousing, and accommodation and food service in terms of annual wages,” according to the ASU Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation.
Focusing on the “now” portion of CFSA’s work, the impact of the recent federal funding freeze/pause on Southern Arizona’s nonprofit community is top of mind for me. Nationally, so much is happening so quickly—it can be overwhelming. Close to home, core funding for Tucson nonprofits supporting a wide array of areas, from health to housing to education, is still uncertain.
Despite these challenges, we have strengths—our deep understanding of the local landscape and our ability to act with intention. As committed members of our community, CFSA encourages you to:
- Make your giving unrestricted. Flexible funding allows nonprofits to adapt quickly, keep their doors open, and continue essential services.
- Stay informed. Track the latest updates via the National Council of Nonprofits. Subscribe, and become a paid subscriber if possible, to local news outlets to stay current. The Tucson Spotlight covers the local nonprofit community extensively. From a national perspective, the Chronicle of Philanthropy is an excellent source.
- Share local impact stories. Detailed, local, on-the-ground examples of impacts such as missed payrolls, services curtailed, layoffs, closures, and work stoppages are very helpful to share via surveys from AZ Impact for Good and the National Council of Nonprofits. This information will help sector advocates make the case that federal funding interruptions significantly harm our communities.
- Stay connected. The Center for Healthy Nonprofits will host “Surviving and Thriving in a VUCA World” on March 13th, providing valuable insights for navigating uncertainty.
Southern Arizona belongs to all of us, and we are committed to working with our generous donors, dedicated nonprofit partners, and committed professional advisors to continue building a vibrant and equitable community for all. We will continue to monitor this evolving situation closely and provide updates as needed.
Never has my regular sign-off, Together We Bloom, been more accurate.
Together We Bloom,
Jenny Flynn
President & CEO
Community Foundation for Southern Arizona