A group of donors has provided separate funding to the Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits to waive payment processing fees normally paid by nonprofits participating in the Arizona Gives Day 24-hour online fundraising event, scheduled this year on Tuesday, April 7. Arizona Gives Day, a collaboration with the Arizona Grantmakers Forum, is presented by First Bank.

“What this means is more money goes directly to the nonprofits at a time that has never been more critical because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits CEO Kristen Merrifield. “Nonprofits have always had to cover the 2.1 percent fee charged by the payment processor. Thanks to the generosity of our donors, we’re able to waive that fee.”

Historically, 80 percent of donors have covered the remaining 5.2 percent technology and program fee charged on donations at checkout. “If donors continue that trend, or better yet, increase the percentage of those who donate the additional 5.2 percent, nonprofits will receive 100 percent of that donation since payment processing fees are waived.”

Merrifield discussed the payment waiver on a Facebook Live broadcast this morning to the more than 11,000 followers of Arizona Gives Day. Early giving for Arizona Gives Day began this week.

Last week, the Alliance announced that it had added an Arizona Gives Day Emergency Relief Fund, giving donors the option to increase donations as an add-on at checkout or through direct donation by visiting http://www.azgives.org/aznonprofits.

All Emergency Relief Funds will be divided equally among Arizona Gives Day participants.

The Alliance also announced that it had re-opened registration for nonprofit organizations that had to cancel fundraisers or programs because of the coronavirus. The new registration deadline is Friday, March 27.

The public also can support and champion their favorite nonprofit by creating their own fundraising page. Simply to go the specific organization’s profile page at http://www.AzGives.organd click on “Create A Fundraiser” to get started.

Arizona Gives Day helps raise awareness about the critical role Arizona nonprofits play in our communities and inspires people to give generously creating a thriving and stronger Arizona for all.

Since 2013, Arizona Gives Day has raised $17 million for Arizona nonprofits, including a record $3.6 million raised in 2019.

In addition to funds raised through donations on Arizona Gives Day, nonprofits can win additional prize money from a $180,000 prize pool. Additional funds are distributed based on certain categories from random drawings and through Power Hours to total dollars raised during the 24-hour period.

Nearly 800 Arizona nonprofits have registered and been certified to participate in Arizona Gives Day.

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. Donors also can create an account to pre-schedule donations or can check out as a guest, set up recurring donations, and make changes to their giving throughout the year.

AZGives.org provides a toolkit and templates for participating nonprofits to assist in outreach through social media, email, and news releases. It also offers training videos, promotional graphics, logos, best-practices guides, and successful fundraising strategies used by other nonprofits.

For more information, visit http://www.azgives.org.

By Steve Carr