Arizona group matches charitable donors, recipients
Nov 30, 2012, 3:41 PM | Updated: 3:41 pm
When people donate money to charity, they often assume it will go to the right place.
But who ensures that the money arrives there? Paperwork needs to be exchanged, conversations must be had and, most importantly, funds need to reach their proper destination. That’s where the Arizona Community Foundation comes in.
“Think about us as Arizona’s chest,” President and CEO of the Arizona Community Foundation Steve Selezmow told News/Talk 92.3 KTAR’s Karie & Chuck. “What we are is a vehicle for people to engage in giving and philanthropy and make it very easy for Arizonans to create charitable funds.”
Selezmow said his organization specifically focuses on education, health care, community, arts and culture and the environment. Donors choose from one of the five categories, but there is no limit to their specificity.
“[A] donor cared about non-smoking female ornithologist,” he said. “That’s a very narrow area of giving, right?”
The foundation has been able to find a recipient for that specific donation every year.
Selezmow’s foundation does not run on donations, but works with families and companies to manage $500 million in philanthropic assets through a network of volunteers. There are branches of the foundation in most Arizona cities.
