Due to the collective wealth of the residents of the Sedona area and the demographics of our residents, who tend to volunteer for nonprofits, charities and clubs, Sedona has one of the highest numbers of nonprofits per capita ratios in the United States, certainly in Arizona.
In many other towns our size, there may be 100 or so nonprofits, ranging from school booster clubs and fraternal orders, charities for the poor, nonprofits working to buy a wheelchair ease the lives of the elderly and a handful of arts organizations running periodic festivals and community events.
Meanwhile, Sedona has several hundred nonprofits conducting various operations for the community, the state, the country and internationally.
Some Sedona area nonprofits provide services locally to children, be it with free books, reading services, low-cost or free childcare, and numerous arts projects, camps and programs. Dozens improve our quality of life by presenting film, live music of various genres, performance poetry, opera, storytelling, theater, dance and painting. Others help the poor and working class with personal supplies, food and rent, and utility bill assistance. Many care for the elderly and the infirm with meals, rides, activities and caretaking. Several tackle national issues of concern or work internationally to bring relief and work projects in Africa, Asia and Central America.
Bottom line, Sedonans love to volunteer. Many of our programs, such as those serving the arts or children, are easier to find donors for because they provide visceral and immediate entertainment or programs for children that makes anyone feel great about donating toward.
Other charities are tougher to find funding for in an economic downturn because it can be difficult to explain to possible donors that paying building rent is just as important as paying for the nonprofits’ services.
Assistance for charities sometimes comes through local government grants that help pay for things like rent, utilities, maintenance or overhead so that a charity can spend more time trying to raise money for specific services they offer rather than the fundamentals of their operations, such as rent and electricity.
This year, Sedona area nonprofits asked the city of Sedona’s Small Grants Review Committee for a grand total of $263,860. While not large considering the whole city budget — the city did just spend upwards of $800,000 to buy two parcels for a future Uptown parking garage — nonprofits never get all their requests paid for, and that’s fine.
This year, the committee recommended spending $166,500, the same as last year. Only funding a little more than half the requests is also not out of the ordinary.
Rather than fund this modest amount — as recommended by the city council’s own committee — six of seven members of council chose to butcher the recommendations and cut this amount by 73% to a paltry $45,200.
We sincerely thank Sedona City Councilman John Currivan for being the lone dissenting vote and hoping, fruitlessly, that the unspent dollars will be distributed to these needy nonprofits in the months to come. We are sorry to see you leave council.
Given the amount of money the city of Sedona spends on nonsense, doomed projects and studies, just $45,200 for all our nonprofits is embarrassing.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic and the loss of tourism tax dollars, the city is looking to lose an estimated $10 million, but apparently rather than cut big programs, salaries or staff, the city would rather nickel-and-dime nonprofits that are already struggling in a pandemic to serve the needs of their clients and the public and cope with dramatic shortfalls in revenue.
And Sedona City Council just punched them all in the face.
Well done, council members, your fiscal conservatism should be applauded … clap.
I would have clapped more, but I had to cut 73% of my claps to save them for myself later … like you’re all doing right now.
To all the nonprofits, on behalf of the citizens of Sedona, we sincerely apologize for our Sedona City Council and their abject failure as public officials. We are sorry they are not helping you. We are sorry they are hoarding our public funds rather than assisting you in your time of need.
Christopher Fox Graham
Managing Editor
