VolunteerSedona, which was originally a project of Manzanita Outreach launched on Sept. 20, has been spun off into a separate nonprofit organization Volunteer Sedona & The Verde Valley as of Jan. 1.
The new organization’s registration with the Arizona Corporation Commission states that its purpose is to “connect visitors, residents and groups with meaningful and memorable volunteer opportunities with local organizations of Sedona and the Verde Valley region.”
“It became clear in the end of October, beginning of November, that our priorities needed to split away, and we’re not quite the same as [Manzanita] and we needed to focus on our partnering volunteers with local organizations, and I feel that [Manzanita] needs to focus on their priorities,” VolunteerSedona founder Susan “Spring” Graf said. “So I had requested permission to take this program into another stand-alone 501(c)(3), and on Dec. 15, I received a letter that that would be occurring as of Dec. 31.”
Graf said that the decision was unrelated to Manzanita Outreach’s Nov. 25 announcement that it had “uncovered possible financial mismanagement” within the organization.
“It was time for VolunteerSedona to go out on its own and I’m really grateful to Manzanita for the time we had incubating and their support while we watched and while we started to grow,” Graf said. “It was time for us to stand on our own.”
Manzanita Outreach did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
Graf said that her goals for VolunteerSedona in 2025 include creating a new logo, reaching out to northern Arizona colleges to recruit students for events and promoting VolunteerSedona with travel agencies that specialize in the field of “voluntourism” — where out-of-area visitors volunteer to assist a community nonprofit or organization while on vacation.
Graf also said that the group has secured a grant writer to assist with applying for financial assistance and that the first meeting of the new board was expected to take place on Jan. 8.
“There’s a lot of opportunity and fresh energy for 2025 and we’ll be able to support our partners more,” Graf said. “We’ll be able to attract some really good people, and in the very near future I’m hoping to attract some funding.”
The organization has a new website at ysvv.org, although its former address VolunteerSedona.com will redirect to the new site. Graf said that they plan to launch an improved version of the site by the end of the month that will offer improved functionality in the volunteer calendar and optimization for mobile users.
VolunteerSedona now hosts listings from 38 local organizations and received 757 unique visitors to the site in December.
“The signups are coming in,” Graf said. “We’re also starting to get group requests for next October from across the country, which is exciting, because that means that the brand is starting to be talked about. People are starting to find us. We’re getting a lot of testimonials … and the amount of enthusiasm that’s in the community about this just warms my heart.”
