Chandler charities combine efforts
Coalition seeks more efficiency

Edythe Jensen
The Arizona Republic
May. 17, 2005

Fifteen Chandler non-profits are banding together to boost their effectiveness and avoid service and fund-raising duplication.

The coalition may be a first for the region, said Robert Ashcraft, director for Arizona State University 's Center for Nonprofit Leadership and Management.

"I am most impressed with this group," Ashcraft said of the Chandler Non-profit Coalition. "In the end, there could be more efficient service provision and less duplication of service. I don't see anything like it happening anywhere else in the Valley."

Charmaine Gudgeon, executive director of the Chandler-Gilbert YMCA and coalition co-chair, said the effort "started as a brown bag lunch network group to support one another and evolved" into a group that became official last month.

"Our ultimate goal is to have every non-profit supported or adopted by at least one business in Chandler , but first they need to know about non-profits."

Fund-raising and volunteer recruitment could be more effective as a group, and members are planning how to do that before they expand membership, Gudgeon said.

"We all try to do this on our own; that's the problem. We are vying for the same dollars," she said.

Councilman Phill Westbrooks said the coalition, which is seeking a $35,000 city grant, is likely to better serve Chandler and use donated dollars more efficiently than independent charities.