Arizona · Nonprofit
DESERT FINANCIAL FOUNDATION
DESERT FINANCIAL FOUNDATION (Arizona) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $312,139 to it, the largest being THE BLACKBAUD GIVING FUND ($300,955). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 96% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $1.2M
- Funders on record
- 4
- Grants received
- $312k
- Net assets
- $264k
What Desert Financial Foundation does
Mission
To promote the financial health of our community through education, scholarships, grants to non-profit programs, and fundraising efforts.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Scholarships are awarded to students displaying leadership through community service, academic excellence, and demonstrated financial need. Scholarships range from $2,500 to $10,000 for graduating high school seniors and adult learners (non-traditonal students) attending 2-or 4-year colleges or universities in the state of arizona. Scholarships are also awarded to low-income high school and college pursing certifications through career and technical education programs to cover program and cerification fees, as well as equipment and supplies required for their progams.
$375,505 spentof which $375,505 as grants30% of program spendingDesert Financial Foundation is the primary financial supporter of the one darn cool school of phoenix children's hospital. Childran receiving services at the hospital are able to continue with their education and receive support to transition successfully back to their home school.
$791,423 spentof which $791,423 as grants64% of program spendingEmployee emergency assistance & general fund - the foundation operates an emergency fund for individuals facing a verifiable financial hardship as a result of serious illness or injury, violent crime, military depolyment, death, terrorist or military action, an accident involving a common carrier, or a federally declared disaster.
$65,709 spentof which $65,709 as grants5% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,232,637.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2018, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2018, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2022 to 2023, from $336k to $1.1M (+223%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
110% of DESERT FINANCIAL FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (82% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 7 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Jeffrey Meshey
CEO
Board chair
Susan Frank
Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2020 and FY2021 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2018 → 2023: the base held at 1 funder, grant income rose $8k → $170k.
2 of 4 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 96% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $971k from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Desert Financial Credit Union); $45k from one payer (the same organization on both sides, largest Desert Financial Foundation). These are real filings, and they are not money DESERT FINANCIAL FOUNDATION raised.
From the IRS filings of DESERT FINANCIAL FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
DESERT FINANCIAL FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 96% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
99% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund DESERT FINANCIAL FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2018 100% · 2021 100% · 2022 100% · 2023 100% — broadly stable.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Where its funders are
96% of DESERT FINANCIAL FOUNDATION's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $11k that is directly attributable, 68% of it comes from Arizona funders.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $301k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
DESERT FINANCIAL FOUNDATION is better cushioned than half of the 2,910 philanthropy nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,910 philanthropy nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like DESERT FINANCIAL FOUNDATION
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Arizona
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
100% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
70%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Desert Financial Credit Union · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for DESERT FINANCIAL FOUNDATION: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds DESERT FINANCIAL FOUNDATION?
- DESERT FINANCIAL FOUNDATION (Arizona) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $312,139 to it, the largest being THE BLACKBAUD GIVING FUND ($300,955). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 96% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does DESERT FINANCIAL FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 4 organizations giving $312,139 in grants to DESERT FINANCIAL FOUNDATION, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of DESERT FINANCIAL FOUNDATION?
- THE BLACKBAUD GIVING FUND is the largest funder on record, with $300,955 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like DESERT FINANCIAL FOUNDATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Arizona. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2018–2024), and the filings of 4 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing