| SMALL THINGS | SOAPBOX | SPONSORSHIPS | GRANTS | GOODS/SERVICES | GIFTS/WORKSHOPS | VOLUNTEER |
For a list of our donors and sponsors, CLICK HERE.
For information on our grantors, CLICK HERE.
WAYS IN WHICH YOU CAN SUPPORT ART FROM ASHES:
| Quick & Easy! | 10% Experiment | Sponsorships |
| Dylan Thomas Society | United Way | In-Kind Gifts |
| Business Supplies/Services | Get Stuff/Give Stuff | Volunteer |
Four quick & easy ways to help:
 www.giftsthatgive.com, is a website offering more than 1,000 products for you to choose from, and 20% of your purchase will be donated back to Art from Ashes with no additional cost to you! Just sign in to www.giftsthatgive.com, place your order, select Art from Ashes from the dropdown box in the shopping cart, and we get a donation!
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 Art from Ashes monthly events, many of which are free performances in the community. Check out our events page for details. |
Every time you search online AfA gets a penny, and a percentage of everything you buy through GoodSearch!
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Shop at more than 200 online retailers through GiveBackAmerica and raise money for AfA!
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YOU CAN BE INVOLVED IN CHANGING YOUNG LIVES
We'd love you to support our efforts, whether it's through donations, corporate sponsorship, volunteering, networking, or attending our youth performances. More than 75% of funding for all nonprofits comes from individuals who want to help. We will continue to hold fundraisers, to solicit grants, and contracts with other youth organizations, but we believe very strongly in the reciprocity of individual giving. It not only benefits the recipient—in this case, high-risk youth—but blesses the giver. Many people tend to think that when they have "enough" money they'll give. Giving faithfully—even when it seems you don't have enough—rewards you with the faith to give. If you'd like more information on the benefits of giving, both to the giver as well as to the recipient, and how important it is especially during hard times, please download an article called "The Greatest Moneymaking Secret in History" by Dr. Joe Vitale or access it via the Nightingale-Conant website.
This is why we encourage individual giving at Art from Ashes...among our board members and volunteers who give so much already. Because it's about letting go of fear and embracing faith. Because it works for all of us, but especially for the struggling youth who have so little, and who so need the belief in themselves that comes through our program.
SOAPBOX :: The 10% Experiment :: It's not just for religion anymore!
Many people have heard of the “tithe,” the concept of giving 10% of income and goods to care for the poor. Although it is associated with the Israelites in order to support those who served God and to care for those less fortunate, the practice can also be found in various cultures and belief systems around the world. From Nebuchadnezzar's Babylonia to the temples of Apollo in Delphi and Athena in Athens, pre-Christian centers of worship collected tithes for their gods. Ancient cultures as disparate as the Greeks and Chinese—including the Arabians, Phoenicians, Romans, and Carthaginians—gave in ways mirroring the tithe. Many Christians believe in “joyful giving,” which takes the flat 10% out of the equation and encourages abundant and sacrificial giving without regard to specific amounts.
Now businesspeople and motivational speakers are encouraging people to give from another perspective. Multiple sources from Nightingale-Conant to wealth management coaches say that individual giving serves to increase peace of mind and helps create a more stable financial attitude for the giver, as well as puts the giver into a position of receiving by reducing a perception of need. In this current climate of financial fear, who wouldn’t want freedom from anxiety and increased reciprocity when it comes to money? So in addition to the financial benefits of donating to the poor promised in the Torah, the Old Testament, the New Testament, the Koran, and other holy books, according to philanthropists and business gurus, the benefits to the giver are multiple:
“I remember when I first heard about the idea of giving. Like many, I was skeptical. I thought it was a scheme to get me to give money to the people who were telling me to do the giving...But then one day I decided to test the theory of giving. And then something wonderful began to happen. I suddenly got a call from a person who wanted me to co-author his book, a job that ended up paying me many times over what I had given away. And then a publisher in Japan contacted me...[and] offered me many times what I had given my friend as a gift...There is way too much scarcity mentality being talked about in our media today. While people are being unnecessarily frightened and holding back, YOU can be that person who steps out in faith and makes that one piece of the world better...”
—Dr. Joe Vitale, bestselling author, professional development coach
"Gift exchanges actually build community. In fact, the word 'community' derives from the Latin cum munere, which literally means, 'to give among each other.' So in our language itself, there is the recognition that community is related to the act of giving to one another...gifts tend to become reciprocal. When I give you something, someday you will give something back--either to me or to someone else in my community."
—Bernard Lietaer, More Than Money
“In giving and sharing you always have more. It seems arithmetically as though one would have less but, in fact, giving expands whatever one has...the simple act of giving simultaneously creates more good and blessings seemingly out of nowhere...That's why givers give more. They have experienced this amazing formula, even if they cannot articulate it. They know that it works to their and everyone's benefit.”
—Mark Victor Hansen, Co-Founder of Chicken Soup for the Soul
In this time of financial stress, Art from Ashes would like to propose an experiment... the 10% Experiment. We’ll provide a brief online questionnaire about your financial state of mind (no details about your finances) and for the next six months (October through March), you choose to give 10% of your income to Art from Ashes as a tax-deductible donation. At the end of that time, we’ll ask you to review the original questionnaire. We’re willing to bet you will have received multiple blessings that will include greater financial stability after only six months of giving. Art from Ashes also will submit to you a list of great things your money has helped accomplish for the youth we serve, including testimonials, statistics and poems.
Although giving joyfully without expectation is often taught, it may seems like a huge expectation for those who feel they have too little. That’s why this is a short-term experiment. It’s an investment combined with an act of faith. It doesn’t even need to be the traditional amount of 10% (although it's a good place to start). There will naturally be some anxiety, but if you're willing to take a chance, you’ll see why thousands of people swear by it. After a while you won’t need to worry about the return on your investment, because without fear, giving becomes a bigger part of your life than you ever thought possible. In many belief systems, actions move the faith, rather than the idea that you need enough faith to make a move.
“In a day and age when money and the comforts it buys are the tangible outcome of our time spent toiling to make ends meet, ends that seem to grow faster than our income, a 10% commitment of that income to something that does not tangibly benefit us, exercises our faith. In the same way that exercising our muscles improves our ability to perform physically, each time we practice our faith we strengthen our faith.”
—Michael Burgwin, Helium
Nobody “owns” a nonprofit organization, it is a public trust—every one of you is an integral part of the work we do. And when the young people in our society are receiving care, we all profit: less court costs and fewer prisons (which cost taxpayers far more than programs like ours—with worse results); less crime; fewer teen pregnancies; less poverty; less cyclical domestic and child abuse; increased literacy; improved mental health--the benefits of restoring hope to a struggling young person are innumerable. We hope you will give to Art from Ashes and to the youth we serve, but the principle also works when giving to any good cause you believe in.
If you feel unsure about trying the 10% Experiment, please consider either a smaller percentage or commit to giving any amount you determine to be generous.
Cheers,
Catherine
We are grateful for a donation of any amount, but hope you will consider committing to a monthly amount through GivingFirst.org. This wonderful organization, a program of Community First Foundation, allows regular automatic withdrawals, as well as one-time donations through your bank or credit card. All donations are tax-deductible.
Our program goal for Phoenix Rising this year is to provide 400 workshops to youth at various schools and non-profits in Denver, Boulder and surrounding counties.
Previous Soapboxes
:: Faith In Our Calling :: CLICK HERE for the full article
:: Your Heart Is Where Your Money Is :: CLICK HERE for the full article
FINANCIAL GIVING
Sponsorships are for businesses or individuals who wish to fund
our programs and receive recognition for supporting our work with youth
in the community. Philanthropic or anonymous givers can provide an
entire 8-week program for up to 20 youth by becoming an Epic Sponsor.
Other levels of sponsorship contribute to existing sessions and/or
create new collaborative possibilities for organizations and schools
needing funding for our program. Please download sponsorship levels
here: sponsorships.pdf
JOIN THE DYLAN THOMAS SOCIETY!
Clown in the Moon
by Dylan Thomas
I think, that if I touched the earth,
It would crumble;
It is so sad and beautiful,
So tremulously like a dream.
The Dylan Thomas Society, founded in 2010 by board member Mark Bell, an attorney with Jacobs Chase Law Firm, is established for donors who want to give with purpose. The Society is a separate fund with benefits such as poetry gifts, banquets and luncheons, the obligatory pub crawls (hey, we're talking Dylan Thomas!), and special youth performances for members. Membership in the society is for community-minded givers who are committed to donating a minimum of $1,000 a year or $100 a month through GivingFirst.org.
CLICK HERE to view a list of our current donors to date and sponsorship level donors.
Community Business Support
Another way to sponser AfA is by donated a percentage of sales from your business or to donate goods and services. We will publish your support on our website and in our newsletter, and additionally will add your name as a business donor to Tuggl.com, the web's newest way to access businesses that support nonprofits!
Our featured businesses are:
Appaloosa Bar & Grill
The owners and bar manager of Appaloosa Bar & Grill host a bi-annual Appreciation/Benefit Party, donating the income generated from the bar! They also make up the members of the band Oakhurst, which performed at our January concert at Andrews on Lincoln to raise money for the Phoenix Rising program.
:: Revisionaries, LLC :: Colorado's Macintosh Resource
Business Sponsor and Board Member Steven Shepperd of Revisionaries has pledged to donate 25% of all income generated through Art from Ashes referrals. If you're in need of a Mac genius with 20 years of corporate and small business experience who will actually come to your house or place of business to set up your computers, do all your networking, including remote access, and conduct repairs in a thorough and timely manner, Steve's your guru! email • 303.495.5941 or 1.866.474.8042
CLICK HERE to view a list of our current donors to date and sponsorship level donors.
Did you know that you can make tax-deductible contributions to Art from Ashes through your employer's United Way Campaign? When you fill out your pledge form, select "I want to give to a Mile High United Way Funded Agency or the following 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization" and write in "Art from Ashes, 853 Inca St., Suite 1A, Denver CO 80204." Our tax ID# is 20-0273372.
Individual donations can be made online through GivingFirst.org or by mailing
your donation to Art from Ashes, 853 Inca St., Suite 1A, Denver CO
80204. Please feel free to request that your donation be spent for a
specific purpose (i.e., applied to a particular workshop; a
poet honorarium; art supplies, writing materials or poetry books; operational expenses, etc.)
GRANTS AWARDED
Without the help of foundation, business and government grants, most nonprofits would have a tough time soliciting enough donations to do our work in the community. We are extremely grateful for the generous support of our state, city and community funders.
2010 GRANTS
CCA-Colorado Creates
Denver Foundation
Tony Grampsas Youth Services
City and County of Denver's Safe City Office
CCA YouthReach! in collaboration with Urban Peak
GivingFirst.org
Constant Contact Cares4Kids
INFORMATION ON OUR 2010 GRANTORS
 THE DENVER FOUNDATION AWARDS 2010 COMMUNITY GRANT TO ART FROM ASHES
The Denver Foundation carries out its mission of improving life in Metro Denver by investing in the vision, passion and expertise of nonprofit organizations like Art from Ashes! |
Tony Grampsas Youth Services Program has awarded Art from Ashes a contract to provide 56 workshops at area youth service organizations and schools. TGYS is based at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment/Child, Adolescent and School Health Unit. For agencies interested in applying for a partial scholarship, please contact Marie Verrett, Director of Operations at Art from Ashes. |
The City and County of Denver's SAFE CITY OFFICE awarded Art from Ashes a grant to establish small group workshops for identified youth in the community. Sign up for our newsletter in the lower left-hand corner of this page if you'd like to know when the workshops will start or check for updates on the youth workshops page. |
 
Colorado Council on the Arts YouthReach grant through a partnership with Urban Peak
Urban Peak has been awarded the 2009/2010 YouthReach grant from the Colorado Council on the Arts to support programming with Art from Ashes. Scores were reached by an independent panel of five representatives from across the country. The goal of YouthReach Colorado is to "support community organizations that combine high quality arts training and youth development activities to help at-risk young people make a successful transition to adulthood." Workshops are held every Tuesday night at The Spot from 6 to 8 pm through 2010. We are always looking for guest artists, so CLICK HERE if you are interested in participating or to view previous and upcoming guest poets/artists. Please email us if you'd like to visit a workshop. Art from Ashes is happy to collaborate with organizations that wish to contract us to provide poetry and creative arts workshops to their young clientele. Please contact Marie Verrett, our Director of Operations for more information. |
GivingFirst.org allows donors to give via credit card or bank account withdrawals through a secure server at no cost to Art from Ashes. Donors also are able to set up monthly donations that can be deducted automatically from your bank account. Giving First ensures you recieve all tax documentation for your online donations. Please CLICK HERE to support our work with youth. |
2009 GRANTS
Tony Grampsas Youth Services
Mayor's Office for Education and Children
Colorado Council on the Arts Grants to Artists and Organizations
City and County of Denver's Safe City Office
The Edna Peiker Beach Fund
Vodafone Foundation
Colorado Council on the Arts YouthReach! [in collaboration with Urban Peak]
GivingFirst.org
Constant Contact Cares4Kids
INFORMATION ON OUR 2009 GRANTORS
 The MAYOR'S OFFICE FOR EDUCATION AND CHILDREN has awarded Art from Ashes a 2009 grant for both operating expenses and to provide 16 youth poetry workshops at Kepner Middle School in southwest Denver.
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| THE COLORADO COUNCIL ON THE ARTS
GRANTS TO ARTISTS AND ORGANIZATIONS The Colorado Council on the Arts has presented Art from Ashes with a 2009/2010 Grant to Artists and Organizations to support new programs for youth. The grant award will provide program support for 20 youth workshops in order to supplement service fees paid by a partnering organization and in-kind donations made by Art from Ashes; and 10 youth stipends for public performances. The grant amount is matched by a portion of the Tony Grampsas Youth Services grant and in-kind services from Art from Ashes facilitators and guest poets. The mission of the Colorado Council on the Arts is to promote the cultural, educational and economic growth of Colorado through development of its arts and cultural heritage. Funding is provided through an annual appropriation from the state’s Gaming Fund and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. |
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The City and County of Denver's SAFE CITY OFFICE awarded Art from Ashes a grant to establish small group workshops for identified youth in the community. Sign up for our newsletter in the lower left-hand corner of this page if you'd like to know when the workshops will start or check for updates on the youth workshops page. |
| The Denver Foundation presented Art from Ashes with a 2009 grant award from their Donor Advised Funds for general operating support because of the "positive impact in sense of self, life skills and appreciation of the arts" our program has on high-risk, troubled youth. We are honored and proud to have the support of the Edna Peiker Beach Fund.
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VODAFONE FOUNDATION GRANT for operating support
2008 GRANTS
Tony Grampsas Youth Services
The Denver Foundation
El Pomar
Mayor's Office for Education and Children
Scripps-Howard Foundation
City and County of Denver's Safe City Office
Colorado Council on the Arts Grants to Artists and Organizations
Colorado Humanities
WESTWORD
Colorado Council on the Arts YouthReach! [in collaboration with Urban Peak]
Constant Contact Cares4Kids
GivingFirst.org
2007 GRANTS
GIFTS OF GOODS & SERVICES
Gifts of goods and services help us keep costs low, so that we can apply funds directly to the youth programs. Art from Ashes would love the support of the community in providing art supplies, writing materials, and office supplies. Please contact us at info@artfromashes.org
or 303.837.1550, if you can help.
GET STUFF/GIVE STUFF!
Purchasing poetry items through our online store at CafePress.com and by attending adult workshops supports our youth programs and the continuing operation of our organization. Plus you know you're getting something of value for your donation!
Give the gift of a workshop. AfA gift certificates can be redeemed at any time in 2010.
Another way to give and get something wonderful in return is to attend a fundraiser. Performances in the community are an essential aspect of the transformation process. Many of our youth come into the program feeling isolated and rejected by their communities and by adults in general. Upon completing our program, a full 80% of youth surveyed said they were more interested in their community. Art from Ashes provides performance opportunities for those youth and support opportunities for members of the community willing to encourage those efforts. AfA hosts one fundraiser per month and two gala events a year (please refer to our EVENTS page for a schedule of performances). Consider attending one event a month to offer emotional support to our youth performers and financial support for our work.
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
Volunteers and interns are the lifeblood of our organization. Art from Ashes has always been almost entirely volunteer-run, and we could not have become successful without the hundreds of volunteers who have supported our work. Many volunteers, including youth from the workshops, have been with us for years and are now staff members, workshop facilitators, board members and guest artists. As the organization grows, so does our need for people in the community who care about youth and the arts. Art from Ashes has a six-hour/month minimum requirement, and all positions are matched to the skills and interests of our volunteers. Potential volunteers and interns are asked to
download the volunteer application packet, which contains information on AfA's history and mission. We also ask that you review the philosophy behind our Phoenix Rising program, and submit a completed application form to our volunteer coordinator Nick Orf. Nick will review the application and set up an orientation to introduce you to our agency.
For those volunteer applicants who wish to work with youth, we have specific training requirements that can be discussed at your meeting. Orientation meetings are held at our office at 853 Inca St., Suite 1A, Denver.
