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MESA UNITED WAY INC
MESA, AZ · EIN 860198599 · Form 990 · FY2021 · NTEE T70 · Philanthropy & Grantmaking · Medium ($1M-$10M) · www.mesaunitedway.org
revenue
$2.4M
expenses
$2.1M
net assets
$4.1M
employees
20
volunteers
572
program ratio
71%
mission · from form 990

UNITING COMMUNITY. INSPIRING DONORS. IMPROVING LIVES.

profile · synthesized from sources

Mesa United Way is an operational organization based in Mesa, Arizona, with over 100 years of history. It focuses on addressing generational poverty and systemic inequities by supporting service programs dedicated to health, education, and financial stability for community members. The organization also facilitates Arizona tax credits for charitable contributions.

irs program accomplishments · form 990 part iii · fy2021

what they reported doing

Program narrative the organization filed with the IRS. Ordered by program spending.

  1. #1 primary $411K
    VOLUNTEER INCOME TAX ASSITANCE (VITA) PROGRAM: THE VITA PROGRAM IS A FREE TAX PREPARATION SERVICE FOR LOW- AND MODERATE- INCOME PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY. MESA UNITED WAY HAS SUPPORTED VITA FOR MANY YEARS, BUT FOR THE LAST 13 YEARS HAS BEEN THE LEAD AGENCY FOR THE MESA PROGRAM. VOLUNTEERS ARE TRAINED TO PREPARE TAX RETURNS AND THEN MUST PASS AN INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE (IRS) CERTIFICATION TEST. DURING THE 2021-2022 FISCAL YEAR, 110 MESA UNITED WAY VITA VOLUNTEERS CONTRIBUTED OVER 7300 HOURS OF THEIR TIME TO COMPLETE MORE THAN 4,800 TAX RETURNS. THEIR EFFORTS RETURNED OVER $6.9 MILLION IN TAX REFUNDS TO THE MEMBERS OF OUR COMMUNITY WHO NEED IT MOST. OVER 900 HOURS OF TAX PREPARATION SERVICES WERE PROVIDED AT 14 DIFFERENT SITES LOCATED IN MESA AND CHANDLER. MESA UNITED WAY'S VITA COALITION PARTNERS PROVIDED THE FACILITIES FOR THE VITA SITES.
  2. #2 $253K
    MESA VETERANS RESOURCE CENTER: KNOWING HOW TO ACCESS AVAILABLE RESOURCES CAN BE DIFFICULT AND CONFUSING FOR VETERANS. THE MESA VETERANS RESOURCE CENTER (MVRC) HELPS HUNDREDS OF VETERANS RECEIVE THE AID THEY NEED, INCLUDING EMERGENCY SHELTER SERVICES, EMPLOYMENT TRAINING, TRANSPORTATION, MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE SUPPORT, FOOD ASSISTANCE, BASIC NEEDS AND MORE. OUR GOAL IS TO WALK ALONGSIDE THESE VETERANS TO GET THEM THE RESOURCES AND TOOLS THEY NEED TO NOT ONLY GET BY, BUT SUCCEED. IN THIS LAST YEAR, MVRC SERVED 1397 VETERANS.
named programs · 3 · from sources

what they call their work

Arizona Charitable Tax Credit
Allows individuals and couples to receive a dollar-for-dollar tax credit for donations to Qualifying Charitable Organizations (QCOs).
Arizona Foster Care Tax Credit
Allows individuals and couples to receive a dollar-for-dollar tax credit for donations to Qualifying Foster Care Organizations (QFCOs).
Arizona Private School Tax Credit
Allows individuals and couples to receive a dollar-for-dollar tax credit for donations to School Tuition Organizations that provide scholarships to foster children or children in poverty for private schooling.
activities · 4 groups

what they do

  • Basic Needs Provision for Youth and Families 7 activities
    • Distributing funds and donated items to residents in need
      Established the Mesa Welfare League in 1921 to distribute funds and donated items to residents in need, and later conducted food collections for out-of-work farmers and holiday drives for low-income households, supporting Great Depression relief efforts.
    • Distributing funds and donated items to residents in need
      Established the Mesa Welfare League in 1921 to distribute funds and donated items to residents in need, and later conducted food collections for out-of-work farmers and holiday drives for low-income households.
    • Historical Direct Aid and Relief Efforts
      Historically, the organization distributed funds and donated items to residents in need, conducted food collections for out-of-work farmers, organized holiday drives for low-income households, and supported Great Depression relief efforts.
    • Historical distribution of funds and donated items to residents in need
      Established the Mesa Welfare League in 1921 to distribute financial aid and donated goods to individuals and families facing hardship, marking the organization's foundational direct service activity.
    • Historical food and relief collection programs
      Conducted organized food drives for out-of-work farmers, holiday assistance campaigns for low-income households, and supported broader relief efforts during the Great Depression as part of early community support initiatives.
    • Historical relief and welfare distribution
      Established the Mesa Welfare League in 1921 to distribute funds and donated items to residents in need, including conducting food collections for out-of-work farmers, holiday drives for low-income households, and supporting Great Depression relief efforts.
    • Providing direct assistance to residents in need
      Historically, the organization distributed funds and donated items to residents in need, conducted food collections for out-of-work farmers, and supported Great Depression relief efforts.
  • Equity Action Planning 6 activities
    • Addressing systemic inequities and generational poverty
      Focuses on finding solutions for generational poverty and understanding systemic inequities, and creates and implements an annually assessed action plan to improve knowledge of fighting systemic discrimination.
    • Annual action planning to combat systemic discrimination
      Creates and implements an annually assessed action plan focused on improving knowledge and practices to fight systemic discrimination, including defined objectives, actions, goals, timelines, and measurement of results.
    • Developing Anti-Discrimination Action Plans
      The organization creates and implements an annually assessed action plan to improve knowledge and fight systemic discrimination, including objectives, actions, goals, timelines, and results.
    • Developing action plans to combat systemic discrimination
      The organization creates and implements an annually assessed action plan focused on improving knowledge of fighting systemic discrimination, including objectives, actions, goals, timelines, and results.
    • Developing and implementing action plans to address systemic discrimination
      Creates and implements an annually assessed action plan focused on improving knowledge of fighting systemic discrimination, including objectives, actions, goals, timelines, and results.
    • Development and implementation of anti-discrimination action plans
      Creates and executes an annually reviewed action plan to combat systemic discrimination, including defined objectives, timelines, and measurable outcomes to improve equity within the organization and community.
  • Grassroots Mobilization & Advocacy Campaigns 2 activities
    • Community Advocacy
      The organization advocates for all members of the community.
    • Community-wide advocacy for inclusive support
      Advocates for equitable access to resources and support for all community members, emphasizing inclusivity and broad-based community representation.
  • Uncategorized 5 activities
    • Addressing Generational Poverty and Systemic Inequities
      The organization focuses on finding solutions for generational poverty and understanding systemic inequities, a commitment that has spanned over 100 years.
    • Addressing systemic inequities and generational poverty
      The organization focuses on finding solutions for generational poverty and understanding systemic inequities, and advocates for all community members.
    • Advocacy to address generational poverty and systemic inequities
      Engages in long-term advocacy focused on identifying and implementing solutions to generational poverty and systemic inequities, with over a century of organizational commitment to structural change.
    • Advocating for community members and addressing generational poverty
      Advocates for all community members and has focused on finding solutions for generational poverty and understanding systemic inequities for over 100 years.
    • Long-term advocacy to address systemic inequities and generational poverty
      Has focused for over 100 years on finding solutions to generational poverty and understanding systemic inequities, advocating for all community members through sustained efforts to address root causes of disadvantage.
financials · form 990 · fy2021
revenue
Total revenue$2.38M
Contributions & grants$2.06M86%
Program service revenue$200K8%
Investment income$124K5%
Other revenue$560
expenses
Total expenses$2.14M
Program expenses71%
Admin / overhead16%
Fundraising14%
Salaries & benefits$1.04M
Grants paid out$447K
Largest expense lineCompensation
balance sheet
Total assets$5.99M
Cash$978K
Investments$2.96M
Liabilities$1.90M
Net assets$4.09M
Liquid reserves22.1 mo
3 years on record · 2019–2021 · YoY revenue -45.3%
leadership · form 990 part vii · fy2021

who runs it

paid leadership · 2
NameTitleHours/wkCompensation
MARK YOUNG PRESIDENT & CEO 20 $110K
ALLISON JOHNSON V.P. OF FINANCE & DONOR MANAGEMENT 34 $68K
board members · 21
  • ANDREW C SARAT — DIRECTOR
  • ANDRIA L FOURLIS — DIRECTOR
  • CHRISTOPHER JONES — DIRECTOR
  • DEBBIE MIDDLETON — DIRECTOR
  • FRANCISCO HEREDIA — DIRECTOR
  • JONATHAN SCHMITT — DIRECTOR
  • KEISHA MCKINNOR — VICE CHAIR
  • KEVIN R NIELSEN — DIRECTOR
  • KINA HARDING — DIRECTOR
  • LAURA SNOW — DIRECTOR
  • LISA HEGEMAN — DIRECTOR
  • LORI M BERQUAM — DIRECTOR
  • LYNN WESTERGARD — PAST CHAIRPERSON
  • PAUL ANDERSON — CHAIR
  • RICHARD ADAMS — DIRECTOR
  • SETH MARTY — AUDIT COMMITTEE CHAIR
  • SPENCER DICKSON — SECRETARY
  • SUSAN CARLAND — DIRECTOR
  • THOMAS BROWN — TREASURER
  • TOM RHODES — DIRECTOR
  • VERONICA LEWIS — PAST CHAIRPERSON
relationships · 13

who they work with

  • Able Steel Fabricators Partner — Corporate champion supporting Mesa United Way
  • Above Par Networking LLC Partner — Corporate champion supporting Mesa United Way
  • Adaptive Architects Partner — Corporate champion supporting Mesa United Way
  • Aetna Partner — Corporate champion supporting Mesa United Way
  • Allstate Insurance Partner — Corporate champion supporting Mesa United Way
  • AmazonSmile Partner — Corporate champion supporting Mesa United Way
  • AmeriCopy Partner — Corporate champion supporting Mesa United Way
  • American Express Partner — Corporate champion supporting Mesa United Way
  • American Family Insurance Partner — Corporate champion supporting Mesa United Way
  • American Savings Life Insurance Partner — Corporate champion supporting Mesa United Way
  • Azura School Tuition Organization Partner — Supported by Mesa United Way to provide scholarships for foster children or children in poverty.
  • Mesa Community Chest Partner — Intermediate organizational name adopted in the 1940s before becoming Mesa United Way.
  • Mesa Welfare League Partner — Original name and organizational form of Mesa United Way, established in 1921.