MESA staff with our event sponsor, Network Family Wellness Center

Gifts of Operational Support

One-time Donation

One-time donations are the most common type and occurs when someone gives a specific monetary amount to MESA once. Even if that person gives the same amount to the MESA several times throughout the year, there isn’t a planned schedule of when and how the donation will be made so they are all considered one-time donations.

Recurring Gifts

Committing to a consistent schedule of donating is considered a recurring gift. This type of gift gives MESA consistent, predictable cash flow which enables us to make forecasts into funding and schedule payments throughout the year. Spreading a contribution out over time rather than in one lump sum is a budget-friendly way to make an impact.

Gifts that Honor Others

Honorariums

An Honor contribution is a unique way to recognize an individual for a noteworthy accomplishment or on a special occasion. Making a donation in someone’s honor is an important way to let them know you care. This is a great opportunity to share why you chose a particular organization, how your donation will be used, and why it’s important to you. Cherish a loved one by giving a gift to MESA in their honor as a wonderful way to recognize the important impact someone has had on your life.

Memorials

A Memorial contribution provides an opportunity to honor the memory of a loved one with a monetary gift in their name. Memorial donations are donations given in memory of someone who has passed away. A family will ask for memorial gifts instead of flowers of their loved ones and to make a donation in memory of them to their charity.

Gifts Through Your Employer

Workplace Giving

Workplace giving is an employer-sponsored program that provides its employees with the opportunity to financially support MESA by making charitable donations. The employer gets to see engagement, retention, productivity, and a sense of satisfaction in employees. On the other hand, MESA gets regular financial support and strong partnerships. Contact your supervisor or HR department about how you can start and/or participate in a workplace giving program.

Matching Gifts

Donation matching is a corporate giving initiative in which an employer matches their employee’s contribution to MESA, increasing the gift. For example, if a corporate employee donates $50 to MESA, the matching gift would be from the corporation would be an additional donation of $50. Contact your supervisor or HR department about how you can start and/or participate in a matching gift program.

Event Sponsorships

A corporate event sponsor is a company that supports a MESA event by providing funds in exchange for something of value. There are four types of event sponsorships:

• Financial sponsorship: a cash gift that helps fund the event
• In-kind sponsorship: a non-cash gift in the form of time, services, expertise, and goods
• Media event sponsorship: financial aid in securing media coverage for an event
• Promotional partners: mutually beneficial relationship with a business to promote the event

Planned Giving

It can be hard to think about what happens after we’re gone but setting up a planned gift is a great way to ensure MESA is included in your arrangements. There are a number of ways you can use the planned giving model to build charitable giving into your life plans, even after death. Some can even help you lower your taxable income while you’re still living. Consider planning ahead now and explore some of these ways for giving after life:

Bequest

A specific bequest of money or property naming MESA as a beneficiary. A residual bequest is a gift of the remainder of the estate after specific bequests are made first. A contingent bequest is a gift that occurs if the original beneficiaries die before the donor.

Life Insurance

MESA can be named as the beneficiary of a new life insurance policy which is revocable by the donor. MESA can also be named as the owner and beneficiary of a new life insurance policy which is irrevocable. An existing life insurance policy can be changed to include MESA as a beneficiary or to transfer ownership of the policy to MESA.

Gifts of Stock

When you donate stock, bonds, or mutual funds to MESA, you’ll generally take a tax deduction for the full fair market value. Giving this type of gift often results in a larger donation to MESA because the gift is tax-deductible and there are no capital gains taxes to pay.

Qualified Retirement Plan

MESA can be named as the beneficiary of a tax-deferred retirement plan, including IRA, 401(k), 403(b), and others.

In-kind Gifts

Donations don’t need to be monetary to make an impact. For MESA, in-kind donations are a gift of goods, services, time, or expertise. When you provide an in-kind donation, you help MESA to use our financial resources more efficiently. For example, when you donate your time and expertise, you’re allowing us to put more money toward our mission instead of additional personnel, you lighten the load on existing staff, and you bring experience to MESA that might otherwise be outsourced. Gifts of goods, like journals for support groups or food for volunteer meetings, helps MESA stretch every dollar further to advance the mission.

Event Donations

These are in-kind donations of goods and services for specific MESA events such as:

• silent auction items which can be any product or service
• wine bottles for our wine pull fundraisers
• gift cards
• signage, banner, and flyer printing
• event-specific décor items
• entertainment performances
• food and beverage
• MESA branded merchandise for resale
• professional audio/video services
• venue use

MESA Volunteer Appreciation

Most of MESA’s direct client services are made possible through the efforts of volunteers and unpaid advocates. All volunteers undergo a thorough screening process and participate in 40 hours of intensive training. Training includes sessions on roles and responsibilities, compliance and confidentiality, social justice, providing emotional support, Title IX and local college-based resources, SANE exams and a tour of the local ER, Victim’s Compensation and the Victim’s Rights Amendment, law enforcement and the District Attorney’s Office, and specialized services for underserved populations.  Anything that supports our hard working volunteers is considered a volunteer appreciation gift such as gift cards, a bowling night, roller-skating, picnics, holiday celebrations, team building prizes and activities, and more.

The MESA Wishlist

The MESA Wishlist contains items that help us advance our mission and continue operations but may be overlooked. The wishlist includes:

• Volunteer appreciation items such as food and drinks for volunteer team meetings and trainings
• Cardstock for in-house printing of flyers and brochures
• Holiday decorations
• Audio/video equipment such as wireless handheld and lapel mics, cameras, cords, mixers, tripods, and editing software
• Filming and editing of trauma-informed yoga classes or a timeless explainer video about the impact of MESA on the community
• Spanish translation services for marketing materials
• Graphic and web design services
• Massage therapy or acupuncture services from trauma-informed practitioners
• Custom t-shirt design and printing
• Event emcees
• Local and national press coverage

Colorado Gives Day

Donate on Colorado Gives Day and throughout the year!

MESA is a program of Mental Health Partners (MHP), a 501(c)(3), nonprofit organization. To contribute directly to MESA, click the button below and select MESA from the Designations menu.