Pilot Pumphouse Project

Pilot Pumphouse Project

Pilot Pumphouse Program

The Pilot Pump House Pilot Program is an outreach to artists locally and regionally and will help to bring recognition to Fountain Hills with a fresh artistic approach annually to our Fountain Park giving visitors a reason to return.

The Public Art Committee is proposing to create an outdoor art gallery exhibit for the pump house wall at Fountain Park. The committee has created a regional call to artists for 2D art to be transposed onto 4’h x 8’w (horizontal) Dibond brushed metal panels. Seven finalists have been chosen.

The theme for this year is “Legends and Lore of the Valley of the Sun.” Each panel will have the artist’s name, title of the piece, a small descriptive paragraph and a sponsor of the panel.

This project would be a pilot program for a one-year period and funded through a program of financial sponsorship raised from local individuals and businesses through the FHCCA Public Art Committee. Sponsorship for each panel is $1000.

We are seeking 5 more additional sponsors.

We hope in future versions of this project, we may have the opportunity to raise funds beyond the cost of the project and be able to direct those funds back into art education for our local youth, one of the areas of our public education that desperately needs support.

For more information, please visit
www.fountainhillspublicart.com/pumphousepilotprogram

5 Tips For Leveraging Social Media For Your Nonprofit

5 Tips For Leveraging Social Media For Your Nonprofit

Are you using social media to connect to your audience? If not, you may be missing an important opportunity to raise awareness, make connections regularly, and turn your audience into fans. Here are some helpful tips for using social media effectively.

Give Them A Reason To Follow You

Your social media followers do not want to see your favorite cat memes…unless you happen to be Fearless Kitty. What bits of value can you add to their social media feed? Tell stories about experiences in your organization, recognize volunteers and staff members, give information about upcoming events, and always find ways to lead them back to your website.

Respond To Comments

Did you know that 83% of Facebook fans and 71% of Twitter followers expect a response the same day they make an inquiry? Don’t just post and walk away. Monitor comments and be sure to answer all messages sent through Facebook Messenger. These interactions are powerful for building relationships and fans.

Change Your Profile Photo & Banner

Your profile pictures and banners get the most views. Make a point of keeping them relevant and changing them from time to time. Do something fun for holidays or special observances. But whatever you choose, remember to keep it relevant.

Use Humor

Nonprofits that show a sense of humor and a bit of humanity tend to rank higher on social media. You may have an important and serious mission, but people like to know that there are real people behind it all. However, remember that the content you share should be consistent with your brand and voice. Make sure the humor fits your overall message. Cat memes work for Fearless Kitty, but probably wouldn’t fit for the River of Time Museum.

Encourage Tagging

On some of your posts, you can encourage your followers to tag someone they think would enjoy it. For example, if you are posting about your chocolate candy fundraiser, you could write, “Tag your favorite chocolate lover who needs this today!” It’s a great way to bring someone to your social media page who might not have landed there otherwise.

Don’t let social media scare you from reaching out to a broader audience. You don’t have to know all the little tricks and tips to be able to get your name out there and generate awareness. Start today.

Greening of Downtown

Greening of Downtown

Greening of DowntownIn 2009, a group of community volunteers with a vision to improve the look of Downtown stepped forward to make it a reality. This was a response to the town’s Downtown Vision Plan, which had identified nine catalysts for improving the vacant look of Avenue of the Fountains and areas around Fountain Park.

The purpose of the Greening of Downtown committee was to make the Downtown more attractive to residents, visitors, and investors by adding attractive and educational landscaping and shade. Public funds were not available, so this group of enthusiastic volunteers raised funds through private donations.

Since the beginning of this program, over $300,000 in improvements to the Downtown area has been provided through donations and grants. This allowed the committee to accomplish the following:​

  • 165 trees planted in Fountain Park
  • Joe & Marge Brown Legacy Plaza & commemorative columns
  • Low-water demonstration garden
  • Butterfly & hummingbird garden
  • Sonoran cactus garden
  • Performance pad landscaping & planters
  • Island green area maintenance
  • Disc Golf sidewalk buffer landscape zones
  • 7 downtown vacant lot landscape enhancements
  • Centennial Circle landscaping

Greening of Downtown participated in the Virtual Earth Day 2020 event with a video about the Low-Water Demonstration Garden in Fountain Park.

The Greening of Downtown program has completed all its goals and is no longer accepting donations. There may be projects in the future, but for now it has gone quiet.

We thank all the volunteers who got their hands dirty to beautify our Downtown and those who made it financially possible.

To learn more, visit iLoveFountainHills.org/greening-of-downtown.

Donate To FHCCA Through Amazon Smile

Donate To FHCCA Through Amazon Smile

Amazon Smiles Logo

Did you know you can donate to FHCCA while shopping on Amazon Prime and it won’t cost you a penny?

When you sign up for Amazon Smile through your account and select FHCCA as your charity, Amazon will donate 0.5% of every eligible purchase to our organization. This does not cost you anything extra.

If you have an Amazon account, but have not designated it as an SmileAmazon account, it’s easy:

Step 1. Visit https://smile.amazon.com and sign up or into your Amazon account.​

Step 2. Type “Fountain Hills Cultural and Civic Association” in the search bar indicated.

Step 3. Select “Fountain Hills Cultural and Civic Association” on the following page.

Remember, if you want Amazon to donate to Fountain Hills Cultural and Civic Association, you need to start each shopping session at the URL http://smile.amazon.com, and Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of your eligible purchases.

Please consider making the FHCCA the recipient of your Amazon Smile Charitable contributions. Thanks!

 

Leadership Academy

Leadership Academy

Leadership AcademyFollowing a community workshop of Vision Fountain Hills in 2016, Dori Wittrig walked away knowing the town needed a new generation of potential community leaders. With the help of John Craft, she assembled a team of people who put their brains and networking skills together to quickly pull together the first class of the Fountain Hills Leadership Academy that same year. The success of the new program immediately sent ripples throughout the community.

The Leadership Academy is an 8-week intense immersion into the Town’s governmental processes, civic and community services and organizations, public safety, environmental management, local schools, and so much more. Participants meet community leaders who share ideas about the future of Fountain Hills and current challenges being faced.

At graduation, participants presented a project to Town leaders based on offering a solution to a challenge in the community or proposing a new idea to add value to the community. Past projects have included wrong-way drivers on Palisades Boulevard, creating a downtown arts district, effective public transportation services for employees who don’t live in town, a salt reduction program for residents who use water softeners, a grant assistance program for Town staff, and more.

Graduates have gone forward as better-informed citizens and have stepped into leadership roles throughout the community. They sit on dozens of boards of local non-profit organizations, serve the Town as commissioners, started PACs for local elections, and serve on Town Council and the Sanitary District board.

The 2020 class has been suspended due to COVID-19 restrictions that would have significantly dampened the effectiveness of the in-person program. The next class will resume in September 2021. Applications will be available in the Spring.

To learn more about the Fountain Hills Leadership Academy, visit iLoveFountainHills.org/leadership-academy