California Nonprofits’ July 4 Fundraising Plans Go Up in Flames

It’s the Fourth of July, and that means, in addition to overcooked burgers (turn ‘em just once, and whatever you do, don’t pierce them with a fork or press down hard to squeeze out the juices — that’s where the flavor comes from!), overblown speeches, and the official start of the pennant races, fireworks galore. In some parts of the country, nonprofits rely on their sale as a significant fundraiser, but because of the parches conditions in California, officials, fearing sparking even more of the wildfires that have ravaged the Golden State, have banned such transactions in places. But they are trying to help out in other ways:

The [Watsonville] City Council’s 6-0 vote, however, not only banned fireworks until Fire Chief Mark Bisbee determines that the ultra-dry conditions that have contributed to three major Santa Cruz County fires in the last month have returned to normal, but also directed the formation of an ad hoc committee to explore alternative fundraising sources for affected nonprofit groups.

The committee has not been formed yet, said Assistant City Manager Marcela Tavantzis, but she did give an idea of how the committee might be composed. Tavantzis said the committee would be made up of city officials, community members and nonprofit representatives, but noted that it would not be possible for each nonprofit to have a representative, because that would make the committee too large.

Meanwhile, Tavantzis, joined by Pajaro Valley Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture CEO Jerry Beyersdorff met Thursday afternoon with representatives of the Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County, which has offered to help the city in dealing with the nonprofit-funding problem. According to city figures, the average financial impact to each nonprofit group of not having the fireworks sales is $6,500, although many nonprofits have claimed they usually make upwards of $10,000.

A one-day, low-overhead haul of 10 large ain’t bad for small nonprofits, though one can certainly understand why fireworks and California are a pretty poor match right now. Here’s hoping that Watsonville ad-hock committee has found a way to help those organizations replace their lost funding. | 501(c)