Make-A-Wish Foundation of Southern Nevada
Transform lives, one wish at a time.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
If you could wish for anything, what would it be? That one question is an invitation to unleash limitless imagination. To envision the impossible as possible. To dream. We believe wishes improve the odds for wish kids fighting critical illnesses. It’s why we do what we do. Sure, wishes are amazing and fun. More than that, they inspire and have the power to change lives. Wishes help kids look past their limitations, families overcome anxiety and entire communities experience joy. Most importantly, wishes can improve a child’s quality of life, giving them a better chance of recovering.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Wish Granting Programs
Our Wish program oversees implementing our wish children's wishes, from start to finish.
Where we work
Awards
Outstanding Mission Delivery Award 2010
Make-A-Wish Foundation of America
Foundation of the Year 2011
Vegas Inc. Award
Katie Award 2012
Make-A-Wish Foundation of America
National Corporate Sponsor Activation Award 2013
Make-A-Wish Foundation of America
Wish Fulfillment Fund Partnership Award 2014
Make-A-Wish Foundation of America
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Net promoter score
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Wish Granting Programs
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
We ask wish families the following: Overall, did the wish experience meet or exceed your family's expectations. FY18 realized 53 surveys. FY17 saw 46 responses.
Number of clients served
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Wish Granting Programs
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Our clients = wish children. We grant local wishes and also assist other Make-A-Wish chapters worldwide with wishes granted in Southern NV (meet celebrities, see Las Vegas, attend Las Vegas events)
Number of volunteers
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Wish Granting Programs
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
We offer multiple types of volunteerism, but we record here the total number of volunteers who have submitted an application and attended Volunteer Fair. This excludes single-day event volunteers
Number of phone calls/inquiries
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Wish Granting Programs
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
"Inquiries" equate to eligible referrals (children who qualify with a critical illness). Changes in local medical trends and treatable conditions affect our referrals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Our Vision: to grant the wish of every eligible child.
Our Mission: Together, we create life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses.
The children we serve are fighting for their lives, and their families are doing everything that they can to help them in their battles. We believe that these children and their families deserve the chance to enjoy once-in-a-lifetime experiences that relieve them of the immense stress accompanying the treatment of a critical illness, and produce positive, hopeful mindsets that outlast the illness.
The organization's wish-granting activities accomplish this by augmenting traditional medicine, impacting each child's emotional state and the family unit -- the child's primary support structure. By granting the child's one heartfelt wish, and involving the entire immediate family in the process, we re-empower the child to fight his/her illness and energize the family - and the community - to support the child. By granting increasingly more wishes each year to qualifying children, we anticipate that, one day, we will be able to fulfill every eligible child's wish and propagate the joyful outcomes to an ever-wider community of participants and witnesses.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Wish Granting strategy focuses on increasing referrals (particularly from our increasingly diverse Southern Nevada community), focusing on our in-kind donation solicitation for wish experiences (to make our cash funds spread further), and maintaining a core of trained volunteers to execute on our mission. While volunteers generously donate their time to Make-A-Wish, we invest significant resources in every volunteer in order to recruit, train and retain quality individuals who will dependably engage in our work over the long run. It's a valuable investment considering that over 600 Make-A-Wish volunteers do the work of 75 full-time employees, a staff level we could never support. We can't grant wishes for kids we can't find. That's why the first step in the wish-granting process--having a qualified person refer an eligible child to us--is so important. A qualified referral can come from a medical professional, social worker, parent, and even the wish kid. Our eligibility requirements are that children are diagnosed with a critical illness, between the ages 2 ½ and 18 (at time of referral), and that they have not received a wish from another wish-granting organization. Medical Outreach costs include printed materials and staff time required to interact with referral providers. By strengthening our community partnerships with referral providers we know we can find every eligible child in Southern Nevada who deserves a Make-A-Wish experience.
Revenue strategy focuses on maintaining and growing our diverse funding sources from individuals, corporations, major donors, planned giving, events, and in-kind. Today, a majority of our wish kids overcome their medical conditions. We have medical technology, research, and incredible care to thank for their survival. But getting better is no easy task for any kid. This is where a Make-A-Wish experience comes in: wishes remind kids of why they need to stay strong and why they need to comply with their treatments, difficult as they may be.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
We have a full-time staff of nineteen and over 600 volunteers. Collectively, we work to enhance the organization's wish-granting activities and fundraising acumen. Our work is guided by a Board of Directors that is comprised of leaders in our community. Make-A-Wish has forged strong relationships with more than 75 corporations. For example, our 30-year relationship with Disney, Inc. is an invaluable partnership, as a significant percentage of all wishes we grant involve a Disney theme park. Additionally, Macy's, Inc. has served as a long-term partner in helping us to raise funds and awareness of our life-affirming mission.
We also partner with hundreds of celebrities, including musicians, actors, professional athletes, and other public figures who graciously provide their time and talents to grant wishes and otherwise help us to fulfill our mission. As a result of the efforts of our staff, volunteers, and community partners, Make-A-Wish Southern Nevada is able to commit the vast majority of funds to our program activities. This speaks to our integrity and dedication to our mission, which the public recognizes; a recent nationwide poll found that Make-A-Wish is the 3rd most trusted nonprofit brand in the United States.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Each year we are advancing toward our vision of being able to make every eligible child's wish come true in Southern Nevada. Last fiscal year (2019), we granted 158 wishes to local children facing critical illnesses; however, we are not reaching our full potential. Educating our medical professionals on the importance of referring these children is imperative to the advancement of our organization. This will increase the amount of children we are able to serve. Additionally, we have made it a priority to invest in staff development to ensure all facets of our non-profit are steadily improving. Recently, we have achieved remarkable brand awareness and community support.
We aim to grant 175 wishes in FY2020.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Make-A-Wish Foundation of Southern Nevada
Board of directorsas of 06/09/2020
Mr. Jon Wolfe
House Advantage
Term: 2019 - 2021
Mrs. Linda Richardson
Tom Burns
Cragin & Pike
Heather Harris
Harris & Harris Lawyers
Jacob Bundick
Greenberg Traurig, LLP
Kevin Camper
Speedway Motorsports
Kristine Creel
Jon Gray
Palms Casino Resort
Keith Hansen
Allegiant Air
Richard Justiana
Nevada State Bank
Justin Kalb
Kalb Industries, Ltd.
Brian Killingsworth
Vegas Golden Knights
Sasha Larkin
LVMPD Summerlin Area Command
Shaun Schoener
UnitedHealthcare
Travis Scribner
WestPac Wealth Partners
Melissa Warren
Faiss Foley Warren Public Relations & Public Affairs
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No