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Providing extraordinary services at little to no cost to families- with your help.

L.I.F.E. is a 501c3 nonprofit organization dedicated to providing extraordinary services for developmental disabilities at little to no cost to families. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity for the best care regardless of income. It is only with support from donors like you that we are able to meet this mission!

There are many ways you can support us including no-cost to you tax credit donations which are extremely impactful for enabling us to provide scholarships for our Academy. Additionally, we hold multiple annual fundraising events providing donation and sponsorship opportunities.

WAYS INDIVIDUALS CAN GIVE

Tax Credit Donations from Individuals

L.I.F.E. works with two main School Tuition Organizations (STOs) that accept individual tax credit donations and then award scholarships:

In Arizona you can choose where some of your tax money goes through the Arizona Private School Tax Credit Law. This law allows you to donate to an organization that gives out scholarships to private schools. It is a direct tax credit so you get all the money you donate directly off the amount you owe in Arizona taxes. You can request what private school you want your donation to go to. This is a great way to donate to L.I.F.E. at no cost to you! Remember donors with enough tax liability can also donate to a charter school and public school without it affecting their donation to L.I.F.E. Donor applications are easy and you can complete it online in just a few minutes. Please don’t forget to select Lauren’s Institute for Education on the Recommendation section of the application. These organizations do not share donor information, so if you would like to be recognized, please inform us of your donation. For a step by step guide and more information, please reference our tax brochure here.

Corporate Matching by Employers

Many corporations participate in matching programs, where an employee can designate part of their check to an organization and the company will match the donation up to a certain dollar amount. Please consider having your employer add us to their list of recipients.

By Mail or Phone

Mail:

Lauren’s Institute for Education Attn: Donation
1305 South Gilbert Road Gilbert, AZ 85296

*Please include a note with your name and contact information so that we can send you a donation letter.

Phone:

480-621-8361

*Follow prompts to the donation line, or dial 0 and ask to be connected to the person in charge of processing donations.

Monthly Gift

Consider giving a monthly donation. We can set up a recurring monthly donation to be pulled after the 1st or 15th each month, in any amount you select, from a card you designate. Monthly contributions can be started and stopped anytime throughout the year. Please contact Justin.Travillion@laurensaz.org to set up your donation.

Donate Resources

We welcome donations of items such as school supplies and therapy equipment. However, please speak to our Front Desk Administrator first to complete a donation form so we can determine if the item is something we can accept.

Fundraisers

We welcome donations to our annual fundraisers.

Volunteer

Consider donating your time. We have many volunteer opportunities.

WAYS CORPORATIONS CAN GIVE

Tax Credit Donations from Corporations

L.I.F.E. works with three main School Tuition Organizations (STOs) that accept corporate tax credit donations and then award scholarships.

In Arizona a company can choose where some of its tax money goes through the Arizona Corporate Income Tax Tuition Credit Law. This law allows companies to donate to an organization that gives out scholarships to schools and receive a direct tax credit for the donation. A company can request what school receives the scholarship money. This is a great way to donate to L.I.F.E. without costing a company. For a step by step guide and more information, please reference our tax brochure here.

Be a Fundraiser Sponsor

We welcome corporate sponsors for our annual fundraisers.

FUNDRAISERS

Main Fundraisers

Casino Night

Golf Classic

We hold two large annual fundraisers our Golf Classic in April and our Casino Night in November. We are currently looking for sponsors for these events. Please contact carrie.reed@laurensinstitute.org if you are interested in supporting our mission.

Small Annual Fundraisers

AZ Gives Day- Inclusive merry-go-round funded

State Forty Eight Shirts

We hold a number of small annual fundraisers including our Run, Walk, and Roll for Your Heart in February and Arizona Gives Day in April. Please look for social media posts and flyers to direct you on how to give to these fundraisers.

DONOR BENEFITS

Tax Deductible Donations

As a 501c3 any donation given to Lauren’s Institute For Education is entitled to a tax deduction.

For donations of over $250 you will receive a donation letter from L.I.F.E. confirming your contribution that you can use when filing your taxes.

Donations of under $250 can still receive a donation letter, it must simply be requested. To request such a letter please e-mail justin.travillion@laurensaz.org.

Donor Tours

We love to take donors on tours so they can see first-hand the great good that comes from their donations.

To schedule a tour contact Carrie Reed at carrie.reed@laurensaz.org.

NONPROFIT FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY

Lauren’s Institute For Education is proud to have earned the Platinum Seal of Transparency on Guidestar, the world’s largest source of information on nonprofit organizations. Please follow this link to get the most current financial data available for our organization or contact our CFO/COO directly at Justin.Travillion@laurensaz.org. For more information regarding donations contact Justin Travillion.

IRS Determination Letter

Donor Privacy Practices

Donor Privacy Notice:

We will not sell, share, or trade our donors’ names or personal information with any other entity, nor send mailings to our donors on behalf of other organizations.

This policy applies to all information received by Lauren’s Institute For Education, both online and offline, on any Platform (“Platform”, includes our website and mobile applications), as well as any electronic, written, or oral communications. To the extent any donations are processed through a third-party service provider, our donors’ information will only be used for purposes necessary to process the donation.

About Justin

Role:

As Chief Financial Officer I am a part of the leadership team at Lauren’s Institute For Education and help run the organization as a whole, assisting our CEO and President, who are also our Co-Founders, to put this organization’s mission into action as best I can. I also oversee most of the administrative functions of our organization directly, from Finance to Payroll and Benefits to Human Resources. I also oversee our Office Manager, who further directs our billing team, filing and front desk personnel.

Education:

• B.S. in Supply Chain Management, W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, 2009.

Career History:

I started my career path at Lauren’s Institute while still in college. I was working as a Direct Support Professional providing Habilitation and Respite with clients in the community when L.I.F.E. opened in 2007 and came onboard to do the same work. I then began doing projects to assist their rapidly growing administrative needs utilizing the skills I was learning in school. When I graduated in 2009 I took the position of Finance Manager at L.I.F.E., starting with bookkeeping and then adding payroll and other responsibilities as the organization grew. Now I have staff that mostly do the direct work I used to, and I do my best to manage them as well as the organization as a whole to ensure we are fulfilling our mission as best as we can to as many as we can in the best way that we can.

Personal Teaching or Management Philosophy:

I believe the best way to lead is by example. I believe that being a servant to others, practicing humility and operating with integrity are essential to anything you do. I also believe that is easier said than done, and trying to look at things from another’s point of view and the bigger picture help any situation.

Personal:

I am a proud husband and proud father of three girls that keep my life busy and entertaining. In my free time I enjoy traveling, and to unwind I enjoy playing games, reading, and watching sports.

AWARDS

ASU Alumni Sun Devil 100 Social Instagram 1×1-A

We are excited to share that Lauren’s Institute for Education has been named in Sun Devil 100 Class of 2023! This is a prestigious annual award program run by the Arizona State University Alumni Association. The program recognizes up-and-coming organizations led or owned by alumni. Justin Travillion, our CFO/COO, is the honoree of this award.

Check us out in the listing (#31)! Class of 2023

We were honored last year too!