Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

As a VENUE: Host your event…

The lush gardens and picturesque surroundings at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum provide a naturally beautiful, and uniquely Tucson backdrop for your wedding or special event. Choose from an array of indoor and outdoor event venues offering incredible views of the Tucson Mountains and pristine desert landscape. The professional event staff will help you craft a truly memorable occasion for you and your guests, including live animal experiences and innovative menus featuring regional ingredients. The Museum’s event venues are available for: * weddings * rehearsal dinners, and * related events; * meetings * holiday parties, and * other corporate functions; * reunions * bar and bat mitzvahs * anniversaries * memorials, and * other private events; * children’s birthday parties. Seven distinctive spaces are available:

• Desert Garden: Gather your family and friends in the Desert Garden to witness your ceremony surrounded by lush greenery, bright blooms, and beautiful brick work. This hidden oasis offers an elegant outdoor setting for exchanging your vows and toasting your union. The bubbling fountain and rustic adobe wall in the lower garden are favorite locations for photographers.
  • Capacity: Seated Ceremony – 120 guests
• Boojum Patio: If it’s desert views you’re after, look no further than the sunlit hills and towering saguaros surrounding the Boojum Patio. This beautiful stonework patio is tucked behind Ironwood Terraces restaurant, providing a peaceful setting for exchanging your vows beneath the bright blue Arizona sky.
  • Capacity: Seated Ceremony – 60 guests
• Green Room: Wine and dine the night away in the Green Room with views of the dazzling sunset colors on the slopes of the Tucson Mountains. Floor-to-ceiling windows offer an exceptional panorama of the pristine desert landscape with easy access to the large covered verandah.
  • Capacity: Seated Dinner – 100 guests for a seated dinner (with room for presentations/dancing) – 130 guests
• Ironwood Terraces: Design a dynamic celebration in the Ironwood Terraces, the Museum’s largest restaurant. A spacious anterior courtyard  gives way to an indoor dining room and an attached patio providing ample room for cocktails, dinner, and dancing in a variety of engaging locations. The possibilities are endless in this unique and adaptable venue!
  • Capacity: Seated Dinner – 100 guests (indoor), 210 guests (indoor & outdoor)
• Ocotillo Café: The cozy dining room and enclosed private patio provide the perfect setting for smaller celebrations, including wedding receptions, rehearsal dinners, and bridal showers. The obvious choice for stylish, intimate affairs.
  • Capacity: Seated Dinner – 60 guests (indoor), 90 guests (indoor & outdoor); Cocktail Reception – 125 (indoor & outdoor)
• Taylor Plaza: If it’s desert views you’re after, look no further than the sunlit hills and towering Ironwood Tree surrounding Taylor Plaza. This beautiful stonework patio provides a scenic setting for celebration beneath the bright blue Arizona sky.
  • Capacity: Seated Dinner – 100 guests
• Packrat Playhouse: Slink, swoop, or scamper to the Desert Museum for an unforgettable adventure in Packrat Playhouse! Rent the entire Playhouse for your family group, quaranteam, social bubble, youth group, or company retreat. Beat the heat of the summer and play like a packrat!
  • Capacity: 15 guests

Support the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum… by simply booking your next special occasion here:

https://www.desertmuseum.org/visit/rental_facilities.php

As a SHOP: Discover unique gifts…

THE MOUNTAIN HOUSE GIFT SHOP  *  THE IRONWOOD GIFT SHOP  *  ONLINE ART STORE

Looking to take a piece of the desert home with you? This is the place. Find: * cactus (yes, really!) * toys * books * housewares * apparel * pottery * jewelry, and * more! Forget your desert essentials? No worries! The gift store has a variety of * sun hats * sunglasses, and * reusable water bottles. Best of all, a portion of your purchase goes back to the Desert Museum!

Support the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum… by simply purchasing your specialty merchandise here:
https://www.desertmuseum.org/visit/food.php

As an EATERY: Food for thought…

Are you as hungry as a black bear? Enjoy relaxed dining in Ocotillo Café or chow down at Ironwood Terraces. Craving caffeine or sweets? We’ve got you covered. Enjoy coffee, ice cream, and various snacks at Phoebe’s Coffee Bar.

• Ironwood Terraces: A casual food court that includes kid’s meals, as well as healthy choices and vegetarian options.
• Ocotillo Café: A casual dining experience that focuses on locally sourced ingredients to create regional southwest cuisine. Reservations not required, but suggested for parties of 8 or more.
• Phoebe’s Coffee Bar: Start or finish your visit with a trip to Phoebe’s Coffee Bar. You can enjoy Caribou coffee, pastries, snacks, ice cream, popsicles, sandwiches, and more.

Support the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum… by simply dining here:
https://www.desertmuseum.org/visit/food.php

Be a DONOR: Show that you care…

Your gift truly makes a difference. Your support provides 30% of our funding. Your contribution is as powerful as the visionary gift made over 60 years ago by the founders of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Arthur Pack and Bill Carr… because your generosity today enables the Desert Museum to continue educating and inspiring people about the Sonoran Desert. Earned income from support such as admissions provides for about 67 cents of every dollar needed to keep the Desert Museum open to the public. The rest is up to you.

Membership:

Become a member of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum today and help support the daily operations and innovative conservation work of this nationally recognized zoo, botanical garden, art gallery, and aquarium. Membership at specified levels are offered: * Student * Coato Kids Club * Individual * Dual * Family * Turquoise * Copper * Silver, and * Gold.

Donations:

THE MISSION of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum is to inspire people to live in harmony with the natural world by fostering love, appreciation, and understanding of the Sonoran Desert.

There are many ways you can support the Desert Museum — by becoming an annual member, giving a cash gift, arranging for a planned gift, or supporting the Museum through your family foundation or business. Make a gift to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum today. Help us to continue our research, exhibits, education and conservation efforts on behalf of this remarkable region we all call home…the beautiful and diverse Sonoran Desert. We offer a variety of ways to invest today in the future of the Desert Museum as well as the resources you need to make the most informed decision about your giving.

• Donate Now: Donations at specified amounts are designated or you may customize your gifts. Recurring gifts are encouraged. You may donate on behalf of a business, organization, or in memory or honor of someone.
• Special Event Sponsorship: As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, the Museum receives no regular annual subsidies and relies greatly on donor support. We hope you will consider one of these prestigious sponsorship opportunities to help the Desert Museum remain a world-class institution and visitor attraction, right here in Tucson, Arizona. Donations at specified amounts are designated or you may customize your gifts.
• Tribute Gifts: The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum offers a number of ways for you to make a tribute gift – a gift in honor or in memory of a special person or occasion – while providing financial support to the Desert Museum and those we serve.
• Matching Gifts: Corporate matching gifts are a great way for Desert Museum members, donors, and friends to maximize personal contributions to the Museum and increase the impact of your giving. By taking advantage of a company’s matching gift benefit, you may be able to double, triple, or even quadruple the amount of your contribution. Did you know that, on average, one in 10 donors is matching-gift eligible, and that approximately 50% of all Fortune 500 companies have matching gift programs? You will be surprised at how many companies participate…maybe even yours! In addition, over 4300 companies will also match your volunteering time contribution.
• CARS Vehicle Donation Program: Donate your car, truck, motorcycle, RV, or boat to the Desert Museum through the CARS program! CARS will reach out to you to arrange the pick-up of your vehicle donation, at no cost to you. You may qualify for a tax deduction, while supporting a cause that is near and dear to your heart!
• Desert Museum Science and Conservation: regional knowledge for nature and people. The future of the Sonoran Desert region rests on our ability to adapt to a rapidly changing climate, which in turn rests on biologically diverse, resilient ecosystems. People are powerful as well as vulnerable participants in this system. For nearly 70 years, the Desert Museum has been helping people understand and appreciate their environment and their multiple roles in it. Museum scientists and curators documented and disseminated the foundation of natural history knowledge that underpins management decisions today, as it has in the past. Support opportunities are within these:
  • Saving Habitats: We aim to expand into a more holistic approach to maintaining ecosystem function by understanding vegetation dynamics at the landscape scale under a regime of changing climate and introduced species.
  • Protecting Pollinators: The Desert Museum will continue working with colleagues at the University of Arizona to understand the current status of native bees, factors that affect their diversity and abundance, and actions that can help to conserve their populations and functions in our ecosystem.
  • Resilient Food Systems: The Museum aims to establish a research program to understand and conserve the wild relatives of modern-day crops and expand the regional food system to include arid-adapted native foods.
  • Saving Species: The Desert Museum works with State, Federal and Tribal agencies in both the US and Mexico to help conserve threatened and endangered species from the Sonoran Desert region. The Museum’s research in this area focuses on husbandry of aquatic species, although staff also participate in field surveys, reintroductions and research with some non-aquatic species as well.
• Wish List: We feature an ever-changing list of items needed to care for the Museum, animal, and plant collections.
  Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum is a 501c3 nonprofit zoo, aquarium, garden, natural history museum, and art institute. Our mission is to inspire people to live in harmony with the natural world by fostering love, appreciation, and understanding of the Sonoran Desert. Your generous support in purchasing much-needed supplies will help us achieve our mission each and every day.
• Planned Giving: Your gift of any size will help support the future of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. You can plan today to make a gift of estate assets to ensure that your charitable interests are supported, your financial objectives maximized, and to leave a legacy at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.
  • Charitable Lead Trust: Another type of charitable trust is a lead trust, which is set up for a limited period of time during which the income generated from the trust is transferred to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. Upon completion of the time period, or maturity, the principal is returned to the donor or his or her designee.
  • Charitable Remainder Trusts: A charitable remainder trust is an agreement between a donor and a trustee that can provide fixed or variable income to meet the financial needs of the donor or another named beneficiary. At the termination of the agreement the remaining trust assets are passed on to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.
  • Gifts and Bequests of Retirement Assets: Naming the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum as the beneficiary of your retirement account can be advantageous for both estate and income tax purposes. The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, as a tax-exempt organization, does not pay income tax when the assets held in the tax deferred retirement account are distributed to the Museum upon the death of the account owner. If the account owner’s estate is subject to estate tax, the estate receives an estate tax charitable deduction for the value of the account that names the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum as the beneficiary. By fulfilling charitable intent and naming the Museum as the beneficiary of a tax deferred retirement account, this will free up other assets that do not have a built-in tax liability for your other non-charity beneficiaries. It is a win-win situation for everyone.
  • Gifts of Stock or Appreciated Securities: If your investment portfolio includes low-yielding, highly appreciated stock or securities that have held for more than one year you may want to consider gifting them to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. Appreciated property can include publicly traded stocks, bonds, mutual funds, closely held stock, commercial property, farms, personal residences or unimproved land.
  • Wills and Living Trusts: You can support the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in your Will or Living Trust by arranging for the Museum: to receive a gift of a specific amount; to receive a percentage of your remaining estate; to receive a gift of a specific asset (real estate, stocks, etc.); or to be a contingent beneficiary in the event a primary beneficiary shall predecease you. To make a gift to the Museum you simply include a provision in your Will specifying the type and/or amount you would like to give.

Volunteer: Volunteering at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum can be a very rewarding and gratifying experience. We have many positions where you can help!

Support the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum… by simply joining, contributing, and volunteering here:
https://www.desertmuseum.org/support/