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Thunderbirds raise $18M for charity from 2025 WM Phoenix Open

PHOENIX — The 2025 WM Phoenix Open raised a record $18.1 million for charity, according to the group that organizes the event.

The Thunderbirds, a nonprofit, said the tournament raised $17.5 million in 2024 and $14.5 million in 2023. Each were records at the time. This is also the eighth time that “The People’s Open” has surpassed the $10 million mark in its fundraising efforts.

“Just incredibly proud and humbled by the support of this community and thrilled as Thunderbirds get to steward those monies back into the community,” 2025 Tournament Chairman Matt Mooney told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show on Wednesday.

Since the nonprofit started the Phoenix Open 90 years ago, it has raised over $226 million. Of that, $160 million has been raised since WM became the title sponsor in 2010.

Thunderbirds Charities was formed as a nonprofit in 1986 in order to distribute the funds raised through the WM Phoenix Open.

How do charities benefit from the WM Phoenix Open?
One of the nonprofits that benefits from these donated funds is Child Crisis Arizona.

“They feed over 45,000 meals annually to infants and children in need,” Mooney said. “So, when you think about this incredible golf tournament that we all enjoy, that we have people now traveling from all over the world to be here and attend. And to see the benefit of that extended to those in need, especially children who maybe don’t have enough food on their plate, I mean, I just can’t think of anything cooler and more impactful than that.”

Thunderbirds Charities has donated more than $2.1 million to Child Crisis Arizona, helping build its 38,000-square-foot net-zero campus in Mesa, add classrooms and playgrounds during the pandemic and renovate the Thunderbird Kitchen.

What does the future look like for The Thunderbirds and WM Phoenix Open?
Mooney hopes to put more of a spotlight on the way that money that gets donated serves local communities.

“It’s a Phoenix story. There’s not another community in the country that has a golf tournament like this, where the community supports it and makes the event special and then the event is able to turn around and funnel those dollars back into the community,” Mooney said.

The 2025 chairman referred to it as a virtuous cycle.

The 2026 WM Phoenix Open will return to TPC Scottsdale February 2-8.