King and Pierce County Performing Arts News | ArtsFund
ArtsFund News
By The ArtsFund Team on Monday, August 4, 2008
ArtsFund Makes Record Grants to Arts Groups in 2008
ArtsFund, the region’s umbrella funding organization for the arts, announced today that it has made grants of $2.977 million to 70 King and Pierce County arts groups. That sum exceeded last year’s total grants by $50,000. This increase follows 10% increases in each of the last two years. The total of $2.977 million is the highest dollar amount ever distributed by ArtsFund in its 39 years of making distributions.
“The economy is challenging right now,” said ArtsFund board chair, David Buck, of Riddell Williams P.S. “In spite of some donor cutbacks and smaller endowment returns, we are able to increase grants above last year’s level because over 47 of our donors increased their gifts by ten percent or more. That speaks volumes about how important businesses and individuals feel the arts are to our quality of life and reconfirms ArtsFund’s effectiveness as the trusted partner in regional arts support.”
“Through ArtsFund’s grant making process, we ensure donors’ dollars are well invested,” said ArtsFund President and CEO, Jim Tune. “We also give each group detailed feedback on our allocations committee’s assessment of their operations. The groups tell us this feedback is valuable in helping them operate even better.” (See list of allocation committee members below.)
ArtsFund grants come from several sources. The core is the annual campaign for businesses and individuals. The Boeing Company, Microsoft Corporation, PACCAR Inc, Weyerhaeuser Company, Safeco Insurance, Amgen, Bank of America, U.S. Bank, WaMu and Wells Fargo headline the list of 300 business donors. Individual giving, both directly and through employee giving programs, continues to be the fastest growing component of the organization’s annual campaign, climbing by more than ten percent in 2008.
Further support for ArtsFund grants comes from the organization’s ownership of the four-story Century Building, from its one-third ownership of Classical KING-FM 98.1, and from a growing endowment that donors have created at ArtsFund to take advantage of its grant making expertise.
ArtsFund grants are for general operating support, with specific allocations to support achievements in diversity, arts education, teacher training and student access. Since its inception in 1969, ArtsFund has secured and distributed more than $56.5 million for the arts in King and Pierce Counties.
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