Civic Leaders Jim and Mary Lou on the Arts and ASC

Charlotte civic leaders and honorary 2013 ASC Campaign Co-Chairs  Jim and Mary Lou Babb talk about the importance of the arts and the Arts & Science Council in Charlotte.

The Charlotte Observer Makes Its Mark

By Catherine Miller, Associate Director, Workplace Giving

Inspire the Fire helps kick off the Charlotte Observer’s 2013 Make Your Mark campaign.

The employees of the Charlotte Observer have committed themselves once again to supporting arts and culture in our community. Their enthusiasm and energy was evident at their campaign kickoff with Observer Publisher, Ann Caulkins and ASC Board Member, Bill Bollinger.  ASC grantees, Inspire the Fire, of America’s Got Talent fame entertained the crowd, and shared their moving story of the significant impact that song and dance can make in young peoples’ lives.

The fun did not end with the kickoff. Each day of the Observer’s campaign incorporated cultural tours and performances. Employees toured ASC’s newest program, Studio 345, as well as the Gantt Center’s ‘America I Am’ exhibit. They were treated to performances by strolling violinist, Bob Ennis, the Charlotte Children’s Choir, and Renaissance singers, The Weights. This made for an exciting work week while truly demonstrating the breadth and depth of ASC’s impact on the community.

All of this effort amounted to a very successful campaign for the Observer! Thank you so much to Campaign Chair’s, Jennifer Rothacker and Sarah Crosland, as well as the whole campaign committee. The Observer remains one of ASC’s top 25 employee campaigns, and we are so grateful for the mark they make on this community.

The City of Charlotte Makes Its Mark

By Catherine Miller, Associate Director, Workplace Giving

National Arts Program at the Charlotte Mecklenburg Government Center

The employees of the City of Charlotte kicked off another exciting campaign year last Friday. Employees gathered in the lobby of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center for their First Friday breakfast and were treated to an expo of cultural organizations that are supported by the Arts & Science Council. These organizations ranged from the Carolina Raptor Center with their special guest Estrella, the bespectacled owl, to Opera Carolina, the Levine Museum of the New South, and the Actor’s Theatre of Charlotte.

The City of Charlotte is ASC’s 5^th largest employee campaign, raising over $150,000 annually to support arts and culture in our community. These employees not only raise significant funds, they have a lot of fun doing it. Activities planned by their 28 In house Coordinators include bake sales and art classes.

These exciting events are an example of the enthusiasm that creates a hugely successful campaign for the City of Charlotte each year. ASC is grateful for their ongoing support. They are truly Making their Mark on our cultural community.

Make Your Mark Campaign Kicks Off

Late last week, ASC kicked off the 2013 Make Your Mark Campaign, announcing a goal of $8.2 million.  The campaign supports investment in more than 100 arts, science, history and heritage organizations and programs,  individual artists and education programs.

This year, Linda Lockman-Brooks, ASC board chair and president of Lockman-Brooks Marketing Services and Kevin Patterson, ASC board member and retired IBM executive are co-chairing the campaign.  Civic leaders Jim and Mary Lou Babb are serving as honorary co-chairs.

“This campaign is about ensuring organizations such as Children’s Theatre of Charlotte, Levine Museum of the New South and Discovery Place have the financial resources they need to operate and serve the community,” said Lockman-Brooks.  “In addition, these dollars support cultural education programs in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, arts, science and history projects in neighborhoods, the development of regional artists and festivals across the county that educate, entertain and enrich the lives of residents and visitors.  Through the collective spirit of community giving, I know we can reach the goal.”

ASC will invest $12.5 million in the cultural sector this fiscal year. Here are some ways we are making our mark…

How are you making your mark?

To make a gift to the Arts & Science Council, visit ArtsandScience.org or call 704-333-2272.

GreerWalker to Kick Off the 2013 Make your Mark Campaign

By Lauren Leach, Development Officer, Workplace Giving

GreerWalker kicks off its 2013 Make your Mark Campaign next Monday. Under the leadership of Charlie Greer and Kevin Walker, GreerWalker employees have consistently met their goals with great energy and enthusiasm. The Arts & Science Council could not be more excited to have them set the pace for this year.

GreerWalker employees at their campaign kickoff.

“Laura Jo and I are very excited to be leading the Arts & Science Council campaign,” said Stacia Neugent, tax associate, GreerWalker, and In House Coordinator. “We believe ASC has so much to offer and is very beneficial to the local community. We also look forward to enjoying local talent Joel Kweskin, a caricature artist, as we kick off this year’s campaign.”

To date, GreerWalker has raised $140,966 towards the ASC Make Your Mark campaign. The campaign will close January 11^th. We look forward to seeing the exciting results of this wonderful partnership.

Look for more information about the Make you Mark campaign in the ASC February Newsletter.

CMS Employees Make a Double Mark Thanks to the Wells Fargo Foundation

By Catherine Miller, Associate Director, Workplace Giving

October 15th marked the kickoff of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools One Community. One Campaign. season. It is at this time of year that employees across CMS come together to support community organizations. These organizations include the United Way, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library, and the Arts & Science Council. This is an important effort for ASC not only because of our strong partnership with CMS for cultural education programming, but also because CMS employees contribute nearly $100,000 towards the Make Your Mark Campaign annually.

This year, the campaign is even more exciting for two reasons. First, all funds raised by CMS employees will go directly back into ASC’s Cultural Education Fund. This means that these contributions will ensure the continuation of grade wide cultural field trips, in classroom experiences with ASC’s partner organizations, as well as professional development opportunities around innovation and creativity for CMS principals and teachers. In addition to the direct impact CMS employees can have on their students and colleagues, the Wells Fargo Foundation has announced that they will match donations up to $100,000, $1 for $1.

“Wells Fargo is a committed partner of arts and education in our region,” said Kendall Alley, Wells Fargo Charlotte regional president. “This opportunity allows us to combine both while empowering CMS employees to make a direct impact in the lives of their students. We are proud to support ASC’s Cultural Education Fund. Our teachers and educators are real heroes and it is nice to know that Wells Fargo can double the impact of any contribution they make to this important fund.”

This year, through Wells Fargo’s Live and Give campaign, employees of the company donated almost $400,000 to the ASC Cultural Education Fund. Donations by Wells Fargo, its employees and other community donors in the previous year have allowed ASC to support nearly 300 field trips for more than 48,000 students across the district, as well as professional development for nearly 900 teachers.

“The generosity of Wells Fargo has strengthened the great partnership our district has with the Arts & Science Council,” said Dr. Heath E. Morrison, superintendent of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. “Wells Fargo has made it possible for the ASC partnership to help our students and our teachers. We are very grateful for the breadth and depth of this support.”

“We are grateful to Wells Fargo for their support of ASC and our work to prepare students and teachers to be innovative and creative thinkers for the 21^st Century,” said ASC President Scott Provancher. “It is because of the generosity of companies like Wells Fargo and the employees of CMS that the Education Fund has been able to impact thousands of lives. ASC looks forward to growing that impact in the years to come.”

To date the One Community. One Campaign. has raised $46,000 towards this $200,000 combined goal. The campaign will close November 16^th. We look forward to seeing the exciting results of this wonderful partnership.

Wells Fargo Employees Make Their Mark

By Catherine Miller, Associate Director, Workplace Giving

The Wells Fargo Live & Give Campaign has been underway since Sept. 3. This special employee effort highlights the importance of philanthropy, volunteerism, and community organizations each fall.

Wells Fargo is committed to the Arts & Science Council, contributing more than $1 million annually through corporate and employee support. While the Live & Give campaign is open to all charitable organizations, the Wells Fargo team has been working with ASC to create special messages and events to raise awareness around the needs of the cultural community in Charlotte-Mecklenburg.

One such event was an Open House at the Charlotte Symphony, for individuals interested in joining ASC’s leadership giving group, the Vanguard Society.

Vanguard contributors support ASC’s Make Your Mark Campaign with an annual gift of $1,000 or more. More than 250 individuals attended this special Open House. Guests enjoyed a reception with food and beverage, as well as a silent auction to benefit ASC’s Cultural Education funding. The reception culminated with a program led by Wells Fargo’s Dewey Norwood, where the Wells Fargo Foundation distributed five, $1,000 grants to attendees. Winners were able to select the cultural organization of their choice that would benefit from the gift. The Charlotte Symphony was selected to receive $3,000, the Levine Museum of the New South received $1,000, and the North Carolina Dance Theatre received $1,000.

Following the reception, guests were invited by the Charlotte Symphony’s interim director, Bob Stickler, to stay and enjoy a sneak peak of the Symphony’s season opener, “All Beethoven.” Attendees enjoyed the beautiful music of Beethoven’s 4^th Symphony, and were also able to see how diligently Maestro Christopher Warren Green and his musicians work to prepare for the highly professional performances they put on for our community during their season.

The evening was a true testament to the sense of philanthropy that Wells Fargo and their employees share. From the distribution of the Wells Fargo Foundation grants, to the successful silent auction benefiting ASC, it was clear that this campaign will Make Its Mark on our cultural community.

**The Live & Give Campaign will be completed on October 6^th. If you are a Wells Fargo employee and would like to make your contribution to ASC, visit http://csc.wellsfargo.com and consider how your donation can make a difference. 

Carolinas Healthcare Kicks Off Make Your Mark Campaign

By Catherine Miller, Senior Development Officer

The Possibility Project performs for CHS employees.

Carolinas Healthcare System (CHS) kicked off another inspiring campaign for our community on August 16 at the Harris Campus of Central Piedmont Community College. Each year, CHS sets aside time in the fall for their employees to reflect and consider giving back to the region that they serve. CHS calls this campaign “Building Strong & Healthy Communities: CHS Giving Campaign.” Throughout the effort employees donate their dollars as well as their time to support regional United Way organizations, The Children’s Miracle Network at Levine Children’s Hospital, and the Arts & Science Council, as well as other regional arts councils.

CHS employees enjoy the campaign kickoff.

History of giving…

Last year, CHS employees contributed more than $4.5 million to support these organizations which serve critical needs in our community. From health and human services, to arts and culture, CHS employees give to what makes Charlotte-Mecklenburg a great place to live, work and raise a family.

ASC Board Member and Levine Children’s Hospital President Martha Whitecotton speaking at the campaign kickoff.

Carolinas Healthcare System has a long history of generosity toward the cultural community. In fact, over the last five years, CHS employees have contributed more than $2.25 million to the Arts & Science Council.  Last fall, ASC was thrilled to receive more than $468k in support from CHS, making this organization our second largest employee campaign, and third largest overall corporate partner.

Inspired philanthropy…

Each year, Lois Ingland, Assistant Vice President, Corporate Community Relations, and her team devote their time and energy to ensuring that their colleagues are educated about the needs of the community, and connect their philanthropy to the mission of the hospital system. This method is something Lois calls “connecting to purpose”, and it works! Through countless speaking engagements, inspiring performances, and volunteer opportunities, CHS employees find joy in giving.

ASC is grateful to Carolinas Healthcare System, and all of our corporate and individual supporters. Without their generosity, our cultural sector would not be the crown jewel of Charlotte that it has become. We are looking forward to spending time with our CHS friends in the coming months, and cannot wait to celebrate their success in November.

ASC Invests $12.5 million In Charlotte’s Cultural Community

Late last month, ASC announced during its annual Impact + Investment luncheon investments of $12.5 million in Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s cultural community for the upcoming year.

ASC Board Chair Linda Lockman-Brooks (l) and Immediate Past Board Chair Curt Fochtmann (r).

The investment is comprised of public and private funding that include the city of Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina Arts Council, surrounding Mecklenburg County municipalities, endowment earnings and ASC’s Make Your Mark campaign that raised $8.4 million, a $100,000 increase over last year’s campaign.

Investments allocated in direct funding to arts, science and history/heritage organizations, cultural neighborhood projects and artists total $11,992,860.  Indirect funding, totaling $519,900, will support capacity building and training efforts for cultural organizations and artists that include board development and management to audience development.

“Due to the generous support of ASC’s public and private donors, ASC will continue to invest in organizations, projects and programs that have proven themselves worthy of support,” said ASC President Scott Provancher.  “The dollars also enable us to continue our partnership with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and provide resources from the cultural sector that align with the curriculum.”

Charlotte Folk Society members performing at ASC’s Impact + Investment Luncheon.

The majority of ASC’s funding comes from the Make Your Mark campaign, the annual fundraising drive.  The fund reached its height in 2008 with $11.4 million.  With the changing economy in 2009, the fund raised $7.1 million, a 38% shortfall.  However the fund drive, primarily generated from workplace campaigns, continued to meet its fundraising goal year over year.  The 2011 campaign raised an extra $1 million for education programs in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.

“Even though we were ambitious in setting an $8.7 million goal and did not reach that number, I am pleased that we exceeded last year’s goal by $100,000 and continue to be one of the top United Arts Funds in the U.S.,” said Provancher. “It’s a true testament to how much value our community places in arts and culture.  We are fully aware of and continue to see changes in our current revenue model and are working on strategies to find new sources of funding to support the cultural sector.”

To see a full list of grantees, click here.

One of Our All-Star Volunteers…

By Chavon Carroll, Donor Marketing Officer

Every non-profit relies on volunteers to help fulfill their mission but at the Arts & Science Council (ASC), volunteers serve a very special role for us.

We are fortunate enough to have more than 200 organizations run employee campaigns on behalf of ASC to help raise money for our campaign every year. Each of those campaigns has an in-house coordinator (or in some cases several) who help make the process as fun and enjoyable as possible.

We appreciate every single one of them because without their enthusiastic support, we couldn’t possibly garner the community support needed to help us achieve our fundraising goal each and every year.

In short … our volunteers are awesome!

One prime example is Lori Garlitos with the City of Charlotte. Lori (along with her trusty co-coordinator, Kyle Hall) who runs the Engineering & Property Management division’s campaign. Even though it’s just her first year ever coordinating the campaign, she has done an amazing job.

Not only has she taken it upon herself to schedule mini kick-offs at each and every division within her department and do raffles at every single one, she also coordinated a massive city-wide fundraiser on behalf of ASC.

While most folks coordinate bake sales or chili kick-offs, Lori went out and coordinated an “Entertainment Extravaganza” that will take place at the Saloon at the NC Music Factory tonight– Thursday, Feb. 23 to benefit ASC.  She not only got the space donated for free, but she also got two bands and a comedian to provide free entertainment as well. With a $5 entry fee that will go directly to ASC, we’re all hoping for a great turnout.

The generosity (both in time and in their dollars) that our volunteers give to ASC absolutely astounds me.

So, to Lori and all the other all-star In-House Coordinators out there, all I can say is a hearty and warm – THANK YOU!