SAN DIEGO – As San Diego Opera nears its $1 million fundraising goal from the community ahead of the May 19, 2014, deadline, a group of donors have announced a matching gift challenge to invite the community to double the impact of their contribution to San Diego Opera’s 2015 season. Board Members Gloria Rasmussen and Jay Merritt, and the Sopranos, an investment group of 10 women whose interest is the opera, have pledged a total of $500,000 as a challenge to the community to help San Diego Opera exceed its fundraising goal and help the Company achieve $2 million in contributed income.
“We made this challenge because we love San Diego Opera and we believe it belongs in our community,” shares Joan Henkelmann, a member of the Sopranos. “Our gift makes it possible for a student to give $50 and make it a $100 contribution, a family to give $250 and make it a $500 contribution. Or, for a donor who gave at the beginning of the drive, to give again and make their gift even more significant. By making a $500,000 matching gift challenge we, with the community’s support, can help the opera achieve a total of $2 million in donations.”
The Company announced its crowd funding campaign on April 25, 2014, and has already received over $900,000 from over 1600 donors. These donors come from 3 foreign countries (Italy, Austria, and Mexico), and from 30 states other than California. Over 42% of the donors are first time donors to San Diego Opera and locally they represent all districts in the city.
“Thank you,” shares Board President Carol Lazier. “Thank you to the matching gift donors. Thank you to the person who gave the opera their first $10, and the champion who gave $50,000. It is all of you who are the lifeblood of the Company, and all of you who will guarantee its future. When this campaign started I said ‘from an acorn grows a mighty oak’ but I did not expect we would be planting a forest. The response has been overwhelming. Anything the community can contribute beyond the goal makes the Company that much stronger. You are the future of San Diego Opera and we cannot wait to share with you what we have planned for this great and generous community.”
San Diego Opera announced its closure and the sale of its assets in March. The original closure date was scheduled to occur on April 14, 2014, the day after the Company’s final sold-out performance of Don Quixote. A vote by the Board on March 31, 2014, delayed that closure by two weeks until April 29, 2014. Another vote by the Board on April 18, 2014, extended that closure date to at least May 19, 2014. The Company is currently fundraising for a 2015 season that it hopes to announce shortly.
Two weeks ago, the Company announced a crowd funding campaign with a $1 million goal through an escrow account designed to protect donor contributions if the goal is not met or a 2015 season is not announced. Since the campaign started, the Company has raised over $900,000 through donations ranging from $10 – $50,000. The Company needs to raise at least $6.5 million total in contributed income to support the 2015 season. The crowd funding effort is an important component of the overall goal.
Tax deductible donations restricted to the 2015 season through the escrow account can be made online at http://www.sdopera.com/moveforward (anytime) or by phone at 619.533.7000 (Monday-Friday, 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM). San Diego Opera is also accepting unrestricted tax deductible donations for the 2014 season.
