PORTopera Issues Challenge to Supporters:
Raise $100,000 and Match Major Donor

PORTopera has been presented with an incredible fundraising opportunity: a long-time donor has pledged $100,000, but with one condition; this money will be a match to an additional $100,000 that the company must raise through new donations. If PORTopera is able to complete the challenge, the gifts will total $200,000—a sum that will help secure the future of the opera company for years to come.

PORTopera made the fiscally conservative decision to celebrate its 15th Anniversary last summer with a concert instead of presenting a fully staged production. The decision was made out of concern for the challenging economic climate and provided a sound alternative to the much pricier option of casting, rehearsing and staging a full-scale opera. The savings realized from this event have allowed the company to finish its fiscal year in the black; other similarly sized opera groups across the country have not been able to stay afloat during the recession.

So how's PORTopera's Challenge Grant Campaign going? As of mid-April, the company has passed the halfway point having raised a bit more than $50,000 specifically for the match. “We hope to reach our goal by the end of this fiscal year (September 30),” says new board president Ann Elderkin. “And certainly by the end of 2010.”

Gifts that qualify for the matching program include donations from patrons who have not contributed since before 2007, from those who increase their gifts from previous years and completely new donors, including corporations and foundations. All of these gifts will be matched, up to $100,000, by PORTopera’s major donor.

“This $200,000 opportunity is exactly what we needed in order to truly plan for our future,” said former board president Don Head. “We were very nervous about our future leading up to last summer’s concert, but after meeting this challenge, we will be in a strong position for the next 15 years.”