As of December 31, 2015, the “$200,000 Endow-A-Thon” launched 14 months earlier by the JSEF came to an end. The campaign was an unprecedented effort by the JSEF Board to incentivize LGBT performing arts organizations to invest in their long-term futures. The primary focus of the campaign was on the member organizations of the Lesbian and Gay Band Association (LGBA), although one non-member group also participated.
The “$200,000 Endow-A-Thon” offered up to $6,000 in matching funds to each eligible organization that endowed new funds with JSEF. Overall, the program was highly successful. According to JSEF Treasurer Jerry Abrams, “We had twelve organizations take part in the campaign, nine of whom were new to JSEF. The other three added funds to their existing endowment accounts. In total, $61,000 in newly endowed funds were deposited. We were more than delighted to deliver a total of $53,000 in matching funds to these worthy organizations.
Here is a list of organizations that participated in the Endow-A-Thon:
- Atlanta Freedom Bands (Atlanta, GA)
- CHEER SF (San Francisco, CA)
- Desert Winds Freedom Band (Palm Springs, CA)*
- D.C.’s Different Drummers (Washington, D.C.)
- Lesbian & Gay Band Association (Washington, D.C.)
- Mid America Freedom Band (Kansas City, MO)
- Minnesota Freedom Band (Minneapolis, MN)
- Palm Springs Gay Men’s Chorus (Palm Springs, CA)
- Philadelphia Freedom Band (Philadelphia, PA)
- Rose City Freedom Band (Portland, OR)
- San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band (San Francisco, CA)*
- South Florida Pride Wind Ensemble (Ft. Lauderdale, FL)
* Previously had funds endowed with JSEF
JSEF President Loren McGlade noted “It was especially exciting to see that six of the new organizations took full advantage of the Endow-A-Thon by investing $6,000 each. One group, D.C.’s Different Drummers invested a whopping total of $14,000!” Regarding looking forward to working with these new organizations in 2016 and beyond, McGlade said “We always invite organizations with endowed funds to select a trusted member to serve on the JSEF Board. That way, they can be fully engaged in the operations of the Endowment Fund while also seeing that their own organization’s investments are being well cared for. We will be contacting each of these groups about this early in 2016.”
Once all the year-end financial data has been compiled, the JSEF will be publishing its financial statements and sending each organization listed above updated information regarding their investments.
Although the “$200,000 Endow-A-Thon” campaign has ended, JSEF Board Secretary Doug Litwin wanted to state that “the Jon Sims Endowment Fund stands ready to any to work with any interested non-profit LGBT performing arts organizations about setting up an endowment plan that addresses their long-term goals. All they need to do is write to info@jsef.org.”