The United Performing Arts Fund surpassed its 2010 Campaign goal of $9.3 million.
The United Performing Arts Fund (UPAF) surpassed its 2010 Campaign goal of $9.3 million by raising $9,450,382.
The campaign was led by co-chairs Linda Mellowes, community leader, and Ted Kellner, chairman and chief executive officer of Fiduciary Management, Inc.
"Surpassing our goal is a significant accomplishment, particularly when you take into account the sizable number of decreased gifts we faced coming into this campaign," Kellner said.
Two match gifts, a $125,000 challenge match from the Kelben Foundation to support increased individual leadership giving of gifts $500 or more, and a $40,000 gift from Carlene and Andy Ziegler to match all individual donations below $500, helped UPAF receive $1.5 million in new and increased dollars for the campaign.
"This achievement wouldn’t have been possible without the extraordinary support of the Kelben Foundation and Carlene and Andy Ziegler," said Cristy Garcia-Thomas, UPAF president. "The challenge grants UPAF received from them helped us attract new donors and increased donations from existing donors. Several other companies and foundations added to their support as we came to the end of their campaign and we are indebted to them for their commitment to our community."
"This campaign has given me the opportunity to meet with many individuals who believe, as I do, that the performing arts make a difference in our lives," said Mellowes. "The performing arts impact the lives of over one million people each year, including over 400,000 children who are touched by performances, educational programming and community outreach. Because of our performing arts, we enjoy a quality of life most cities our size don’t have. We have something truly special to celebrate here."
The celebration also honored Rexnord Industries Inc., and the law firm of Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C. with the 2010 Robert W. Baird & Co. Outstanding Achievement in Employee Giving Award.
Judy Jorgensen, UPAF board member from 2002-04 was awarded the Mrs. Walter H. Stiemke Award for her dedication and commitment to the Milwaukee Artistic Community.
"UPAF is grateful to the community for its support of our 2010 Campaign," said Garcia-Thomas. "We are thankful to Linda and Ted for providing such outstanding leadership for this year’s campaign, for all the hard work put in by our outstanding campaign cabinet, and for the time and talent of hundreds of volunteers that helped make this year’s campaign a success. It truly is a group effort and everyone’s contribution really does make a difference. The economy obviously still posed considerable challenges for us again this year, but we did reach our goal and we did succeed in raising what is really a huge amount of money to fund and sustain the high quality arts organizations in our region."
