JAVS Fall 2020

TheDevelopment Corner

Are You A Philanthropist? By The AVS Development Team

Chances are excellent that you are a philanthropist! If you give money to your place of worship or simply drop a couple of bucks into the red Salvation Army bucket at Christmas, volunteer in a community service organization like Rotary or Lions or even your community youth symphony, or simply give usable items to Goodwill, you are a philanthropist. You need not have millions of dollars to donate to make a huge difference! To paraphrase Helen Keller: “Our world is moved not only by the mighty shoves of our heroes, but also by the aggregate of tiny pushes by violists like you and me.” Similarly, as symphonies cannot operate on ticket sales alone, your AVS cannot provide the opportunities and services we have all grown accustomed to and enjoy without extra giving and donations from violists “like you and me.” In the Development Corner we will periodically call attention to “giving” ideas and strategies for violists. We will advise readers to check with their tax advisor before embarking on a giving strategy or making a large donation. The Development Corner allows us an excellent space to share the hopes and dreams of your AVS Board. And, you will find up-to-date information about the progress on the goals set by your Development Committee. Please allow us to share a short success story. In 1999 the AVS leadership decided to strengthen the vision of its original charter—The Viola Research Society. The David Dalton Research Competition (DDRC) was started and has continued to grow in popularity. The DDRC began as a simple pledge by the AVS and a couple of generous donors. In 2013 it was decided to begin a campaign to enhance the Endowment so as to make the DDRC financially self-supporting. In other words, grow the endowment dollar amount to a level that the dividends produced would pay for the prize money awarded. With wonderful help from people like David Bynog, the good people in the AVS office and a few dozen donors the endowment increased from a couple thousand dollars to close to $25,000 in less than two years. This is the result of the “tiny pushes” by many violists “like you and me!”

Before we get far into giving strategies let us point out something obvious: when you go to the AVS Website, in the upper right-hand corner is the word Donate . After you drop down that “Donate” menu you find a comfortable way to give a little extra and a wonderful list of the activities your money will help fund. Fairly impressive! You are asked to enter any comfortable tax– deductible amount, log in and, then it’s as easy as buying strings at Shar! Or, some of the more senior members prefer to add a couple of dollars when they renew their membership using the Membership Dues page in JAVS . Check it out. Almost fifty of our members renewed this year at either the Contributing , Patron or Benefactor levels. Some preferred to be more directed in their extra giving by checking a particular activity for their donation: the Primrose Memorial Scholarship Fund , the David Dalton Viola Research Competition or the Commissioning Project . Others prefer to give a little extra in the name of a loved one or simply to the AVS Endowment Fund . However you decide to give a little extra, or even if that is not quite possible right now, please know that AVS leadership appreciates you!

Your Development Team Ann Marie Brink, AVS Board Member, Chair Elias Goldstein, AVS Board Member Ezra Haugabrooks, AVS Board Member Thomas Tatton, Advisor Hillary Herndon, AVS President

Meghan Birmingham, AVS Treasurer Naimah Bial, AVS Board Member

Journal of the American Viola Society / Vol. 36, No. 2, Fall 2020

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