“The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra has received more than $1 million in donations and pledges since announcing its $5 million emergency fundraising campaign earlier this month, the organization’s president and chief executive said Friday,” writes Bill Glauber in Friday’s (12/20) Journal Sentinel (Milwaukee). “Since early December, [MSO President and CEO Mark] Niehaus said, the MSO has received 392 new gifts, renewals from 380 patrons and additional funds from 141 donors. The MSO website also brought in donations from 273 people. On Thursday, the United Performing Arts Fund announced a $250,000 challenge grant, contingent upon the MSO raising a matching amount from new donors…. ‘I’m pretty amazed at what we’re finding out about how this community feels about the Milwaukee Symphony,’ Niehaus said. The MSO is waiting to see if Milwaukee’s large funders in the corporate and foundation community provide significant donations…. He sounded hopeful that large donors will help the MSO…. He added that the MSO has listened to what some of the largest donors were saying, that the orchestra was ‘overly reliant on extraordinary gifts from a couple of individuals and those folks became fatigued.’ Niehaus said stacks of mail filled with pledges have arrived at the MSO offices.”
Posted December 23, 2013
