Despite the challenging economy, the Woodruff Arts Center has met the $8.8 million fund-raising goal for its 2010-11 Annual Corporate Campaign, after two years of falling short of its target.
The Woodruff corporate campaign raised $8.4 million toward its $8.6 million 2009-10 goal and $8.6 million of its $9 million 2008-09 goal, believed to be the first time in the arts center's four-decade history that the fund-raising goal wasn't realized.
This year's success "is a significant testament to the community's belief in and support of the arts," campaign chairman Kurt Kuehn, chief financial officer of UPS, said in a prepared statement.
The funds help cover operating expenses for the Woodruff, the Southeast's largest arts consortium, and its divisions: the Alliance Theatre, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, High Museum of Art and Young Audiences.
Woodruff executive vice president Beauchamp Carr said the organizations' string of high-profile successes -- the Alliance's "Bring It On: The Musical" and the High exhibition "Dali: The Late Work," for instance, drew big crowds and positive reviews -- helped in securing funding commitments.
"The quality, the substance really is there, so we have the happy role of going out and crowing about all these things," Carr said. "Even in the last couple of years, when we fell short of goal, we still had very, very strong campaigns. It just didn't quite all add up the way it did this year."
Carr also believes the $8.8 million campaign reflects an improving economy, adding, "I think that the morale in the state of Georgia, and the city of Atlanta in particular, are pretty good."
The Woodruff Corporate Campaign marked its biggest gifts ever with three donations of $500,000, from the Coca-Cola Co., Georgia Power Foundation and UPS. Cox Enterprises and associated entitiescontributed more than $450,000, and nine companies and foundations gave more than $200,000 each. The Woodruff's own board of trustees donated more than $1.4 million.
Gov. Nathan Deal and his wife Sandra plan to host a reception for Woodruff Patron Circle of Stars donors ($15,000-plus givers) at the Governor's Mansion in early October.
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