Seeking support for its music education programs and initiatives, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra is launching a $300,000 fund-raising campaign with the unique twist of asking for small donations. A lot of small donations.
The "When I Play Music" campaign, which The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has learned will be announced Tuesday, allows for donations as low as $5, though the orchestra will gladly accept larger ones as well. The 12-week campaign will be driven mainly by social media.
It follows a national and local trend among arts institutions to try to cultivate new individual supporters, even ones only able to donate modestly, in the wake of cutbacks in corporate and governmental support.
The different ways in which to give (details at www.aso.org/give5) include mobile giving (text "ASO" to 50555 to give $5), online giving (www.aso.org/play) or QR codes.
The ASO hopes to expand its education outreach in an effort to better serve the metro community and state.
The orchestra offers nearly 29,000 hours of music instruction and reaches more than 45,000 students and music educators yearly from 28 Georgia counties. A quarter of the students who attend its various educational presentations do so for free or with reduced admission.
The John H. and Wilhelmina D. Harland Charitable Foundation has put up a challenge grant of $25,000 to be paid when the campaign hits $50,000.
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