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Chapter Funds: Alumni Helping Chapters Help Their Communities
As Sinfonians, we all share a love for music and have made a commitment to advancing music in America as performers, educators, and supporters. With over 100,000 living alumni and chapters in over 200 communities across the country, we have the opportunity to have a huge impact on music in America.
Can you imagine the possibilities if every chapter were able to donate instruments and music to the schools in their communities, provide grants to send students to music camps or sponsor a music camp at their university for the students in the area? How much stronger would your chapter be if members could advance in their studies and their community outreach with more funds available for scholarships and leadership training? If each chapter were to sponsor one more band, orchestra, or choral festival, or commission one more new work this coming year, the |
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Through Chapter Funds, chapters can bring
music to more people. |
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Fraternity would take huge steps toward advancing music.
How can this vision become a reality? The Sinfonia Educational Foundation is proud to present a new initiative designed to support collegiate chapters' efforts to advance music in America -- the Chapter Fund Program. Launched in March, the Chapter Fund Program allows alumni to contribute directly to their chapters. The SEF will now create and administer separate chapter funds for each chapter, allowing alumni to designate tax deductible contributions as restricted gifts toward these chapter funds. Chapters will then be able to use these funds for programs such as commissioning new works, supporting community music festivals, chapter leadership development, and more.
The Chapter Fund Program is being launched in two phases. Funds have been created for each collegiate chapter, and alumni can already begin to send in their tax-deductible gifts to the chapter fund(s) of their choosing. Chapters will be working to identify the programs that will best benefit their communities as well as the educational opportunities that will help members of their chapters to develop into future performers, educators, and supporters of music.
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Chapters will have the ability to have a greater
impact on local school programs. |
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Alumni can show their support for their chapter's plan by making contributions to their chapter's fund. Alumni will also be happy to know that their gifts will be actively stewarded by the Foundation and used to impact their chapter, alma mater, and surrounding community. Funds will be deposited in a special account managed by the Foundation to maximize its growth while maintaining its availability for chapter requests. A small percentage from each gift will be set aside for the Foundation's General Fund and used for existing programs as well as the expenses of the organization as a whole. However, in order to help get these funds started, 100% of gifts received by May 31 will go into the designated chapter fund.
Beginning in the fall, chapters will be able to request |
grants from their chapters' funds for eligible programs.
For a program to be considered eligible, it must be charitable or educational in nature. Chapters will be required to submit a grant request and supporting documentation that the funds were used appropriately. In order to allow these funds to impact chapters and their communities for years to come, chapters are limited on the amount that can be requested from their funds each year. This program should allow chapters to have an even greater impact on music in their communities.
In a short period of time, nearly 30 chapter funds have already been started with contributions from chapter alumni.
"We're excited that our alumni can now give tax deductible gifts that have a direct impact on their chapters -- something that they have never been able to do until now," says Derek Danilson, President of the Sinfonia Educational Foundation. "This has the potential to enable our chapters to have an even greater impact on their schools and their communities -- inspiring others by sharing the gift of music."
Have you helped your chapter with their fund today? For more information, check out the SEF's website, http://www.sinfonia.org/sef/grants/chapterfunds
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