Endowment
Endowments are donations that are set aside by the Foundation for the benefit of the Straz Center. The Foundation invests the principal and grants a portion of the interest to the Center for ongoing programs and operations.
A strong endowment ensures financial stability by providing a permanent source of funding. The endowment allows the Center to stretch artistically, enhance its educational programs and maintain and expand its facility. In an extreme emergency, the endowment can mean the difference between survival and failure. Our needs are both immediate and long-term.
You may have a special interest at the Center and wish to support a specific activity. With a restricted gift, you can direct your support to one of the following funds:
Capital Fund
This fund enables the expansion and maintenance that is required to keep the Straz Center a world-class facility.
Education Fund
This fund provides general program support for activities at the Patel Conservatory for the Performing Arts.
Program Fund
This fund supports the Straz Center’s cultural and family programming.
Opera Tampa Fund
This fund supports Opera Tampa performances and activities.
Scholarship Fund
This fund supports Patel Conservatory students by providing tuition relief for deserving students.
Another great way to provide an unrestricted gift is to endow your annual contribution. The Straz Center depends on its annual donors to balance its budget. But once you are gone, your annual contribution stops. By endowing your annual gift in your estate plans, your support of the Center lives on ... forever.
OUR ENDOWMENT GOALS
The Straz Center has established an endowment goal of $100 million. We plan to reach our goal by 2016. That amount will generate a maximum of $5 million annually for the Center’s use. This funding will enable us to:
- Continue to present nationally-renowned artists, performers and events so our community is has full access to the best of the arts, making it a world-class city
- Develop education programs that offer rigorous training in the arts for young people
- Maintain our affordability for local and resident companies who rent the Straz Center for their own use
- Continue to develop Opera Tampa for the Bay area’s growing opera audience
- Become a catalyst for musical theater by developing new works with our partners on Broadway and sustaining our theatrical heritage for all to enjoy
- Maintain a state-of-the-art facility and add to the Straz Center campus as our needs grow
Contact Bill F. Faucett at 813.222.1071 or bill.faucett@strazcenter.org for more information.