Dear Bel Canto Stakeholders,

Bel Canto relies upon the support and hard work of many dedicated people who give of themselves much more than anyone can ask.  You are getting this email because you are one of those people, one of our Stakeholders.  This is your organization.  Given your importance to Bel Canto, I want you to have a more direct link into the organization and the Board of Directors.  I intend this link to be in the form of a regular letter that will describe more directly where we are headed and what is going on with the Bel Canto Board and the organization as a whole.    

For the first letter, I am writing to make sure you know about this season's UPAF Allocation.  UPAF is our largest funder. As you may have seen in the news, our allocation dropped considerably this year.  This is due to a combination of factors, including changes in UPAF's formula and the fact that we had a poor year in raising money for UPAF during their campaign.  In short some of the factors are out of our control, but others are not.  I want all of you to know that this change in UPAF Allocation is not a surprise to us.  Please be aware that the budget for the current year was prepared with a decrease like this in mind.  That being said, it is more important than ever that we ensure our other funding sources come through this year.  Here is a list of our most important sources of funding, and some notes on how you can help. 

• Annual Campaign.  Although UPAF is our largest funder,  we only get a portion of the money we raise on their behalf.  Our own annual campaign goes directly to our bottom line.
• What Can You Do? Please be sure to add to our mailing list everyone you know who may have an interest in supporting Bel Canto.  You can send addresses to chhelm@belcanto.org.

• Concert Revenue.  One of our largest budget items is our concert revenue.  We have a reasonable idea of our ticket sales, but we need to be sure we meet those goals.
• What Can you Do? Please be sure to get as many people as you know to the concerts - they are, after all, our reason for being and our unique contribution to the quality of life in Milwaukee. 
• Annual Gala.  As most of you know, this is our largest source of event funding.  More importantly, it has been and still is operated by a small group of very dedicated chorus members and volunteers - making it turnkey for the office and the Board of Directors.  This has been invaluable!
  • What Can You Do? Board members, please start thinking about how to fill your Gala tables. Corporate sponsors are welcome and encouraged to attend.  Let's all think about who we know who might be interested in joining the Gala committee or in attending the event.
• Board Sponsored Events.  The Board of Directors has committed to hosting a number of events designed to raise money (and friends) for Bel Canto.
• What Can You Do? When you see invitations and communications about those events, please encourage your friends and colleagues to attend.
• Foundations and Grants.  We receive grants from a number of foundations, and these total around 20% of our budget.  Some of our largest donations come from the Lynde & Harry Bradley Foundation, the Nicholas Family Foundation, the William Stark Jones Foundation, CAMPAC (Milwaukee County), the Herzfeld Foundation, the Steigleder Charitable Trust, and the WI Arts Board.  Our office works to ensure that these grant relationships continue, but more is always better! Nina has researched and identified a number of new foundations to which she will be making application, but new relationships take time.
• What Can You Do? Please keep an eye out for foundations and donors to the arts.  It does not take a high level business connection to apply - sometimes it is as simple as knowing the foundation is out there and supporting the arts.  If you know of any, please send any information to njones@belcanto.org.
• Next Year's UPAF Campaign. It is our understanding that UPAF solicitors will not be limited to Board members next year, so if you can help us make UPAF calls, we would greatly appreciate the help.  The UPAF campaign usually starts early in the calendar year, so please keep an eye out for more communication on this subject.

We have a wonderful season in front of us, and I hope you are all looking forward to it. Most of all, I want to thank all of you for your dedication to Bel Canto Chorus - you, the "Stakeholders", are really the glue that holds this organization together.  Thank you for your dedication.

Since is the first of the Stakeholder letters, please tell me if you know of others who you think I should be including in these communications, as I am sure I have missed many people.

Best Regards,

Martin Tierney 

Board President 

Bel Canto Chorus