Valley Gives 2014 Promotional Video

Valley Gives Telling Your Story

All-Orchestral Opening Night Gala with Springfield Symphony Orchestra

ALS Challenge

Mind the (Generation and Diversity) Gap!

IRA Legislation Proposed in the House

IRA Legislation Proposed in the House

The EXPIRE Act—which proposed to reinstate the IRA rollover among many other expired tax provisions—stalled in the full Senate on May 15 when it did not receive enough votes to overcome a filibuster. Meanwhile, in the House, Reps. Aaron Schock (R-IL 18^th) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR 3^rd) introduced H.R. 4619 on May 8 which would make this tax provision permanent.
We know it’s critical for nonprofit arts organizations to provide many charitable giving opportunities for individual donors to support their vital programs and services.   
PAA continues to advocate for the reinstatement and permanent status of the IRA rollover. We signed on to an open letter to the House Ways and Means Committee from Independent Sector asking them to renew and make permanent the provision and asking committee members to co-sponsor H.R. 4619.

Tell your members of Congress how important it is that individual donors be able to support your organization’s work. Share your story here and take action to reinstate the IRA rollover. 

Springfield Symphony Orchestra Feeding America (+playlist)

Smooth Move! SSO Kevin Rhodes' handkerchief moment.

Online support is fastest growing source of revenue for nonprofits

Online support is fastest growing source of revenue for nonprofits
by Jim Abernathy
From - 

• The Founding Fathers Write a Proposal - {Centered}: August 2013 (Vol. 6, No. 8)‏

  Online donations to charity rose 14% in 2012, while the amount charities received from foundation grants, corporate support, and individual giving through more traditional avenues rose only 1.5%.

  
  

  These figures come from a survey conducted by The Chronicle of Philanthropy and discussed in its June 27, 2013, issue. In "$1 Out of $5 Could Soon Be Donated Electronically," The Chronicle's Raymund Flandez and Emma Carew Grovum report that while most of the organizations surveyed received little more than 2% of their total contributions online, some brought in as much as 30% that way. Many respondents expect to see online donations amount to between 10% and 20% of total contributions within the next few years.

  
  

  The Chronicle's suggestions for getting the most benefit from online giving:

  • Try to convince your donors to give every month or every quarter.
  • Make monthly payments the default option on the donation section of your web site.
  • Encourage donors to use Twitter and Facebook to tell their friends about their gifts.
  • Promote monthly giving in all your print solicitations and other non-electronic contacts with donors. 

  Flandez and Grovum also recommend ways to make giving easy for donors who use mobile devices:

  • Take advantage of events to promote giving by texting or using quick response codes that take the event participants to your website's donation section.
  • Send mobile phone users easy-to-read email messages that link to your website's donation pages.
  • Design your campaigns to play into the ways people view and share information on their mobile devices.

Home for the Follidays with Springfield Symphony Orchestra

Here's some holiday cheer!