Do we have a STORY to tell each of you! ! This is a story of a fund raiser during a unique time in history, and the fund raiser did not include ticket sales, goals of high attendance, catering bills, and didn’t even include the linchpin of every successful fundraiser: NO OPEN BAR!
In late spring of 2020 the global pandemic known as Covid 19 was spreading throughout the world, and in Virginia most “in person” events, meetings, concerts, church services had come to a complete halt. Richmond Symphony League was celebrating over 60 years of Symphony Support; and we were wondering how to conduct SAFE fundraisers. If it weren’t for the virus, 2020 would have been a year that we held our major fundraiser: A Designer House. The 2018 House raised over $200,000, which we were able to donate to the Symphony.
By late September it became obvious from national and local headlines regarding Covid that it would not be safe or responsible to hold the Autumn Allegro Arts, Crafts and Music Festival in person. Most of the members of our committee did not have a high level of comfort or expertise with technology; but we still realized it was time to pivot the project to a virtual event if we wanted the festival to be successful. Our volunteer technology EXPERTS set up an on-line catalogue and we photographed every time with detailed descriptions regarding size, materials, artists names, history and price of item. An on-line merchant account was established to our web-site to collect credit card payments, fees, etc.
Richmond Symphony staff initiated the Facebook Live link. The link includes the prerecorded interviews and concerts – especially those with the artists donating their work!
In between the prerecorded events, Richmond Symphony League members present some of the items for sale. Our message also included information about RSL and how to join! h
In 2022, Richmond Symphony League was awarded one of the Gold Awards of Excellence that are presented to Volunteer Organizations for best-in-class programs or initiatives that have made a significant impact on their orchestras.