LOUISVILLE, KY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2013 – Fund for the Arts is excited to announce power2give.org/kentucky, an online crowd-funding platform, has raised more than $1 million. Launched December 2011, in partnership with the Arts & Science Council in Charlotte, North Carolina, the platform helps non-profit organizations generate funding for arts and culture projects.
In less than 2 years this innovative tool has helped, more than 100 organizations throughout the Commonwealth of Kentucky and Southern Indiana, fund more 330 arts and culture projects. “From Louisville to Lexington and Frankfort to Floyds Knobs, power2give.org has helped our arts,” said Barbara Sexton Smith, President & CEO of Fund for the Arts. “We’ve put brushstrokes on canvases, ballet slippers on dancers, bassoons in the hands of young musicians and beautified the lobby of a local community theatre.”
To aid in the success of the crowd-funding process, Fund for the Arts has secured support from matching sponsors. More than $490,000 has been contributed by power2give partners, matching gifts dollar for dollar. Matching sponsors include: Kentucky Arts Council, Republic Bank & Trust Company, Louisville Metro Government, LG&E & KU Energy, Chubb Charity Challenge, Humana Inc., UPS, D.D. Williamson & Co., Inc., Bingham Greenebaum Doll LLP, Stites & Harbison, Your Community Bank, Family Life Center, Galen College of Nursing, U.S. Bank, as well as several anonymous donors. Fund for the Arts hosts powerHours on the first Friday of each month for organizations looking for information on how to post projects.
The Fund for the Arts launched power2give.org to remain innovative in the community, as fundraising trends indicate donors prefer to give directly to projects. With more than 2,200 people giving more than $509,000 to projects, power2give has proven to be a success.