Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Louise Toppin: Videmus has a critical and urgent need for increased financial support in order to sustain its existence and impact.

[Heart On The Wall: African American Art Songs For Orchestra; Louise Toppin, Soprano; Dvořák Symphony Orchestra; Julius P. Williams, Conductor; Albany Troy 1314 (2011)]


October, 2013
Dear Friends,
Greetings from North Carolina!  I am writing to alert you to exciting and important Videmus activities and to enlist your financial support in ensuring their success.
We had a busy summer. Two major activities included: a SWOT [Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats] analysis and the development of a three-year strategic plan for Videmus. Two key items came out of the analysis: Videmus needs more hands-on-board in order to operate effectively; Videmus needs more revenue if it is to survive. Yes, that’s right – if it is to survive.
We have been fortunate in engaging new administrative and accounting staff with backgrounds in nonprofit and business management. We have a new active volunteer serving as board treasurer. Our website staff from RyOne continues to do an excellent job in developing a new look and feel to our website. They have already increased our media presence -- a YouTube channel for Videmus!
In addition to the Lynn Bridges Award, we continue to encourage the work of students through financial awards. Building on last year's momentum, staff have been doing an amazing job with the George Shirley competition, planning fundraisers and benefits to raise the dollars and profile of the competition. We have expanded the competition to include high school and college students, ages 15-20. Please spread the word that the competition is May 24, 2014 in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Our biggest new initiative, building on the success of our 25th Anniversary Festival in 2012, is the Summer African Diaspora Music Institute. We have tentatively set the dates for June 16-22, 2014 in Chapel Hill.  We will be inviting 50 scholars, composers, and performers to participate in this week-long opportunity for individual and group work with master teachers.
The Videmus family has always been a supportive community. Many of you participated in the Festival and a number of you will be involved in the 2014 Institute. Videmus has a critical and urgent need for increased financial support in order to sustain its existence and impact.  Our modest fundraising will simply not enable us to continue the high quality programming let alone build on our platform. We are using this 2013-2014 year to determine whether and how we can continue to do our important work.
Please consider a first-time gift or significantly increasing your past giving as a signal of your support for the work Videmus has done, is doing, and hopes to do in the future.  
On behalf of the Board of Videmus, and with gratitude,
Louise
Louise Toppin
Director, Videmus

P.S.  We hope we can count on your support by November 1!

P.P.S. Please provide us with your mailing address by sending it to susan.valentine1@gmail.com

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