The Campaign for Arts & Lectures recently received two major gifts totaling $1.25 million from generous local philanthropists.
Michael and Anne Towbes pledged $750,000, and Timothy Fisher pledged $500,000 in a planned gift to the Campaign for Arts & Lectures.
The gifts, which will benefit the Campaign for Arts & Lectures’ endowment funds, coincided with a week of events featuring educational outreach activities with cellist Yo-Yo Ma and Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, which were attended by more than 2,000 local students, from elementary schools to colleges.
“It’s so gratifying to see successful fundraisers and healthy annual fund numbers,” said Anne Towbes. “But it’s our support of the endowments, the solid financial footing on which these organizations rest, that is so very important in our ability, long term, to serve the community.”
Said Timothy Fisher of his gift: “I feel humbled and privileged to be a founding donor of UCSB Arts & Lectures’ planned giving program. This bequeathed gift will boost the Arts & Lectures endowment, and I am so pleased that other UCSB Arts & Lectures Council members have followed my lead.” (Both Timothy Fisher and Anne Towbes are members of the Council for Arts & Lectures, the Campaign’s leadership group.)
“Arts & Lectures, under the leadership of Celesta Billeci and her capable staff, bring world-class performing artists and lecturers to Santa Barbara. We are so fortunate that UCSB’s community outreach program is among the most successful in the country and has so enriched the culture of our community.”
The Towbeses’ and Timothy Fisher’s donations bring total contributions to the Campaign for Arts & Lectures to $12.8 million. The five-year campaign, which began in the summer of 2011, seeks to raise $20 million, to be split evenly between a permanent endowment and annual support.
“The generosity of Tim Fisher and the Towbeses represents a kind of targeted and effective philanthropy that can truly change a community,” said Celesta M. Billeci, Miller McCune Executive Director of UCSB Arts & Lectures. “These patrons work tirelessly, challenging others to fulfill their own philanthropic goals, further multiplying the fruits of their own generosity. We’re grateful to have Tim Fisher and Anne Towbes serving on the Campaign Council; it’s difficult to imagine a successful Campaign for Arts & Lectures without their constant support.”
For more information about the Campaign for Arts & Lectures, contact Arts & Lectures’ development office at (805) 893-2174 or visit www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu/campaign.
UCSB Arts & Lectures thanks lynda.com for its major corporate support of the 2013-2014 season.