Arts Council Silicon Valley today announced that its annual
workplace-giving program, ArtsChoice, has exceeded its campaign
goal and raised more than $108,000 to support local arts
organizations. This represents a 4.5 percent increase over last
year
’s campaign, which topped $100K for the first time in the
program’s 12-year history.
Arts Council Silicon Valley today announced that its annual workplace-giving program, ArtsChoice, has exceeded its campaign goal and raised more than $108,000 to support local arts organizations. This represents a 4.5 percent increase over last year’s campaign, which topped $100K for the first time in the program’s 12-year history.
“Given the number of job losses in the Valley, we’re extremely pleased at the level of participation from local employees,” said Arts Council Executive Director Bruce W. Davis. “When people vote with their paycheck, it’s a concrete demonstration of the role the arts play in people’s lives and its importance in the community.”
ArtsChoice is conducted on behalf of more than 130 local arts and cultural organizations at 15 sites throughout Santa Clara County. ArtsChoice sites include municipalities, universities and corporations such as Applied Materials, the county of Santa Clara – where giving was up 11percent, and the city of San Jose and Campbell, which were up 12 pecent and 25 percent, respectively.
The program is one of only two in California raising money for the arts in the workplace, and is often conducted simultaneously with existing employee giving programs or United Way campaigns. Employees can designate the arts organizations they wish to support through a payroll deduction system.
More than 91percent of this designated revenue goes directly to the arts groups without any restrictions on how they use the funds.
