Pinnacle Campaign

“In today’s world we need a reminder of how creative humans can be. We need something that transports us and conveys the good side of what human beings are capable of producing.”

–Helgi Tomasson, Artistic Director and Choreographer

 

Endowment Campaign Reaches Goal, Continues Through 75th Anniversary Season

In January 2005, San Francisco Ballet announced the public phase of the Performing at the Pinnacle Campaign—a $35 million fundraising effort to bolster significantly the Ballet’s endowment by the close of its 75th Anniversary Season on June 30, 2008. Three years later, on the occasion of The Diamond Gala Celebration in January 2008, SF Ballet Board Co-Chairs Jim Herbert and Pamela Joyner shared the exciting news that the Pinnacle Campaign had surpassed its $35 million goal.

San Francisco Ballet extends its sincere gratitude to its many friends and loyal benefactors who have participated in the Pinnacle Campaign to date. The positive response is both a profound endorsement of SF Ballet Artistic Director and Choreographer Helgi Tomasson’s visionary leadership and a great testament to the generosity of the Bay Area community.

Recent Developments

The Pinnacle Campaign’s rapid ascent to the $35 million mark in recent months was due in part to the generosity of the thousands of individuals who responded to the Ballet’s just-concluded telephone campaign. This expansive effort to reach out to more than 15,000 SF Ballet friends, subscribers, and patrons resulted in well over $1 million in gifts and pledges to the campaign.

Integral to the success of the telephone initiative specifically—as well as the entirety of the campaign—was the extraordinary $5 million challenge grant the Ballet received from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Issued in September 2006 to lend momentum to the campaign’s public phase, the Hewlett Foundation matched dollar-for-dollar all new gifts to the campaign, up to $5 million. With the challenge now satisfied, the Hewlett Foundation’s gift will establish a $5 million endowment for new works.

Planned gifts from two dear friends of the Ballet also helped catapult the campaign to its goal. Ken Rainin, a trustee emeritus of the Ballet and former chair of the Executive Committee of the Board, passed away in May 2007, generously leaving $1 million in his estate to establish an endowed fund for new works. In October 2007, the Ballet lost another family member, Gil Jewell, a tireless volunteer who served as an associate trustee of the Ballet during his term as the president of BRAVO. As his health was declining, Gil worked with the Ballet to place more than $1 million in a charitable remainder trust, the proceeds of which would establish an endowed touring fund. In addition to this very meaningful gift, Gil graciously left the entirety of his estate to the Ballet as an enduring tribute to his profound love of the organization.

Including the proceeds of the Hewlett Foundation’s challenge grant, gifts and pledges to the Pinnacle Campaign now total over $42 million, with a substantial $33 million already collected. Gifts to the campaign and prudent, diversified investment of the endowment enabled the endowment to grow from $88.4 million as of July 31, 2007, to $90.8 million as of December 31, 2007 (unaudited), despite less-than-favorable market conditions in the latter half of 2007. As a result, San Francisco Ballet continues to close in on both the $100 million milestone as well as the three-to-one, endowment-to-annual operating budget ratio established by the Ford Foundation as the hallmark of a financially robust arts organization.

Completing the Campaign

In order to realize its revenue potential and ensure the fullest opportunity for participation, the Pinnacle Campaign will maintain its original end date of June 30, 2008. Intent upon sustaining the momentum that propelled the campaign to its early success, the Ballet will continue its efforts to maximize the strength of its endowment—and accordingly minimize the percentage spent in doing so.

In addition, although the original, overall campaign goal has been reached, certain initiatives within the campaign remain underfunded (see chart below).

San Francisco Ballet shares its enthusiasm for the historic achievements of the Performing at the Pinnacle Campaign with all of the members of its extended family. The steady growth of the endowment, with the Pinnacle Campaign as a major catalyst, will help to ensure that San Francisco Ballet continues to perform at the pinnacle for many years to come.

For more detailed information on the Performing at the Pinnacle Campaign, please contact Thomas W. Flynn, director of development, at 415.553.4605 or tflynn@sfballet.org.