BC/EFA Annual Report 2005 - Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS

oadway cares/equity fights aids
how a dollar
makes a
difference
the fundraising and grantmaking success of broadway cares/equity fights AIDS
is the result of tens of thousands of gestures of generosity that come together as one phenomenal show of support.
This is never more apparent – or more important – than in the audience appeals done each year for two six-week periods by
the Broadway, Off-Broadway and national touring shows prior to the annual GYPSY OF THE YEAR and EASTER BONNET
Competitions. Here is how a single dollar becomes what in 2005 was a $5.5 million fundraising campaign.
A theatergoer is moved by the curtain speech made by a member of the cast after the curtain call. In support of BC/EFA
or simply because it was such a thrill to hear the show’s star informally talk to the audience about our work, he or she puts ONE
DOLLAR into the collection buckets manned by other members of the company and BC/EFA volunteers. In an average Broadway
house of 1,700, this means the following:
one generous gesture $ 1
the amount raised at one performance $ 1,700
there are 8 performances a week (x 8) $ 13,600
34 other shows are making the same appeal (x 34) $ 462,400
appeals are made for six weeks (x 6) $ 2,774,400
twice a year (x 2) $ 5,548,000
BC/EFA is extremely grateful to all who have joined the theatre owners – producers, directors, general managers, company
managers, house managers, and all – who have offered their support for “the six-week option plan,” which has been an essential
component of BC/EFA’s success for more than a decade.
Audience appeals are the backbone of BC/EFA’s yearly fundraising efforts. Without the thousands of times one person reaches
into pocket or purse and drops $1, $5, $10 or $20 in a volunteer’s bucket, BC/EFA could not exist.
Cast members from Mamma Mia! in the lobby of the Winter Garden Theatre; Fiddler on the Roof at the Minskoff and Altar Boyz at Dodger Stages during the
six-week appeals period leading up to The 19th Annual Easter Bonnet Competition; hundreds of buckets like this one raised over $5.5 million dollars during the
Gypsy of the Year and Easter Bonnet appeals.
how a dollar makes a difference