ArtsWave, one of the longest running United Arts Funds (UAF) in the country, recently announced that it exceeded its 2015 campaign goal of $12.2 million to support arts organizations across Cincinnati and the region. A particular success of the campaign is the number of people in the region who support it–most contributions to the annual campaign are individual gifts in amounts less than $150. In 2015, ArtsWave added more than 7,660 new donors to the campaign.

“This campaign would not be possible without the thousands of donors and volunteers who stepped up and took action for our community," said Alecia Kintner, President & CEO of ArtsWave. “We want to thank everyone who has been a champion for the arts in our region. Your investment makes a difference.”

ArtsWave raised additional funding through a collection of other approaches, including corporate contributions and workplace giving programs, promotions with local restaurants and bars, a partnership with the Cincinnati Reds baseball team, and selling tickets for the CincySings corporate singing competition.

“We are so pleased to announce that we have surpassed our ambitious goal of $12.2 million in contributions–a goal reached with more partners than ever before,” said Tom Williams, Chair of the 2015 campaign and President and CEO, North American Properties. “Expanding the base of support to include more companies was an important evolution of this campaign and one that I hope sets a strong direction for the future. A combined campaign of this magnitude has real impact on our development and identity as a region, and cannot be taken for granted. I cannot thank enough my campaign cabinet and all the volunteers who worked to deliver these results.”

ArtsWave is a UAF, which are local arts agencies that seek to raise money to provide ongoing support to arts groups by consolidating cultural fundraising efforts in one organization, and use their knowledge of the cultural community to disperse the funds accordingly.