Roger Vacovsky

Taking the Hassle Out of Giving

Posted by Roger Vacovsky, Jul 12, 2011 0 comments


Roger Vacovsky

Capital One No Hassle Giving Widget

As many of you know, Capital One has recently partnered with Alec Baldwin and Americans for the Arts to promote nonprofit arts funding with their No Hassle Giving Site.

Now, you can get potential funders closer to the GivingSite and supporting the arts with a Capital One Custom Charity Widget on your webpage, Facebook site, etc. It’s an easy and effective way to allow those that believe in our cause to advocate for the arts help to support us in these seemingly tumultuous economic times for artists and arts professionals.

Show that you believe in Americans for the Arts’ and Mr. Baldwin’s unified vision to keep  arts funding of the utmost public importance by following just a couple of quick steps.

With your help, we can get even closer to reaching our fundraising goal of $50,000, at which time Capital One will match these funds 100 percent! That’s a lot of cabbage that will go to fueling many of the great things that we do here, including raising awareness to keep the arts as relevant as they need to be in our country.

You’ve no doubt read Mr. Baldwin’s blog post last week detailing our country’s need to support the arts.

We’ve listened to and read so many stories from movie stars and ordinary folks alike that always beg the question, “Where would I be without the arts?”

I keep thinking about Kevin Spacey’s powerful words at this past Nancy Hanks Lecture, his stimulating refrain, “Does it matter?” as he would tell his own story about the impact the arts had on him in his youth, most notably the availability of the programs he had participated.

I immediately thought of my own experiences; where would I be without those opportunities I was able to partake in my younger years?

The morning after the Hanks Lecture I emailed my parents back as they had asked me how our event went over at the Kennedy Center. In a simple response I told them how moving Mr. Spacey’s speech was but more importantly I thanked them for putting me in all of those afterschool, extracurricular art classes, and shipping me off to week long art camps when I was in elementary school and junior high. Believe me, back then it was far from pulling teeth to get the preteen version of me to stay on a university campus.

I think about these childhood experiences and I must return to the question, “Where would I be?” but then I think, “What if great programs like the ones I participated in weren’t available to today’s youth?” Would they grow up and get to do something they love to do as an adult?

All it takes is one trip down memory lane with regards to your upbringing and the arts before you realize the impact it had on shaping your moral fiber.

I mean, you’re reading ARTSblog right now because you cannot get enough of the knowledge arts fanatics just like you are sharing and gathering. And to think that young people in America aren’t getting the same opportunities you may have had to infuse creativity in their everyday existence!

More and more we hear about arts programs cut out of schools cut throughout the nation. Now, this is your chance to help keep that from happening.

Put the Capital One Charity Widget on your webpage and join many others who understand how vital it is that we keep funding the cause to support the arts!

TAGGED WITH:
Please login to post comments.