Visiting Artists Bring New Benefits to Symphony

When James Raisbeck, a local businessman, joined the Seattle Symphony’s board last year, he used a little artistry

to come up with a new way to raise money and enhance donors’ attachment to the symphony.

Mr. Raisbeck founded a Guest Artists Circle that gives participating donors the opportunity to “sponsor” one of the visiting artists with a gift of $15,000 or more; in return, they get to meet the artist at a small dinner party or other event, and they receive premium seating for the artist’s performance, along with a score autographed by that person.

“One of the things I learned being involved with various boards of the arts is that these organizations are in possession of money-raising assets that they are so close to they don’t see them,” Mr. Raisbeck says.

As an additional incentive for donors, Mr. Raisbeck and his wife, Sherry, pledged $500,000 to match donations, or up to $75,000 annually, from people who sponsor an artist.

When it started the program in October, the symphony set a goal of raising $75,000 over the nine-month season from artist sponsors, in addition to the Raisbecks’ matching gifts. But the symphony has already surpassed its goal for the Guest Artists Circle’s first season, raising a total of $222,800 with the Raisbecks’ match.

This year, the symphony persuaded 10 guest performers to particpate in the sponsorship program, including the conductor and vocalist Bobby McFerrin and the soprano Renée Fleming.

So far, the symphony has recruited sponsors for all of the guest artists this year — three of whom are donors who had never previously made a gift to the symphony. And some of the donors not only became sponsors, but also continued their annual gifts of several thousand dollars. “There is sex appeal to meeting an artist and being involved,” says Linda Morrison, the symphony’s director of major gifts.

New donors who participate in the Guest Artists Circle get an extra benefit: They are extended the same courtesies received by people who donate at least $10,000 a year, such as free tickets to some performances.

Ms. Morrison and Mr. Raisbeck agree that the real test will be what happens to giving by visiting-artist sponsors over the next few years.

“These dollars, to be any good in the long run, need to not come from what people are already giving,” Mr. Raisbeck says. “This has to be something extra.”