Last minute gift giving, last minute tax deductions

The holiday season is full of generosity, cheerful gift giving, love for one's fellow man — and also high doses of gift-giver anxiety, financial stress and the impending doom of this year's tax season.

All of those elements align nicely with our list of last-ditch tax deductible charitable donations for arts organizations. Donations can fill in the gaps of that shopping you've been putting off. They can also provide you with a way to write off more charitable contributions for the year before the next one starts. And most importantly, it will really help the organizations; and they really need your support, more now than ever (wait 'til you see the state-wide budget cuts outlined in the January issue of City Arts magazine, hitting streets early next week).

Our list is in no way exhaustive. All of these groups are deserving of your support - and some of them are in very dire need of it - but there are plenty of other arts organizations, both locally and at the national level, that you might prefer to give your money to instead. Hopefully the list below will inspire you to contribute what you can to support the vital arts organizations you love.

Troy Gua, The Lizard King of Kings

Arts Corps
Invest in powerful arts learning for all young people.

When you give to Arts Corps, you are investing in powerful arts learning for young people. Your gifts ensure that the Corps reaches young people with the least access to high quality arts education.

Arts Corps seeks investments from a diversity of individuals, foundations, corporations, government agencies and community organizations. We value every gift, whether it is $25 or $25,000, as an investment in our shared vision for all children to have the freedom to imagine and the courage to be.

Individual support is critical to the sustainability and vitality of Arts Corps. Thousands of individual donors have invested in Arts Corps' movement since our inception, and every year new and returning donors help us meet the growing demand for high quality arts learning opportunities and provide critical leadership in the field of arts education.

DASH Center for the Arts
Your support is requested to help further D.A.S.H. Center programming. The D.A.S.H. Center and its programs increase access to the arts for all Pierce County residents, but especially those in underserved communities, by making dance, voice, and theatrical classes readily available and affordable to all. Programming designed and produced by the D.A.S.H. Center appeals to and targets persons who would not ordinarily attend Arts events. Through its programs such as, Reality Check , Club FAME, and its "dancicals" (musical productions, which combines acting and dancing), D.A.S.H. targets at-risk youth, ages 12-20, in Pierce and King counties, addressing situations and conflicts affecting them. Reality Check has grown to include a percentage of 7-11 year-olds, RCJuniors.

Won't you become a Friend of the D.A.S.H. Center? Help us achieve this dream and create the Reality...

Freehold Theatre Lab: Studio
Freehold has made a commitment to make classes as affordable as possible to everyone. However, did you know that tuition only covers 65% of the cost of a student's class? Freehold depends on contributions from individuals to help make up the difference and to keep our classes affordable for everyone.

Your contributions also sustain many of Freehold's programs. Performance opportunities for students like the Studio Series would not be possible without the support of our donors. Our Engaged Theatre tour is also dependent on donations from both individuals, foundations, goverment agencies, and corporations.

Frye Art Museum
Although approximately 75% of the Museum's operating revenue is provided by earnings from the Charles and Emma Frye Foundation, the Frye relies on the support of our members and community to help us continue to mount important and engaging Frye Collections and contemporary exhibitions, and provide critical arts education programs—many free of charge—to students of all ages.

Giant Magnet
'Tis the season for giving! An anonymous donor has given Giant Magnet a challenge to raise $4,000 for student scholarship tickets by year-end. We are HALFWAY there! If we can all come together to meet the goal, the donor will match it with ANOTHER $4,000.

It's simple: Your Gift + Donor Match = Thousands of Half-Price Tickets for Students

For every $10 you donate, 2-3 more students of modest means will have easier access to the festival. With the match, your gift has double the impact! Make your tax deductible gift today.

'Tis the season to be thankful too! In the last week we've had friends, donors, volunteers, board members, and staff step up to this challenge. Thank you all for your incredible support!

Hilltop Artists in Residence, Tacoma (HART)
Be a hero!

Hilltop Artists is a non-profit organization.

We want to keep our programs free and accessible for ALL of our students.

To do so we depend on the generosity of our supporters and advocates. Please consider making a donation to help us continue the work that we do on behalf of youth. (Thank you!)

KBCS
History and Broadcast Range

KBCS 91.3 FM is the only non-commercial community radio station in the Seattle metro market. We are licensed to Bellevue College in Bellevue, Washington. KBCS began broadcasting in February 1973 as a 10 watt, student-run media training center. We increased power to 1,000 watts in the late 1980s and expanded beyond the student body to become a full-time community radio station. Other milestones followed: we increased power to 8,000 watts in 1990; we installed a new omnidirectional antenna in 2001; and we moved into new studios and offices in Factoria in June, 2002. In 2006 we moved back to the campus of Bellevue College and we now occupy two houses. Today, the signal is heard as far east as Fall City in the Cascade foothills, as far south as Tacoma, as far west as poulsbo on the Kitsap peninsula and as far north as Everett.

Northwest Sinfonietta
Your gifts to Northwest Sinfonietta provide the vital support for every aspect of our programs and preserve our future.

Donors to Northwest Sinfonietta play a crucial role in sustaining our tradition of artistic excellence. Ticket revenue alone does not cover the cost of presenting programs nor pay for our acclaimed education programs and community engagement efforts. We rely on your charitable support to help us meet those needs. Consider the many ways your contribution can help ensure a strong future for your Northwest Sinfonietta.

Pat Graney Company
"The dancing by this Seattle-based company is terrific throughout: clean, athletic, gutsy. Graney's work ... is heavy with theatrics and stunning special effects... Evocative and replete with ritual, the evening-length Sleep follows the path of women's lives from childhood, visiting adolescence, marriage and death." Janine Gastineau, DANCE Magazine

Seattle Public Libraries, Project 2.6
The Seattle Public Libraries are facing a budget shortfall of $2.6 million dollars in the next fiscal year. The impacts of this may include shortening the hours of operation the branches are open and a weeklong closure of all branches. The goal of Project 2.6 is to raise the money needed in order to prevent this from happening and to petition that the City of Seattle that the Seattle Public Library Systems budget be separate and unto itself.

Seattle Shakespeare Company
We cannot do it without you!

Your support of Seattle Shakespeare Company benefits thousands of attendees and students each year through our indoor, outdoor, and touring performances as well as through our innovative education programs. Join us by donating online with a credit card using the form below.

SecondStory Repertory
Save The Theatre! SecondStory Rep is valiantly chugging along since our Oct. 28 announcement that we need to raise $80,000 before the end of the year or face closure.

WE ONLY NEED $13,133.31

As of December 15, our fundraising efforts have brought in $46,466.69 -- and more donations are coming in every day. We are halfway to our goal! We have another $19,100 pledged if we can make it to $60k! We can do it, with your help! Let everyone know about our cause, and encourage them to donate. Any and every amount helps, from $10 to $10K!

Seniors Making Art
In 1991, Dale Chihuly recognized that seniors have a great deal to offer society, but few avenues by which to contribute. There were no outlets for their artistic creativity. This sparked an idea and Seniors Making Art was born.

It's a simple program designed to engage seniors in something meaningful that they can do for the rest of their lives. Anyone can make art as long as one has imagination and life experiences to draw on. Making art is not about craftsmanship, it has to do with feelings and memories. Seniors have an abundance of both. You need time to develop your techniques and ideas. Lots of seniors have all the ingredients to make art. Our programs are designed to give participants the confidence to get started. Also to encourage them by teaching basic techniques and providing the necessary materials. We contract with professional artists who want to bring joy and meaning to seniors now and in the future. We want to show seniors by encouragement and example how to express their feelings, their memories and life experiences. They have more knowledge and wisdom than any other segment of society, by showing them the way to make art, everybody learns.
- Dale Chihuly

Shunpike
In the last year, Shunpike has broadened its reach to nearly 100 small and mid-sized arts groups across Washington state. We provide these groups with back-office services that strengthen their day-to-day operations, while also offering strategic guidance that leads them toward their long-term goals. In a time where arts groups across the country have been forced to contract their operations, Shunpike is strengthening its partner groups by capitalizing on shared resources.

When you support Shunpike, you are supporting dance companies, theatres, art galleries, festivals, films and literary projects that create a vibrant and diverse community.