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Project Contact:
Christina Parker     tparker43@gmail.com

Volunteer Organization Name:
Southwest Florida Symphony Society

Orchestra Name:
Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra & Chorus Association

City:
Fort Myers

State/Province:
FL

Meeting group size of the orchestra:
Group 5

Number of active members in the volunteer organization?
201-500

Name of the project:
2008 Designer Showcase: "The Art of Design"

Project Description:
For the past fifteen years, our major fundraiser for our Symphony has been a Designer Showcase. This past year, however, builders and developers were not willing to contract with us because of the particularly-severe downturn in the housing market in SW Florida.

After searching for five months it became clear that we needed to pursue a new course and, fortunately for us, serendipity intervened leading us to a successful contract with the International Design Center (IDC). They agreed to build a twelve-room, 5,000 sq.ft. “virtual house” on the third floor of the IDC. Our IDC contact person selected eight top-notch designers to showcase the twelve rooms in the space-now-a-house. The designers selected products from various IDC showrooms, including accessories, fabrics, lighting, flooring, art and more. A $20 ticket allowed visitors to tour the Designer Showcase and also attend a series of seminars presented and arranged by the IDC. Ticket holders could return as often as they liked to see the “virtual house” and to attend seminars, thereby stimulating business for the IDC as well as for our project.

The IDC worked closely with our President/Showcase Chair providing supervision to the designers, sponsoring a Showcase booklet, creating marketing opportunities through the media, and finding additional sponsors for the Preview gala. This opening event was held in the large IDC three-story atrium, complete with marble floors, staircases and a piano. Three hundred people attended, and to date more than 2,000 have toured the Showcase house. The President and CEO of Miromar Development which owns IDC was so pleased with the coordinated success of the 2008 Designer Showcase that she offered us the opportunity to extend the project from its original two weeks to an on-going fundraiser staffed by the IDC. She has also offered to partner with us for the 2009 Designer Showcase.

We not only met our goal of raising funds for our Symphony, but we also drew from a much larger geographic area; we had a unique venue which gave us a new twist on an “old” project; we had the best media coverage we have ever had; and, we have formed a very profitable partnership with the IDC. This Designer Showcase was a win-win all around during very trying economic times.

Role and number of volunteers involved:
10 volunteers for planning, as follows: advance ticket sales (2); staffing and training (2); admissions and financial support (2); overall planning (2); preview gala (1); media and advertising (1)
On-site volunteers for staffing: 185
Staff involvement; 2 from Symphony Office

Planning Start Date:
N/A

Project Dates:
N/A

Gross revenue from all sources:
$40,742.00

Total expenses for this project:
$4,068.00

Net Revenue (Expense):
$36,674.00

The total value of all in-kind contributions of donated products and services.
The News-Press/Advertising $16,000 SWFL Symphony/Gala invitation, ads,flyer $1,800 Intern'l Design Center/design/printing mat'ls & signs, rentals $9,087* *does not include construction of "virtual house" Naples Illustrated/Gala food $10,000 Total In-kind $36,887