United Arts of Central Florida

Fundraising: as the champion for the Arts in Central Florida United Arts operates in a fiscally conservative manner and prepares its budget using a forward-funding model, meaning undesignated funds raised during the annual campaign in one fiscal year are restricted to fund grants and operations in the following fiscal year. This may result in net income or a deficit depending on the timing of when funds are raised and expended. The forward-funding model ensures the agency has committed funds on hand each year to help fund the grants and operations proposed in its annual budget. United Arts actively raises funds for itself and the region's Arts and cultural organizations through its annual collaborative fundraising campaign. The annual collaborative campaign for the Arts is the largest collaborative fundraising campaign in support of Arts and culture in Central Florida. This year, thirty-three Arts and cultural organizations of varying sizes and genres actively participate in raising unrestricted operating support for the Arts community. Donors also have the option to write in the name of any nonprofit Arts and cultural organization they wish and include them in their campaign gift. Donations designated to one or more of the 33 campaign partners during the collaborative campaign, which runs from november 21 to april 30 annually, are matched at 15% by United Arts. In fy23, for a fourth year, United Arts was provided with a $500k challenge grant by orange county to help stimulate new and increased giving. The campaign exceeded its goal, raising nearly $6.1 million and unlocking the orange county challenge grant for a fourth year, infusing an additional $500k into the Arts community. In fy23, United Arts raised over $11.5 million in support of Arts and culture from all sources, including $7.2 million in private sector funding, $3.6 million in government support, and $1.5 million through contracts for services, sponsorships, grants, other gifts and in-kind donations.

Arts education programming: statistics show that children who have Arts credits in their curriculum have improved performance, are more likely to stay in school and are more likely to graduate. Engaging with the Arts encourages critical thinking, resulting in more student engagement in the learning process and fewer discipline problems. This applies to all students regardless of ethnicity and socio-economic background. United Arts facilitates curriculum-based k-12 Arts education programming in the community through contracted services with local school districts and our funded organizations. United Arts' Arts education initiatives expose students to music, theater, dance, film, ballet, and museums of art, history and science. United Arts largest education contract is with orange county public schools (ocps) to provide curriculum-based Arts education services for ocps students in grades k-12 (contract amount - $549,000). In fy23, this contract facilitated k-12 curriculum-based Arts education experiences for 73,158 students. United Arts actively seeks grant opportunities to increase the breadth of Arts education experiences each student will have and the number of students that are served each year. For fy23, United Arts received $25,000 in grants specifically for Arts education experiences throughout lake, orange, osceola and seminole counties, resulting in an additional 5,121 students having education experiences that they would not otherwise have had access to. Overall, 176 unique schools had Arts education experiences and of this number 71 were title 1 schools. Making art possible in this education environment only serves as one more way to fulfill our aim of enlarging the reach of Arts, science and history in our community.

Investing in the community: United Arts's vision is that "all people of Central Florida have access to Arts, science, and history." To facilitate that vision United Arts invests directly in the community through grants, collaborative fundraising, and contract service opportunities. United art'Arts's grants support Arts, science and history organizations and individual artists throughout the four-county region through both operating support and project grants. In fy23, the organization invested over $5.0 million through the following funding programs: 1) operating support grants (osg) provide stabilizing operating support for the region's Arts and cultural organizations with full seasons of programming and all operating budget sizes. In fy23, $2,490,400 in funding was awarded to 42 organizations. 2) project grants - this program provides funding of up to $5,000 for programs such as exhibitions, performance, and festivals that celebrate and honor the region's diversity and act as a catalyst for change. All nonprofits are eligible to apply. The project must be rooted in the Arts, sciences, or history. In fy23, United Arts awarded $100,000 in project grant funding to 46 nonprofit organizations. 3) venue subsidy grants funded through support from orange county government, venue subsidy grants support the rental of performance venues throughout orange county, increasing access to cultural experiences for orange county residents. Thirty organizations shared awards totaling $500,000. 4) diversity grants provided operating support to grassroots bipoc/alaana led organizations. This program aimed to help the growth and stability of smaller organizations that serve the diverse Central Florida community. In fy23, United Arts awarded $100,000 to 14 organizations. 5) individual artist grants provides up to $5,000 to support artist-driven projects. In fy23 $130,000 was awarded to 26 artists. Combined with contract service opportunities, designated giving and matching funds, United Arts invested nearly $10.5 million into the Arts and cultural community in fy23 to help make art thrive.

United Arts provides programming that raises awareness for the Arts, provides free marketing avenues for the region's Arts and cultural organizations, and provides earned income opportunities for Arts and cultural organizations in the Central Florida region. Programs include: 1) artistry (previously known as orlando Arts magazine) is a bi-monthly glossy publication (six issues per year) that acts as a reference and guide to Arts and cultural happenings in the Central Florida region and to the individuals who make it happen. The magazine is offered as a donor premium for contributions of $50 or more and 15,000 copies are produced per issue with 80 distribution partnerships. A digital version of the magazine is also distributed.2) Arts & culture calendar (previously known as orlandoatplay) is an events website serving the seven-county Central Florida region. The searchable website provides information on Arts, science and history events as well as nature activities, farmers markets and public art. The site serves residents and visitors alike as a comprehensive site to go to when you are looking for something to do and provides the Arts community with a Central location to post information to share locally and nationally. 3) United artscard is a donor premium for contributions of $100 or more, the artscard provides discounted admissions and classes to over 30 participating area Arts, science, and history organizations. Over 2,000 cards are distributed annually.4) grants management services a fee-for-service program where United Arts lends its expertise in grants administration and management for other agencies wishing to provide grants to the Arts and cultural community. In fy23, United Arts managed over $5.1 million in cultural tourism and blockbuster grant awards for orange county Arts and cultural affairs. 5) capacity building programs United Arts facilitates workshops and capacity building opportunities to assist Arts and cultural organizations with operational, fiscal and governance challenges. 6) in fy23 United Arts served as the coordinating partner for the americans for the Arts Arts & prosperity 6 study for seven Central Florida counties. This study will measure the economic impact of the Arts both at a national and local level. The results will be released in late fall 2023.