The UC Davis Symphony Endowment was established by members and friends in 1992 with the goal of assuring the orchestra’s access to first-rate teachers and soloists, a handsome orchestral library, and enhanced opportunities for travel. The remarkable success of the Endowment—having grown in its first ten years from about $30,00 to over $400,000 in market value—is one important indicator of the UCDSO’s excellent artistic and financial health. Via UC Davis’s online-giving website, we have added a convenient way to make a gift to the Symphony’s Endowment.

The majority of the Endowment rests in the UC Davis Foundation, locally managed and, for the most part, locally invested. Gifts are recognized in the donor list published with each concert program; members of the Endowment receive a newsletter and various other forms of recognition. Memorial gifts and gifts matched by an employer are common. Sometime each fall we update our Financial Statement on dividends from the endowment.

The Endowed Seats program, established by UCDSO member Rebecca Brover in 2000 on the occasion of the new millennium, recognize gifts of $10,000 and more by naming individual seats in the orchestra in perpetuity. As of the 2003–04 season, some 20 seats were so named. For further information on donor opportunities, contact Christian Baldini, conductor, or Christine Tebes, cmtebes@ucdavis.edu, Senior Director of Development.