Free Gospel Sundays at the Adrienne Arscht Center in Miami, just one of the cultural projects individuals can contribute to on power2give.org

Wednesday, Dec. 14 marks a new beginning for Miami’s arts community, as power2give.org launches its new, online fundraising platform. Developed in partnership with the Charlotte-based Arts & Science Council, power2give.org enables individuals to connect directly with arts organizations to help support individual projects.

Cultural organizations list projects on the site (i.e. instruments for children in a youth orchestra, costumes for an upcoming theater production) and interested individuals can contribute to help meet fundraising goals. power2give.org debuted in Charlotte this August and has raised over $200,000 to date.  

Conceived and developed by the Arts & Science Council, power2give.org is born out of the recognition that cultural funding requires increasingly diversified and innovative means. Giving from high net worth individuals is down 71% from 2007, while 2010 trends indicate an increased number of smaller gifts, growth in online donations and a strong donor desire to see where their gifts go. power2give.org was created in part to meet these three needs.

Knight Foundation has joined the Miami-Dade Department of Cultural Affairs and the Arts & Science Council as a founding sponsor of power2give.org, providing each community $100,000 in matching donations to the first $100,000 in contributions made in Charlotte and Miami through the site.

“This new platform gives people a personal connection to the organizations that create culture in our communities,” said Dennis Scholl, Knight Foundation’s vice president/Arts. “power2give.org also strives to engage new audiences and donors – meeting them where they are, which is increasingly online.”

Currently, non-profit organizations that have received funding from the Department of Cultural Affairs within the past five years can post projects requesting up to $10,000 on power2give.org.  Projects have up to 90 days to achieve their funding goals. The Department of Cultural Affairs and the Arts & Science Council are assessing the possibility of extending the opportunity to artists and other non-profits to post projects on the site in the future.

Follow power2give.org on Twitter @power2give and ‘Like’ them on Facebook at facebook.com/power2give.