Jim Clarke’s eyes almost were popping at Monday night’s City Council meeting.
The always-enthusiastic Council donned his festooned fedora as chair of the Culver City Centennial Committee and delivered two updates:
- Fundraising has been hair-raising (in a positive way), well beyond optimistic expectations, a whopping $104, 500, and
- Still 11 months out from the opening of Culver City’s Centennial year, the committee’s website, culvercity100.org, has gone live.
“The website is important,” Mr. Clarke said, “because now the community has a way to connect with us, if anyone wants to volunteer or to know about the opening ceremonies next September.”
But the gem in the window is the Centennial committee’s prodigious fundraising.
“Phenomenal,” said Mr. Clarke. “Beyond expectations.
“We had budgeted, in terms of sponsorship, getting $100,000 in a two-year period, starting with $50,000 between now and September 2016.”
The Councilman said that money was needed at the onset of The Year Before purchase banners, flags and similar permanent materials.
Imagine that, Mr. Clarke said rhetorically — $104,500, and we only gave been doing this for barely four weeks.”
He told the Council meeting audience that organizing as a nonprofit “really allowed us to be able to go out and fundraise while saving both staff time and money for the city.
Organizations are more willing to fund the Centennial committee when it is being run by a 501(c) 3. They would rather do that than give the money to the city.”
