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The Bestor Society

The Bestor Society was formed as an expression of belief in the Chautauqua Institution. The Bestor Society seeks to recognize those whose gifts to Chautauqua are most generous, to inspire others to acts of similar generosity, and thus to help Chautauqua achieve its cultural mission.

The Bestor Society is comprised of individuals who make an annual gift of $2,000 or more to the Chautauqua Fund. Year after year, through gifts at this level, members affirm the centrality of this place and the continuity of its mission. In turn, they are central to the Chautauqua Fund. Bestor Society gifts account for approximately 80% of the Fund total.

The Chautauqua Fund is the bedrock and lifeblood of philanthropy at Chautauqua. Fund proceeds directly support programming for Chautauqua audiences and scholarships for the Chautauqua Schools of Fine and Performing Arts.

The Bestor Society adds value to the Chautauqua experience – seeing to it that Chautauqua has the resources to excel. Excelling is not an option here: a commonplace Chautauqua is a contradiction in terms. Chautauqua’s identity is found precisely in the extra measure of quality, initiative, and freedom that the Bestor Society provides. We depend on Chautauqua Fund dollars as the core commitment for all philanthropy.

Presenting the Chautauqua experience is a costly undertaking, and although ticket sales do provide a substantial amount of income, they cover only about 40% of the cost of underwriting the Chautauqua experience.

 

Benefits of Bestor Society Membership

To join the Bestor Society, please call (716) 357-6243 or email dwilliams@ciweb.org.

David Williams
Director of the Chautauqua Fund
Chautauqua Foundation
PO Box 28, One Ames Avenue
Chautauqua, NY 14722
dwilliams@ciweb.org

Arthur E. Bestor

Arthur E. Bestor

Arthur E. Bestor’s presidency of Chautauqua from 1915 to 1944 saw the Institution through an astonishing period of achievement and growth. Under his leadership the Institution surmounted difficulties experienced by a country during two world wars and a great depression. He realized that while persistence may have achieved his dreams, only passion would sustain them. Maintaining Chautauqua’s programming, which had achieved world acclaim, would require ongoing devotion and support. More than fifty years later, the society that bears his name also shares his passion for maintaining Chautauqua’s greatness. Today’s builders, today’s visionaries – those who care deeply about furthering the Institution’s stability – form Chautauqua’s Bestor Society.

 

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The Eleanor B. Daugherty Society

The Eleanor B. Daugherty Society has been created to recognize those individuals who plan to make a gift at the end of their lifetime. The Society provides a way for Chautauqua to recognize and thank donors during their lifetime.

To become a member of The Eleanor B. Daugherty Society, we ask for a declaration of your intention to remember Chautauqua with a gift that takes effect after your lifetime. It can be in the form of one of the following gifts:

We invite you to join The Eleanor B. Daugherty Society if you already have included the Institution in your estate plans or if you are seriously considering one of the above gift vehicles. The only membership requirement is that you inform us of your intention to do so.

Also, no minimum gift requirement is imposed. A gift of any amount through an estate commitment described above qualifies you for membership.

To discuss the details of a planned gift arrangement or to find which method is best for you, please call:

Karen Blozie
Director of Campaigns & Gift Planning
Chautauqua Foundation
PO Box 28, One Ames Avenue
Chautauqua, NY 14722
(716) 357-6244
kblozie@ciweb.org

Eleanor B. Daugherty

The society is neamed in honor of the late Eleanor B. Daugherty, a Chautauquan and retired music teacher from Buffalo, New York. Her major bequest to Chautauqua's piano and religion departments createed an enduring legacy and an indelible mark on the Institution, far in excess of her lifetime giving capabilities. The Eleanor B. Daugherty Society is composed of individuals who have chosen to support Chautauqua's mission through charitable bequests, life-income gifts and trusts. Members of the Society will be recognized in the Insitution's and Foundation's annual reports, as well as in other periodic publications.

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Tribute and Memorial Gifts

We welcome loving gifts that celebrate relationships and our connections with others. If you would like to honor or otherwise pay tribute to a friend or family member, there are numerous ways to do so. The most popular means of celebrating the life of another is to make a gift to the Chautauqua Fund. Gifts commemorating special occasions such as birthdays, holidays, anniversaries and weddings are welcome and deeply appreciated.

To give a tribute or memorial gift now, please click give below.





If you are interested in learning more about how you or your family can establish a scholarship fund, endowed lectureship, or a building endowment on behalf of a loved one or in honor of your family’s legacy, please call (716) 357-6244, e-mail kblozie@ciweb.org or write to:

Karen Blozie
Director of Campaigns & Gift Planning
Chautauqua Foundation
PO Box 28, One Ames Avenue
Chautauqua, NY 14722
(716) 357-6244
kblozie@ciweb.org 

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Unspecified Endowment

There could be no clearer or more affirming signal of your commitment to this special place than with a gift of unspecified endowment, and Chautauqua has been blessed in having an extraordinary percentage of its philanthropy come in this form. Over the past ten years nearly three-fourths of endowment gifts received by Chautauqua benefited all that is the Chautauqua experience.

In order for Chautauqua to improve upon its current programmatic excellence and to ensure that it remain strong in uncertain and economically less robust times, we encourage your participation with an endowment gift to steward the future of Chautauqua.

The key attributes of unspecified and other forms of endowment are permanence, in the form of resources secured and stewarded for the perpetual benefit of Chautauqua; predictability, that is, the one financial resource in the annual budgeting exercise that can be known in advance of the conduct of the program; and either flexibility or certainty. Flexibility is gained to the degree that resources are not dedicated to a specific, narrowly defined application and, thus, they recognize and enable essential creativity. Certainty is attained in the case of intentionally specific applications of endowments (for facilities or scholarships, for example) to an area deemed a permanent commitment.

To learn more about how you can make an impact with an endowment gift, please call (716) 357-6244, e-mail kblozie@ciweb.org or write to:  

Karen Blozie
Director of Campaigns & Gift Planning
Chautauqua Foundation
PO Box 28, One Ames Avenue
Chautauqua, NY 14722
(716) 357-6244
kblozie@ciweb.org

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