Individual Opportunities - Portland Center Stage

Why Give?

Your contributions make a difference!

There are many ways to give and be involved with Portland Center Stage. Your contribution, no matter the size, matters to us. Donations enable us to present extraordinary theater, provide affordable tickets and educational outreach programs for our community, and invest in new work which keeps the theater community vibrant. Did you know that ticket sales only cover a little more than half of the costs of running a professional theater company? We count on more than 4,000 individuals like you to help raise the remaining funds needed. That is why you are so important! Please consider making a gift to Portland Center Stage. Your contributions to Portland Center Stage are invaluable to us and enrich our community. Click here to make a gift to PCS today!

There are two main funds to choose from when making a donation. The Capital Campaign helps to pay for the Gerding Theater at the Armory, the home of Portland Center Stage. The Annual Fund gets channeled directly into Portland Center Stage and the operating costs of running a theater company. People who donate are critical to keeping theater thriving in our lives and, as a bonus, receive some very special benefits and behind-the-scenes event opportunities.

Donor benefits and unique opportunities

Thank you for considering a gift to Portland Center Stage. In recognition of your generosity, we like to offer you a host of benefits and privileges exclusively for donors! Click here for a printable list of our many donors levels and benfits.

Season Star Producer ($10,000-$24,999)	Opportunity to sponsor a production in the season. Sponsor benefits are tailored to each person, but include such things as a chance to meet the cast privately, a framed poster of the production, special opening night recognition and a night at the theater with your friends or clients. Free parking for the entire season (ten productions).
Playmaker Producer ($5,000-$9,999)	Opportunity to host a private reception in the Ovation Room before or after a performance. Eight vouchers for free parking.
Artistic Director’s Circle Producer ($3,000-$4,999)	Invitation to attend a technical rehearsal and see the behind the scenes process of putting a production on stage. Invitation to attend the exclusive dinner on stage with of one of the sets. Six vouchers for free parking.
Producer ($2,000-$2,999)	Invitations to Main Stage Opening Night Dinners. Four ticket vouchers good for complimentary admission to any production in the 2012-2013 season. Four vouchers for free parking. Free ticket exchanges to performances in the same package night. Invitations to Producer events and parties. VIP assistance for your ticket needs and questions. Donor listing throughout the season on the multimedia donor wall.
Benefactor ($1,000-$1,999)	Two ticket vouchers good for complimentary admission to any production in the 2012-2013 season. An invitation to our annual season announcement and VIP reception.
Star ($500-$999)	Invitations to various "Meet the Department" events where you will learn about the inner workings of the theater followed by a wine reception where you will have a chance to visit with PCS staff and fellow attendees.
Patron ($150-$499)	An invitation to go on a special backstage tour with a reception following (tours occur in the fall and spring). Recognition in all playbills during the season.
Sponsor ($75-$149)	Recognition in one playbill each season. Name entered in a drawing at the end of the season to win dinner for two at an exclusive restaurant in the Pearl.

Ways to give

There are many ways to give to Portland Center Stage. Below, learn more about how to make your gift and some unique ways to contribute to the PCS family (i.e. planned gifts, business matching gifts, volunteering, stock gifts, in-kind donations, etc.).

Online. Click here to donate online now!
Mail in a check to Portland Center Stage, 128 NW Eleventh Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97209.
Over the phone: Call Jessy Friedt, Donor Relations Manager, at 503.445.3744
In person: Come to the box office and make a donation in person with cash, check or credit card.
Monthly Giving Program: If you want to spread your gift out over the year, your credit or debit card will be charged the same amount each month for one year. Member benefits are determined by the amount of the total gift. You may specify any monthly contribution amount (the minimum monthly gift is $10).
Stock gift: contact us at 503.445.3744 for our DTC information.
Sponsor a production: You can help underwrite a specific show that you are excited about! We offer an array of customizable benefits and recognition.
Sponsor a group of students to come see a production. We could send a class of 30 students to the theater for $500, as well as give them resource guides, pre-show student workshops and post-show Q&As.
Make a tribute gift: As a unique way to honor someone you care about, make a tribute gift in their honor. The person will be notified of your gift and we list all tribute gifts in our playbills.
Make an in-kind donation of goods and/or services. Some examples of items to donate would be office supplies, wine, hardware, fabric, costumes, lighting, batteries, paint, etc.
Business Matching: If you work for, or are retired from, one of the community-minded companies listed here, your contribution to Portland Center Stage is twice as valuable. Most employers will match your gift dollar for dollar, and some companies even double or triple the amount of your gift—at no cost to you!
Your time and expertise are valuable to us too! Volunteer with us in one of the many different volunteer groups at PCS.
Invest in our legacy with a planned gift: It’s really nothing more than a gift that you make when you can afford to do so. Sometimes it’s a gift in a will or trust that is made at your death. Sometimes it’s a pledge that you satisfy over time, when times are good and you want to share that good fortune. It can even involve more complex planning, suggested by your advisors, that benefits both Portland Center Stage and your family.

We live in uncertain times. We all want a little more comfort, clarity and certainty. That’s something good estate planning should do: create some clarity out of the chaos of wills, trusts, deaths and taxes. It’s also something great art can do: provide some comfort that the important things are still important, some love, some laughter or even tears.

What do those two apparently unrelated activities have to do with each other? We think that both are part of a bigger picture. They combine to help define a legacy, one that is left by you and by Portland Center Stage. Your legacy continues in your children, your family, your friends, your partner, and the things that you hold dear and are worth supporting. Our legacy consists of providing a place where people can come together to share great art, in a beautiful historic setting. Those legacies come together through the process of planned giving.

If you find that idea attractive and would like to know more, please feel free to call us. You can contact Jessy Friedt at 503.445.3744, and she can answer your questions directly or put you in touch with one of our experts in the area.

Donor events & opportunites

Throughout the season, Portland Center Stage offers several unique events and behind-the-scenes opportunities for donors to meet fellow theatergoers, actors, staff and production crew members, as well as see a part of theater-making that not everyone gets to see! Click here to view our donor event schedule for the upcoming season.

Business Matching

Portland Center Stage has parterned with hundreds of local, community-minded companies that offer business matching for their employees' contributions to the theater. If you work for or are retired from any of these companies, your personal contribution to PCS is twice as valuable. Many employers will match your gift dollar for dollar, and some companies even double or triple the amount of your gift — at no cost to you! Click here to view a list of the local companies that offer business matching with PCS.

If you have any questions, please contact our Development Office at 503.445.3744 or e-mail membership@pcs.org.

stories behind the people

We can learn a lot from those who are part of our theater family! Click here to view our donor interview series, and learn about some of our many supporters and members of the Portland Center Stage family.

Newsworthy

November 14, 2012 - Main Stage Seat winners #2!

Drawn from a pool of all of the subscribers who attended Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, thesecond Main Stage seat winners were chosen......Jeff and Tna Meyerhoff!

November 5, 2012 - Backstage Tour and Wine Reception

The Gerding Theater at the Armory became the permanent home of Portland Center Stage when its renovation wascompleted in 2006. In the first week of November we invited some our amazing donors on a backstage tour of the buildingto give them a peek behind the scenes here at Portland Center Stage!

October 23, 2012 - Main Stage Seat winners #1!

In celebration of our 25th Anniversary Season, the Capital Campaign is giving away six Main Stage seats for naming. The first winners have now been chosen. Congratulations to Marjorie and Jim McAllister!

September 25, 2012 - PCS's first Meet the Department Series

Portland Center Stage recently launched our first “Meet the Department" event for our donors and staff. Have you met the Sound and Lighting Department?

September 6, 2012 - Producer's Annual Boat Cruise

As the sun began to set over the city last Thursday, Portland Center Stage supporters and staff set out on the Portland Spirit's Crystal Dolphin for our Annual Producer Cruise.

June 25, 2012 - A Motivational Moment with Chic Street Man and Umpqua Bank

Chic Street Man (from the cast of It Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues)and PCS Associate Development Director Jennifer Goldsmith took an early morning field trip to the Umpqua Bank headquarters. Umpqua is Portland Center Stage’s Lead Corporate Champion!

June 4, 2012 - Here’s to 25 Amazing Years

Theater touches our lives in countless ways, and shapes how we view the world around us. Throughout the past 25 years, we at PCS have worked hard to bring quality and diverse productions to our stages. Please support Portland Center Stage and help continue the work that sparks profound connections in our lives, by making a gift prior to June 30.

April 27, 2012 - Ladies and Gentleman, Name Your Seat!

Make history! Now is the time when you can make your mark (legally) in our gorgeous Main Stage theater by donating a seat-naming sponsorship gift.