Support Us
We offer two tax-deductible ways for our community of friends to help support our theater. As most of you know, the Guild relies on ticket revenue to fund our operating budget. Our members are all volunteers and the Guild is always thrifty, committed to living within our means. But, the cost of putting on shows – royalties, costumes, lights, tools, all the things we need to work our magic – continue to go up. Did you know the Guild must pay a royalty for every performance of each show? For musicals, the royalties are thousands of dollars – the more popular or contemporary the show, the higher the royalties.
For improvements to the theatre itself, we rely on activities such as 50/50 ticket sales, fundraising events such as our Guildlings productions, gala performances, and your many generous contributions. After almost 60 years of service, our building is old and doesn’t meet all of our needs as well as it originally did.
To meet these needs, we are setting up two funds: one to support our theatrical operations and the other to support our much needed renovations and improvements to the building.
The first fund is the Giving Fund. The Giving Fund enhances our operating budget and allows us to use an automated ticket system to smooth and speed up the ticketing process, upgrade our lighting and sound equipment, buy tools for the shop, etc.
The Giving Fund has several levels of recognition and your name will be published in each season’s program based on your level of contribution.
For improvements and renovations to the Building itself – the theatre, clubroom and the shop – we offer the Building Fund. We have completed several phases of major building renovation. One phase rebuilt the shop and basement dressing and storage rooms, to give us more space and significantly reduce our winter heating bills. Another phase completed expansion of the lobby to include a bigger ticket booth and separate office area.
In the summer of 2013 we completely renovated the auditorium with a new paint job, new seats, new insulation, and improved fire suppression. In addition, we had a new, reinforced floor installed in the clubroom to stop the floor from sinking. We also repainted the clubroom and back hallway. We are currently paying down the mortgage that funded these renovations. Recently, the front and back porches were replaced along with the front walkways and railings, and the front doors were stripped, sanded, shellacked, and given new hardware. There is always something to do at The Guild.
Future plans include expansion of the lobby, box office, and light deck areas of the building.
The Building Fund offers several levels of recognition for those who make the additional commitment of helping us build a better, more modern theater. Your name will be published in each season’s program based on your level of contribution.
We remain committed to keeping ticket prices affordable, but we also want to keep bringing our audiences theatre they want to see in the theater they want to see it in. These two funds will allow you to tell us how to use the money you donate to the Guild. We understand that everyone must choose the organizations they wish to support and we hope that you will continue to choose us – an 88-year-old and still counting star of the community! Thank you so much for your continued attendance and support.
Click the button below to download a contribution form or contact our Ways and Means Governor at waysandmeans@playersguildofdearborn.org to discuss additional ways to contribute.
DONATION FORM