 
Tax deductible. No calories.
Make a contribution to the Wisconsin Film Festival’s
Real Butter Fund!
What is the Real Butter Fund?
It’s a way for folks to help
support the Festival through voluntary donations. These funds are applied to
many of the Festival’s expenses (more details below) and are for the butterment…er…betterment
of the Wisconsin Film Festival.
The Festival is presented by the UW Arts Institute,
part of the University of Wisconsin–Madison. (Read more about the Festival’s
background and governance here.) We are a nonprofit
educational program. Any contributions to the Real Butter Fund are considered
donations to the UW–Madison. Charitable gifts that are not made in exchange
for goods or services—which is the case here—are deductible as charitable
contributions if you itemize your tax returns.
This fund is associated exclusively
with the Wisconsin Film Festival, so your donation is guaranteed to be used only
for this event.
Why does the Festival need to raise outside money?
Supporters like you are so important
because the annual Festival operating budget needs to be generated
anew each year.
Some funding comes from applications
for foundation and community grants, contributions from University partners (programs
who share their own funding with us to help bring films to the Festival), and
sponsorship from local businesses who are committed to keeping the Festival vibrant.
The rest comes from ticket revenues. The UW Anonymous Fund, the Brittingham Fund,
the Evjue Foundation, and the Dane Country Cultural Affairs Commission have all
generously supported the Festival. Substantial in-kind donations and 150 event
volunteers also make the Festival possible.
We run a really lean operation
with very little overhead. Smart accounting policies within the University govern
how we spend. We work very hard to make sure we’re squeezing every dime
as far as it will go. You can have confidence that your support will be used
wisely and respectfully.
What will the Festival do with the Fund?
Bring movies and filmmakers to the
Festival! We pay screening fees for many of the movies that you’ll see.
These fees are getting higher each year, and frequently we have to turn down
a really top-notch film because it’s
just slightly beyond the reach of our budget. Just a little bit of our budget
is available for filmmaker travel, and we’d of course love to invite more
filmmakers, including those from other countries.
Couldn’t you just raise ticket prices?
As an educational event, it’s
important to keep the Festival open and accessible to as many people as possible.
There’s a discount for students, for example. At a time when tickets to
entertainment, sports, and arts events are becoming more expensive, we want to
ensure that price is not a barrier to seeing extraordinary movies.
Would you pay more for tickets?
Consider supporting the Festival through the Real Butter Fund. You
can really make a difference in keeping this event affordable for everyone in
our community.
What’s the ultimate goal of the Fund?
The good folks at the UW Foundation
are helping the Festival evaluate long-term needs, with the goal of establishing
an endowment that can provide reliable operating funds over time.
If
you can make a significant contribution to the
Wisconsin Film Festival for its long-term success, please contact Meg Hamel,
the festival director (608-262-9009; email)
or Eric Greiling, at the UW Foundation (608-890-1223; email).
Why is it called the “Real Butter Fund”?
 This
is Wisconsin. Real
butter represents everything that is good and great about our state. The
name was inspired by a mobile that hung above the popcorn counter at the former
Strand Theater on East Mifflin Street in Madison. The mobile was salvaged before
the building closed in 1990.
It’s popcorn, it’s movies,
it’s Wisconsin.
» download the Real Butter
Fund contribution form |
