Steady Source of Revenue

Of the $19 million granted in 2010, The Community Foundation distributed $6 million from funds designated to one or more organizations. These annual grants provide a steady source of revenue for 192 local organizations to support general operations and special projects.

One organization that benefits year after year from the foresight and generosity of Jean and Anne Mauro is Orchestra New England (ONE). In 1998, the couple established a designated fund for ONE known as the Orchestra New England Music Director and Sponsorship Endowment Fund. Since it was established in 1974, ONE has presented over 700 concerts; many at its home base at Yale University’s Battell Chapel.

“My wife and I were two of the founding trustees of Orchestra New England back some 30 odd years ago,” recalls Jean, who attributes the couple’s love  for classical music to his years of playing the piano and French Horn and her days as a former ballet dancer and teacher.  “ONE is really the only fully professional chamber orchestra between New York and Boston, so we wanted to do what we could to make sure it would stick around and that the Music Director position, in particular, would have a little source of funding apart from the general funding of the Orchestra in  case it was necessary.  When the opportunity presented itself to have a direct impact on the local music scene, we got absorbed into it.”

The Mauros also established a donor advised fund at The Community Foundation in 1998 to support  other local charities.  Gifts from the M. Anne & Jean B. Mauro Fund have been made to the Community Soup Kitchen, St. Ann’s Soup Kitchen, and New Haven Free Public Library, among others.

“1998 was a key time for us because that’s the time I retired and money was being shuffled around to accommodate the next phase in our lives,” says Jean.  “We wanted to do something specific for Orchestra New England and general for the community, and in fact we will be amplifying those gifts through book royalties and testamentary means.  We also encourage our friends to contribute to our funds instead of giving us gifts.”

Watch a video of ONE’s 2009 Sounds. Distant. concert.