A Legacy of Resilience: Planned Giving at Trinity Rep

A Legacy of Resilience

LEGACY IN ACTION

If you’ve wondered how your planned gift would impact Trinity Rep, the past year was a powerful example. When our season suddenly shuttered from the onset of the pandemic, disbursements from our endowment, funded largely by planned gifts, helped keep Trinity on firm financial footing. According to Executive Director Tom Parrish, “The foresight of the generous donors who made planned gifts to Trinity Rep allowed us to commit to paying artists and keeping staff employed for as long as possible at the onset of the pandemic. They ensured that our educational programs could successfully navigate the transition to virtual learning. They gave us the flexibility to create online content, including our production of A Christmas Carol Online. In the midst of unprecedented disruption, the legacy of past supporters allowed certainty.” Those who made planned gifts to Trinity Rep could not have anticipated a pandemic, but they could anticipate that their gifts would help Trinity Rep thrive, no matter the obstacle. Their legacy is safeguarding the unparalleled artistic productions, uplifting community engagement initiatives, and vital educational activities that form the core of our mission and values. As Suzanne Magaziner, past board chair and legacy donor, put it, “Trinity Rep holds a special place in our hearts. Our family has enjoyed seeing world-class artists grow and develop onstage and strengthen our community for many years. With our planned gift, we can ensure that future generations will benefit from all that makes Trinity Rep special.” Supporting Trinity Rep in this way can be as simple as leaving a bequest in your will or designating Trinity Rep as a beneficiary of a life insurance policy. Other options are available as well, such as establishing a trust or chartering a named fund within our endowment. To discuss how you can start your Trinity Rep legacy today, please contact Jen Canole at jcanole@trinityrep.com or (401) 453-9234. More information is also available at www.trinityrep.com/legacy.

BY THE NUMBERS

Trinity Repertory Company’s endowment funds are growing steadily. As of December 31, 2020, the Fund for Trinity Repertory Company (the theater’s general endowment fund) and its accompanied named funds totaled $3,967,129. In May 2020, endowment earnings contributed $137,773 to the FY20 Trinity Rep budget. Trinity Rep’s endowment funds are carefully managed by The Rhode Island Foundation. The Rhode Island Foundation’s total endowment is invested across a diverse set of asset classes, including U.S. and international equities, flexible capital, private equity, real estate, and natural resources. Through December 31, 2020, the endowment had an annual return of 12.3% and an annualized return of 10.2% over the past five years, 8.2% over ten years, and 7.0% over twenty years. The Rhode Island Foundation’s investment committee manages the endowment’s investments with the support of an outside investment adviser and the Foundation’s CFO.

SUPPORTING ARTISTS

When Bill and Mindie Black’s brother Robert Clayton Black — who spent 14 years performing at Trinity Rep — passed away, they knew that the best way to honor their brother was to invest in the careers of young actors at Trinity Rep. “What better way to pay homage to my brother Bob’s life as a multi-talented actor and musician that blossomed in the dazzling creativity at Trinity Rep than to establish a memorial Fellowship?,” said Bill. “This Fellowship annually supports new and rising young actors who burn with that same desire and need that Bob had to become a consummate actor/artist. The Robert Clayton Black Memorial Fellowship honors not only Bob Black’s legacy, but also that of Trinity Rep, a legacy that is renewed every stirring season.” The Robert Clayton Black Memorial Fellowship Fund was created to support the salary of a young actor employed in regular season, mainstage productions at Trinity Rep. Bob Black acted at Trinity Rep in over 30 productions from 1969-83, including leading roles in the critically acclaimed PBS productions Brother to Dragons and Feasting with Panthers before working in film, television, and radio in New York and Los Angeles. His media work included featured roles with As The World Turns, Another World, Guiding Light, Loving, General Hospital, and several public television productions. He was also a talented musician and writer. The Robert Clayton Black Memorial Fellowship Fund and three others — The Kavanaugh Fund, Barbara Meek Memorial Fund, and the Margo Skinner Memorial Fellowship Fund — provide ongoing support for actor salaries, ensuring extraordinary professional experiences for developing artists, a vibrant memorial for the actors so honored, and a powerful legacy for all fund donors. To learn how you can help grow these opportunities for the talented storytellers of Trinity Rep, contact Jen Canole at jcanole@trinityrep.com or (401) 453-9234.

NAMED FUNDS WITHIN TRINITY REP’S

ENDOWMENT

Victoria Irene Ball Fund for Theater Education;

Robert Clayton Black Memorial Fellowship Fund;

Buff & Johnnie Chace Fund; Richard Cumming

Endowment Fund for Musical Programming at Trinity

Rep; Doris Duke Endowment Fund; Oskar Eustis

Fund for New Play Development; Michael and Donna

Lee Gennaro Fund; Ed Hall Memorial Fund; Stephen

Hamblett Memorial Fund; John and Yvette Harpootian

Fund; Richard Kavanaugh Memorial Fund; Barbara Meek Memorial Fund; Heidi Keller Moon Fund for Project Discovery; Claiborne and Nuala Pell Fund for Arts Education; Project Discovery Endowment Fund; Elaine Rakatansky Memorial Fund; Margo Skinner Memorial Fellowship Fund; Tilles Family Fund

Anonymous Mr. Paul Alexander Dr. and Mrs. Reid Appleby, Jr. The Estate of Victoria I. Ball Victor and Gussie Baxt Thomas and Linda Beall The Estate of Anna H. Blankstein Luz Bravo-Gleicher and

David Gleicher Mr. Paul M. Brooks Dennis and Adrianne Cady Malcolm and Elizabeth Chace Mr. and Mrs. Paul J. Choquette, Jr. Linda and Steven Cohen Curt Columbus and Nathan Watson Loring and Louise Conant Rev. Thomas F. Conboy and

Mrs. Lois Conboy Anne and Sean Connor The Estate of W. Scott Corbett The Estate of Richard Cumming Joseph L. Dowling, Jr., M.D. and

Sarah T. Dowling, Esq. The Estate of Ms. Jewel Drickamer The Estate of Miss Edith C.

Erlenmeyer Mrs. Merriel A. Gillan Gail A. Ginnetty The Estate of Rosa Goddard Sidney & Alice Goldstein Rabbi Leslie Y. Gutterman and

Ms. Janet H. Englehart Maureen and Roger Johanson Dr. Louis Hafken and

Ms. Lee Ann Johnston Howard and Myrna Hall Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Hamblett Barry G. Hittner, Esq. and

Kathleen Hittner Betty Ann Hughson Simone P. Joyaux and Tom Ahern Herbert E. Kaplan and

Christine Townsend Lisa Kogut Ms. Sally E. Lapides Mrs. Barbara Levine Gerry and Paula Levesque Dr. Mayer and Judy Levitt Suzanne and Ira Magaziner Joananne and Jack Marshall Jack and Sara McConnell Ellen S. Miller Heidi Keller Moon Bruce Murphy The Estate of Pearl and

Ernest Nathan Jane S. Nelson Ms. Constance Palagi The Estate of Mr. Donald I. Perry Miss Mary C. Petrella &

Miss Ann Petrella Donald Ramos, MD Arthur Richter The Estate of Irving and Lola

Schwartz The Estate of James L. Seavor Martha P. Sherman Donna Tilles-Stahl Selma and Milton Stanzler Dennis E. Stark and

Robert F. Amarantes Charles Sullivan Norman and Flo Tilles Marsha Welch Gloria Winston Mrs. Mabel T. Woolley Ann S. Zartler Anna Elsa Zopfi Janet & Mel Zurier