Lexington, Ky. (Thursday, August 06, 2015) — Nan Plummer, president and CEO of LexArts, calls her organization “kind of like a mutual fund for the arts.” While speaking about workplace giving programs with Jason Jacobson, director of corporate development at NetGain Technologies, Plummer outlined the types of funding that LexArts makes possible for artists in Central Kentucky. “We give program grants to larger organizations, the ‘large-cap, blue-chip stocks’ that have performed well for a long time. We’ll support, for example, the ballet’s season or a major project that the folk arts association is putting on. Then there are small organizations that get small grants—$2,500 is the maximum—to try a new project, and those funds we award on a quarterly basis.”
LexArts, a cultural development, advocacy, and fundraising organization, began in 1972 when 21 arts-related groups formed the Lexington Council of the Arts. “We are your local arts agency and we’re also your united arts fund in Central Kentucky,” Plummer told NetGain Technologies. “We have five general operating support partners that have demonstrated high artistic excellence and serious financial accountability: the Lexington Philharmonic; the Living Arts & Science Center; the Lexington Art League; the Lexington Children’s Theatre; and the Central Kentucky Youth Orchestras.”
“We provide direct programs for arts organizations, individual artists, and the public. We also raise money and give it away—that’s a lot of fun. We raise the money from major corporations, individuals, small corporations, and especially from workplace giving campaigns like the one here at NetGain.”
NetGain Technologies enables staff to support LexArts through Workplace Giving
Plummer visited the NetGain Technologies headquarters to introduce LexArts to the managed IT service provider’s employees as the company begins a Workplace Giving program. In a program designed to support the unique communities in NetGain’s six-state, seven-city regional footprint, the MSP is giving staff members in each of its markets the opportunity to support a local, non-profit/charity organization through payroll deductions.
“It’s a great model, where everybody gives just a little and big things happen because of working together,” Plummer said at the NetGain Technologies office. “In my experience, everybody who participates in workplace giving has this sense of accomplishment. You have something to celebrate together as a workplace, as a group of colleagues.”
NetGain Technologies offers a volunteer incentive day for every employee to work as a team to go support a local nonprofit, and Plummer advised NetGain employees that financial contributions are not the only way to help out. “We also have volunteer opportunities available at LexArts—and I’m sure some of your other nonprofit partners in other markets across the country will, too—and that’s an opportunity to really get your hands on it and participate actively. It’s really fun for us to attach names and faces and get to see the people who are helping us out.”
LexArts supports the arts; NetGain supports the technology
Plummer describes herself as “a complete newbie” at LexArts, having joined the organization in late 2014, but she recalls that she heard about NetGain Technologies almost immediately upon arriving at the organization. “We love you guys. When I first got to LexArts just a few months ago, I remember our operations director telling me, ‘I.T.—it is not a problem anymore. We have the NetGain people, and whenever there’s a problem, we call them; it’s solved.’” As a Technology OneSource managed IT services client, LexArts entrusts NetGain Technologies to manage the organizations’ complex technology infrastructure for them on a fixed monthly-fee basis. “It’s seamless,” Plummer told Jacobson at their meeting. “Everybody’s cheerful. You guys are really fast and it means we can get our work done—we don’t have to worry about IT.”
ABOUT LEXARTS
LexArts is a nonprofit community organization that works for the development of a strong and vibrant arts community as a means of enhancing the quality of life in Central Kentucky. Through its annual Fund for the Arts, LexArts raises millions of dollars in support of local arts. In turn, LexArts underwrites the operating expenses for a variety of Partner Organizations and offers affordable exhibition and performance space for arts organizations, as well as competitive grants for community outreach projects. Major support for LexArts programs and services is provided by the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government. The Kentucky Arts Council, the state arts agency, provides operating support to LexArts with state tax dollars and federal funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. For more information on LexArts, visit www.lexarts.org.
ABOUT NETGAIN TECHNOLOGIES
NetGain Technologies developed into one of the world’s top managed IT services providers by creating solutions for business problems. The company has served small and midsize businesses in the region since 1984 from its Lexington, Ky., headquarters, and has branch offices in Louisville, Ky.; Little Rock, Ark.; Chattanooga, Tenn.; Cincinnati, Ohio; and St. Louis, Mo.
An industry-leading, secure network operations center staffed by more than 85 technicians and engineers—with more than 250 combined technical certifications—forms the core of Technology OneSource, the company’s award-winning managed IT services package for small and midsize businesses. NetGain Technologies is SOC 2 Type II-certified, enabling the company to deliver a best-in-class service while maintaining confidentiality, privacy, processing integrity, availability, and security. For additional information on NetGain Technologies, visit www.netgainit.com.
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