Downturn Deters Charity Tribute Galas
May 4, 2009 | Read Time: 1 minute
The black-tie charity tribute gala is becoming an endangered species as the financial meltdown makes it more difficult for organizations to attract people to honor, traditionally business and finance titans who are expected to make large donations and encourage friends and associates to make gifts to attend, The New York Times reports.
Carnegie Hall, which raised $4.2-million at an April 2008 event to honor Terry J. Lundgren, head of Macy’s, canceled this year’s gala because it was unable to come up with anybody who could pay the sum it takes to be the marquee attraction at a dinner.
“This idea of getting on the phone and saying, ‘Wouldn’t you like to be honored at our gala?’ – that’s more difficult, more challenging now than in my 30 years of experience at this,” said Will Maitland Weiss, executive director of the Arts and Business Council of New York.
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