Endow Hartford 21

Because Donors Believe in the Future of Greater Hartford

Endow Hartford 21 is a matching gift endowment program, initiated by the Zachs family and supported by other lead donors who believe in the importance and strength of the nonprofit community of Greater Hartford. The 1:2 match seeks to inspire donors to give generously to support the long-term future of the organizations they love.

Build Strength and Stability

Organizations needs endowments to secure their future.  An endowment helps organizations sustain their mission during periods of revenue fluctuations and enables them to adapt over time.

Participation by the Hartford Symphony Orchestra

The Hartford Symphony Orchestra was proud to be selected as one of 51 participating organizations in the first phase of the program, which concluded on June 30, 2022.  The second phase of the program began on September 1, 2022 and will run through August of 2023.  The Hartford Symphony was one of only three agencies who completely utilized all matching dollars allotted to our organization in Phase One, which helped the HSO raise more than $116,000 for our endowment as of June 30, 2022.

With a limited pool of matching dollars, and in recognition of the importance of the initiative for our community, the HSO made the decision to step aside and afford new organizations the chance to participate in Phase Two. Steve Collins, President and CEO of the Hartford Symphony, summarized our decision as follows:

“Thanks to Henry Zachs and the other generous matching donors, we were able to increase our endowment, a critical component of long-term stability.  Mr. Zachs and the other donors created a community pool of funds that must be used as it was intended:  to help other worthy organizations create and/or increase their endowments.  For that to happen, it is important that those who have had their turn step aside to make room for others.”

Please continue to support the community and the HSO!

The community has responded enthusiastically to the EndowHartford 21 program and has explored the various nonprofit participants.  To our delight, HSO donors have opted to continue to contribute to our endowment even after our participation in the program concluded. We are so grateful to our loyal supporters, who recognize that gifts to our endowment, in addition to gifts made to our Annual Fund, are the key to HSO’s financial stability.