Donate to MTC and Double your impact!

Dear Friends:

I hope this finds you all well. My name is Jeff Rowlings. For those who don’t know me… I’ve carved out a career as a theatrical producer, production manager and designer. I’ve spent time in Mendocino since high school in the Bay Area in the ‘70’s including vacations with my wife, Kitt, every year for the last 30 years. We now have a home just blocks from the theatre. Like you, we love MTC. Since 2018, I’ve designed sets and lights for a number of MTC shows and in 2019 joined the Board of Directors. I’ve have had the honor of being Board president the past three years.

I’m writing to you today as a theatre artist, producer, patron, and someone who loves Mendocino to let you know about a very special opportunity. An avid MTC supporter has stepped from the wings and is offering to match all donations made this month up to $25,000.00! That’s right…with this generous matching grant, we can make $25k in donations become $50k in donations!

As we open our 49^th season this month with Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery, we are already working on plans to celebrate MTC’s 50^th anniversary in 2026. Fifty years is a huge accomplishment. It is the direct result of the community’s commitment to making live theatre a vital part of Mendocino’s thriving arts scene. That’s fifty years of artists and crafts persons volunteering onstage and offstage; fifty years of patrons up and down the coast subscribing to seasonal packages of contemporary and classic plays, musicals, stage readings, and youth productions; fifty years of local businesses sponsoring productions; fifty years of individual donations; and fifty years of visitors to our coastal community coming to bathe in the arts, the ocean, the galleries, the food, and making our intimate 60-seat theatre an important part of their visit.

Your contribution, of any size, can go twice as far this month. Please donate in March if you can, even if you usually donate later in the year. It is crucial to MTC that we meet this generous $25,000 matching grant. Help preserve live theatre in Mendocino!

Covid decimated the performing arts. Theatres across the country are struggling and many have closed. We lost four in the bay area just last year. But MTC was fortunate. Due to a few significant financial gifts prior to the shutdown and your support during “The Long Intermission” we emerged from the pandemic with a financial safety net. When we reopened, leadership felt it was important to come back “full strength” and not with reduced production values or fewer shows. It was essential we remind everyone of why live theatre is an irreplaceable part of our collective human experience.

But coming back at “full strength” came at a price. Audiences and donors alike came back slower than we hoped. We had to invest most of that safety net into programming, payroll and paying the rent.  As a result, we are now operating without a safety net, which puts MTC in a precarious and unsustainable position.

You may be surprised to learn that we do not receive any government funding (except during Covid). We are just too dang small! As a result, our annual revenue is roughly evenly split between ticket sales and contributions. Neither have returned to their pre-Covid levels. Simply put… MTC is at risk. We’ve all seen the “contribute X dollars by X date or we shutter” letters. This is not that letter. But it may be the one that comes before it. Let’s not let that happen!

I’m asking for your help in raising $50k to help get MTC to 50 years.

Your donation this month will have DOUBLE the impact with this generous matching grant. Donations can be made on the website www.mendocinotheatre.org/donate or mailed to MTC, P.O. Box 800, Mendocino, CA 95460.

We have a wonderful 49^th season planned… from a Sherlock Holmes comic mystery, to an American classic, to the celebrated music of Patsy Cline, to a reflection on matters of life and death in the ‘70’s that ring true today, to snapshots of love in a small community much like our own. Plus, of course, our annual youth production and play reading series. You can find more info on our website.

I thank you in advance and look forward to seeing you at the theatre… this year and, with your help, in our exciting 50^th anniversary season!

Many thanks,