OUR MISSION

To foster the arts and crafts by providing a wide range of instruction for adults and children. Castle Hill holds exhibitions, lectures, forums, concerts and other similar activities in order to promote social interaction among artists, craftsmen, laymen, and the community at large.

Letter from Presidents | Letter from Executive Director

Catalogue for Philanthropy

Summer 2008

Painting

Drawing

Clay

Printmaking/
Book Arts

Performance - Yoga - Music

Teens

Kids

Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill is very honored to be part of this years Catalogue for Philanthopy.

To learn more about the Catalogue for Philanthropy:
Created: 1997
Published: Annually, mid-November
Distributed: Hard-copy: by mail, free of charge, to 80,000 affluent families of Massachusetts; as a fully-functional website, since December 2001.
Dollars raised: > $12 million known; much more is unreported
Purpose: Donor Education to raise public awareness of, and respect for, philanthropy; to increase and improve charitable giving, for more and more cost-effective, benefaction and satisfaction.

The Massachusetts Catalogue for Philanthropy was the first of its kind—conceived in November, 1996, as a "Foundation-Initiated Project" of the Ellis L. Phillips Foundation. From the outset, it was designed to be the nucleus of interrelated and mutually reinforcing elements, engaging all constituencies of philanthropy in a comprehensive, institutionalized system for promoting philanthropy itself. Originally this included the " Generosity Index"; we later added a website, statewide systems for Venture Philanthropy, "Special Projects", and Capital Campaigns for Small Charities; state "Giving Days" following Thanksgiving; and various stylistic and substantive elements. The constituencies we engage are charities, grant makers, community foundations as a group, fundraisers, donors, the media, scholars, and financial and philanthropic advisors.

Truro-based Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill Chosen for
2004 & 2006 Massachusetts Catalogue for Philanthropy

(Boston, MA) Truro-based Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill has been selected as a Massachusetts 2004 Catalogue for Philanthropy charity. This year’s edition of the Catalogue will profile 69 of Massachusetts' outstanding environmental, cultural, and human service agencies as "examples of excellence" in Massachusetts philanthropy. Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill was chosen from a total applicant pool of over 150 organizations.

Castle Hill was founded in 1971 by Outer Cape artists. Its mission is “to foster and encourage arts and crafts through instruction, exhibitions, lectures, and forums, and to promote social interaction between artists, craftsmen, laymen, and the community at large.” It has provided stellar programs, featuring very distinguished and famous national cultural leaders in all kinds of events; in 2003, 800 students from all over America enrolled in its classes alone. It is known for great program ideas which combine accessibility with high artistic standards. With only an uninsulated building, its programs were concentrated in the warm months, but in 2001 it purchased a winterized building suitable for year-‘round activities. This presented a whole new set of challenges, because the Outer Cape (Truro, Wellfleet, and Provincetown) oscillates seasonally from a summer population of 100,000 generally affluent vacationers, to about 8,000 the rest of the year—retirees on fixed incomes, artists and ordinary mortals on limited incomes gained primarily from summer work. “The long winters are relatively void of engaging and challenging activities”, is one way to put it. So after diligent surveys of public interests and needs, the Center began year-round programming in 2003. This is not self-supporting as the Summer is, for obvious reasons, so donations from the broader philanthropic community are needed. Consider the attractions and satisfactions of being a patron of this distinguished institution.

The Catalogue, which was the first of its kind anywhere, was created by a group of leading foundations here in 1997 to help close the gap between Massachusetts’ ranks in income and in charitable giving—then the largest such disparity in the nation. To do this, in addition to the annual Catalogue itself, the project developed the nationally-known "Generosity Index"™, a website (www.catalogueforphilanthropy.org), "Giving Massachusetts Day" proclaimed since 2001 as the day after Thanksgiving by Governors Swift and Romney, and many other "donor-friendly" tools. Since 1997, charitable giving here has doubled, from $2 billion to $4 billion, and though the Catalogue makes no claim for this growth, the Catalogue Project is widely recognized as a national leader in donor education. There are now similar Catalogues in Polk County, NC, Whatcom County, WA, Washington, DC, and St. Louis, MO, and others are being planned in several other philanthropic markets.

According to George McCully, President of the Catalogue, "The Catalogue is designed as a showcase for Massachusetts philanthropy, and a one-stop-shop for a family's charitable giving. A single check, electronic transaction over the web or stock transfer can be allocated to as many charities as the donor pleases, and because the Catalogue is sponsored and paid-for by its philanthropic sponsors, 100% of every donation goes to the designated charities."

Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill was chosen in rigorous competition by professional grantmakers. "Charities are selected for general excellence, cost-effectiveness, and teaching value about philanthropy," McCully said.

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If you would like to make a contribution to Castle Hill through the Catalogue for Philanthropy click here.

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© 2008 TRURO CENTER FOR THE ARTS AT CASTLE HILL
10 Meetinghouse Road, P.O. Box 756, Truro, MA 02666
www.castlehill.org | e-mail castlehill@gis.net
tel. 508 349-7511 | fax 508 349-7513