League of Independent Theater & The Lit Fund Host BUMP THE FUND Benefit Today

Today, July 28th join the leading lights of the independent theater movement and special guests for a summer fundraiser for the LIT Fund. The LIT Fund will be releasing their first annual funding guidelines August 1st and giving out money in the fall.

In 2012, 70-plus independent theater companies and venues joined together and committed to donating a nickel per each ticket sold over the course of the year (a "nicket") to seed a stable, self-sustaining fund. In its first year, the Fund will be pooled to provide one "community resource", something that will help the largest number of independent theater artists and companies
Bump the Fund will be held tonight, July 28th from 6-8pm at The Duplex (61 Christopher Street at 7th Avenue South). Tickets are $15 at the door.

The LIT FUND protects, sustains and strengthens independent theater presented in the five boroughs of New York City. In addition to granting vital financial resources to theater companies and individual artists, we stimulate the growth of independent theater by seeding projects that support and develop the community as a whole. The LIT Fund represents a coalition of companies, venues and artists who contribute 5 cents of every ticket they sell to a pool of money that supports independent theater. We call this the "Nickel Campaign," and it's the LIT Fund's core notion. The Fund will also solicit contributions from patrons of the arts.

The Fund is apportioned according to three areas of need identified by our community: unrestricted project funding, an emergency/urgency/opportunity fund, and an endowment. Through a radically transparent process, funds will be granted to applications made by theater companies or by individual artists, as well as applications for community-wide projects spearheaded by those artists and companies individually or as consortia. The Fund will not operate pay-to-play; if an artist or company meets the eligibility requirements, they can apply and be funded regardless of whether they contribute to the Fund.

IN US WE TRUST. We believe that theater in New York City is a circle, not a ladder. Through the Nickel Campaign, we commit to keeping that circle strong and unbroken; by working together to become a force that sustains itself, we lift our community as a whole and enhance and highlight its impact on the cultural landscape of our city.

The League of Independent Theater ("LIT") is the only 501(c) 6 advocacy organization for the independent theater and performing arts population of New York City, serving over 50,000 independent performing artists, 86% of whom vote regularly. LIT will endorse candidates in every City race, and work to form alliances with other cultural advocacy organizations in the City that will foster an all-out "Get Out The Vote" effort on behalf of those candidates selected.