BONITA SPRINGS, Fla. (Dec. 18, 2014) – Atilus, one of Florida’s leading Internet advertising agencies, in conjunction with the Southwest Florida Community Foundation announced the Community Web Award Grant finalist – the Florida Repertory Theatre.
The Community Web Award Grant, which provided one finalist with a complete web design and Internet marketing overhaul as well as 50 first applicants a year-long license to board of director management software BoardMa, is being awarded to the Florida Repertory Theatre. The new website and Internet marketing overhaul is valued at $20,000. The grant will help the Florida Repertory Theatre strengthen its online reach and increase community awareness of its programs and online donations.
With the support of the Southwest Florida Community Foundation, Atilus created award criteria, reached out to area nonprofit organizations and held a webinar to further coach the applicants on the criteria the company was seeking in order to find the most suitable recipient.
Atilus’ panel of judges selected the Florida Repertory Theatre because it possessed the raw materials needed from a technical standpoint that make web design and Internet marketing effective, and the theatre is a vibrant organization creating a lot of content for optimization.
“It was challenging to narrow the field to one finalist,” said Zach Katkin, CEO of Atilus, “but we felt the Florida Rep. really demonstrated the ability to make the biggest difference in a short period of time in the Southwest Florida arts and culture community.”
The Florida Repertory Theatre is one of Lee County and Southwest Florida’s most important cultural and educational institutions. With a wide variety of comedies, dramas and musicals, it brings more than 80,000 people to the Fort Myers River District annually.
“We know that helping the Florida Rep. grow its online presence will have a huge impact on the local community. The theatre’s mission, vision and promotion of the arts and culture is perfectly in line with our own core values at Atilus, and we’re so excited to help,” added Katkin.
“We salute Atilus for its thoughtful giving to the nonprofit sector and hope that other businesses will consider following its lead,” said Dr. Dave Fleming, chief strategic officer at the Southwest Florida Community Foundation. “Atilus thoughtful about the process of choosing a winner that could create the most impact from its web design and Internet marketing programs.”
In addition to the grant, the first 50 applicant organizations will receive a year-long license for BoardMa (valued at $360 per license). BoardMa is a web-based software that provides a central location for boards of directors to most effectively direct and manage their underlying organization.
“We hope all applicants who receive these year-long licenses will see an increase in productivity and help facilitate significant growth” says Atilus co-founder and Director of Operations Harry Casimir.
For more information about the Community Web Award Grant finalist, contact Zach Katkin, at 239-362-1271 or zach@atilus.com.
As leaders, conveners, grant makers and concierges of philanthropy, the Southwest Florida Community Foundation is a foundation built on community leadership with an inspired history of fostering regional change for the common good in Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Hendry and Glades counties. The Community Foundation, founded in 1976, connects donors and their philanthropic aspirations with evolving community needs. With assets of more than $80 million, the Community Foundation has provided more than $60 million in grants and scholarships to the communities it serves. Last year, the Foundation granted more than $2.8 million to nonprofit organizations supporting education, animal welfare, arts, healthcare and human services. The Foundation granted $782,000 in nonprofit grants including more than $400,000 in regional community impact grants and additional $450,000 in scholarship grants.
For more information about the Southwest Florida Community Foundation, call 239-274-5900 or visit www.floridacommunity.com.
