In 1999, the fiftieth anniversary of the Fort Collins Symphony Orchestra, all under the continuous direction of Maestro Will Schwartz, the Fort Collins Symphony Guild established an endowment with the Community Foundation of Northern Colorado. The purpose of this endowment was to help sustain the salary of the concertmaster in perpetuity. Due to a donation by the Riedman Insurance Company to kick-start the effort, it was named the Riedman/Women's Guild Concertmaster Chair endowment. Guild members sold raffle tickets for three pieces of gold jewelry and raised $16,000. In addition, private donations were received from friends of the symphony to raise the endowment to a total of $50,000 the first year. Since that time, a challenge grant offered by the Community Foundation has been met and resulted in an additional $38,000. A second endowed chair was established three years ago in honor of the late Freddy Martin and has been designated the Freddy Martin Woodwinds Chair.

Two years ago, the endowment fund totaled $100,000. With the downturn in the economy, unrealized losses have brought the total to $75,000, but it remains in a balanced pool for conservative investment. Each year, a donation derived from earnings has been given to the Fort Collins Symphony Association. Last year the Guild donation totaled $5,000. In all, since the endowment was established, donations have totaled nearly $27,000 toward orchestra salaries.

It is hoped that more chairs will be named and underwritten in the future. If any Guild member would like to discuss contributing to the endowment or establishing another named chair, please contact Kay Edwards, Guild endowment chair.