Support OCT

Your Impact

Each season, OCT serves over 120,000 people through our productions, classes, and in-school programming. Ensuring equitable access for young people, regardless of their background, is a priority for OCT. As a non-profit theatre company, all of our programming is possible because of the financial support of our donors, business sponsors, and grants from various foundations.

your donations fund:

  • Over 10,000 free and reduced-price tickets to our productions for those with a financial need.

  • Financial aid programs and scholarships for hundreds of students annually participating in OCT’s educational programs.

  • Providing full scholarships to teens with financial need selected for the Young Professionals Company.

  • Serving more than 7,000 young people through in-class residencies and literacy-focused programming, helping kids become better public speakers, improve critical thinking skills, kindle creativity, manage their emotions/behavior, resolve conflicts, and work collaboratively with peers.

  • Supplementing production costs, including paying designers and performers for their artistic work.

  • Increasing accessibility through investment in technology, geographical expansion, and community engagement.

  • Securing a permanent, future home for OCT’s administrative offices, classrooms, and performance space.

Ways to Give

Thank you for supporting OCT!
Our Federal Tax ID is 93-1029151

  • The easiest way to support OCT is with an online donation. Click here to complete the secure online giving form.

  • Checks can be mailed to:

    Oregon Children’s Theatre Co.
    PO Box 4500 Unit 02
    Portland, OR 97208-4500

    Please make checks payable to Oregon Children’s Theatre.

  • Please call our Development Assistant at 503-228-9571 and follow the phone directory to Patrons, Donations, and Individual Donations.

  • A donor-advised fund, or DAF, is a giving account established at a public charity. The 501(c)(3) public charity serves as a “sponsoring organization,” which manages and administers individual DAF accounts.*

    To make a contribution from a DAF, please click here.

    *National Philanthropic Trust

  • Corporate donations and sponsorships are customizable based on your business’s goals and needs. Sponsorships are available at several different tiered levels: to learn more, please click here.

  • Did you know that if you work for, or are retired from one of several community-minded companies, your contribution to OCT could be matched? Most employers will match your gift dollar for dollar, and some companies even double or triple the amount of your gift – at no cost to you! To participate, ask your human resources office for a matching gift form, fill it out, and get it back to us. For questions, contact us here.

  • If you want to spread your gift out over the year, your credit or debit card will be charged the same amount each month. Contact us to set this up or click here to fill out our recurring donation form online!

  • There are many creative options that can help you and your family meet personal short-term and long-term financial needs at tax time, and achieve your philanthropic interests and goals in perpetuity. For questions click here.

  • The Stan Foote Youth Access Fund builds upon the legacy of long-time Artistic Director Stan Foote by supporting OCT’s founding value: that theater is a creative, welcoming and transformative art form every child deserves to experience. The Stan Foote Youth Access Fund upholds this foundation by ensuring OCT remains a place where all children can thrive for generations to come through scholarships and geographical expansion. To donate to the Stan Foote Youth Access Fund, simply include the fund’s name in the comments of your online donation, include on the memo line of your check, or mention it when you make your donation over the phone.

  • Your gift of stock provides for the charitable needs of OCT while saving you any capital gains tax on appreciated stock or securities.

    To make a stock gift transfer through a broker:

    • Prepare a letter with directions to your broker or call your broker today to initiate the gift to OCT.

    • Provide your broker the following information:
      OCT Brokerage Firm: Piper Jaffray
      Account Name: Oregon Children’s Theater
      Tax Exempt ID: 93-1029151
      Account Number: T51003464 [Pershing LLC]
      DTC Number: 0443

  • As a unique way to honor someone you care about (living or passed), click here to make a gift in their honor.

  • If you have attended an Oregon Children’s Theatre performance, visited a museum, tuned into public radio, or appreciated the preservation of our state’s history, it’s likely that you’ve benefited from the Oregon Cultural Trust.

    The Cultural Trust was created by the state legislature in 2002 to fund culture in the state into perpetuity. Currently, more than 1,400 nonprofits, including Oregon Children’s Theatre, are eligible to receive funds from the Cultural Trust. Those funds are provided by Oregonians like you who receive a cultural tax credit for their donation to the Cultural Trust. Spreading the word about how easy it is to take advantage of the tax credit is how we grow funding for statewide culture.

    Here’s how it works:

    Total your donations to qualifying cultural nonprofits to which you donated all year. A full list of qualifying nonprofits can be found here.

    Give the same amount to the Cultural Trust by Dec. 31 by mail or online

    Claim the amount donated to the Cultural Trust as a tax credit when you file your taxes.*

    Your Cultural Trust contribution comes back to you in the form of a decreased tax bill or potentially an increased refund. You just doubled the impact of your contribution at no additional cost to you!

    As you continue to support Oregon Children’s Theatre with your generous contributions, we hope you’ll also match your donation with a gift to the Oregon Cultural Trust to strengthen funding for all of the cultural organizations that protect our great state’s famous quality of life.

    Remember to make your donation by December 31. Learn more or donate at CulturalTrust.org or (503) 986-0088 or consult your tax preparer.

    *Up to $500 for an individual, $1,000 for couples filing jointly or $2,500 for Class-C corporations.

donor benefits

Everyday heroes like you help us create a community where all children and families have opportunities to learn and grow through theater and the arts. Your support makes it possible for us to offer one third of our programming at no cost to those from low-income and underserved communities. To say thank you, all Oregon Children’s Theatre donors who make cumulative gifts of $100 or more in one year receive these special benefits: 

Backstage Perks

Come to any of our main stage season performances with your donor hero card to receive a show poster signed by the actors, complimentary coat check and booster seats for your family, and an exclusive backstage tour, giving a special peek behind-the-scenes prior to the show (scheduled pending availability and on designated days only). 

Monthly Giving

If you want to make a bigger impact without paying a lot up front, then read on! Monthly donors are invaluable because they provide OCT with a reliable revenue flow that allows us to plan ahead. All donor levels can be pledged and we will set up automatic monthly payments to spread out your giving throughout the year. Click here to get started today! 

Special Events

We host several events throughout the season to give donors an inside look into the theater and show how their gift is making a difference, including performances, readings, workshops, and more. It’s a wonderful chance to meet the artists and staff, make new friends, and have fun! 

Double Your Impact!

Many businesses will match your donation to OCT dollar for dollar, doubling your impact! Inquire with your HR department to find out if your workplace matches. 

Contributor Acknowledgment 

Be recognized in each of our Mainstage digital playbills for a whole season. Tell us how you would like to be acknowledged! 

Tailored Benefits

Benefits can be tailored to meet the unique philanthropic goals of our major donors and production sponsors. For gifts of $2,000 or more, production and program sponsorships are available. Please contact our Development staff to learn more. 

All donor benefits extend through the end of the fiscal year that the donation is made.

Oregon Children’s Theatre is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, so your donation is entirely tax-deductible! 

  • “Thank you for granting my child a 50% scholarship to attend your class. This summer when I registered her I was only working part-time, and my husband has been unemployed and underemployed for a year due to a lay off. OCT's generosity allowed her to participate in theater in a way she has wanted to for a long time.”

  • We received a scholarship and wouldn’t be able to attend otherwise. Our child has made friends and gotten more confident in her imagination and singing. This is the first extra-curricular activity that my daughter has really loved—ever!

  • The theater tickets and books provided by Oregon Children’s Theatre make this new and enriching experience possible. Of course, these tickets and books aren’t really “free.” They are made possible because of generous individuals just like you. And I’m here to tell you that your support makes a difference.

  • Our dream is that every show can have a sensory-friendly performance or an online showing because other parents of children with different needs should be able to let down their guard and experience these powerful moments like we did, and hope to experience many times more in the future. Thank you, Oregon Children's Theatre, from the bottom of our hearts.