Click here to visit Birds Give Back 2022!

Illinois Shakespeare Festival

Illinois Shakespeare Festival Company (2019 season)

Now celebrating its 44th year, the Illinois Shakespeare Festival (ISF) is a professional repertory theatre company that produces mainstage productions, free family-friendly performances, and other community programming over the summer. The Festival brings a new level of professional artistry, economic attention, and civic engagement to Illinois – all while exposing new generations and populations to the arts.

Gifts to the Illinois Shakespeare Society Fund make a major impact on the artistic and educational endeavors of the Festival each season. Reaching over 10,000 patrons every summer, the Festival’s mainstage productions, camps, and youth programming keep the arts and the spirit of Shakespeare alive in our community. Birds Give Back funds will help to bring outstanding professional talent to our stages, support our free Theatre For Young Audiences performances, and provide internship opportunities to students preparing for life-long careers in the arts.

This year, when 50 donors give to the Illinois Shakespeare Festival, a secret challenger will donate an additional $2,021 to celebrate the Festival’s 2021 Season.

$250,000

Record-Breaker Challenge

This just in, Craig Reeser '75 wants to issue one final challenge. We will unlock a $250,000 planned commitment when we surpass 2,500 gifts before midnight tonight! Let’s do this 'Birds!

479 / 479 Gifts

Completed

$25,000

Launch Challenge

Thank you to the first 500 donors who unlocked $25,000 to kick off Birds Give Back! Don’t forget to check with your employer to see if they match your gift!

500 / 500 Gifts

Completed

$25,000

Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts Challenge

200 gifts unlocked an additional $25,000 for the Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts from Professor Russell and Dr. Janet ’85 Bedford!

200 / 200 Gifts

Completed

$25,000

Momentum Challenge

Thank you to the 1000 donors who unlocked $25,000 to keep momentum strong during Birds Give Back!

1,000 / 1,000 Gifts

Completed

Success!

Football Alumni Challenge

Redbird football alumni Hank (’70, ’71) and Joan Guenther '69 will add $5,000 to support our strength and conditioning project when 5 other football alumni give $1,000 each to the effort today during Birds Give Back.

Completed

Leaderboard

Participation by area

Which participating group will receive the most gifts during Birds Give Back? Support your passion and help your area climb the leaderboard!

Rank	Area of Support	Gifts
1	Multicultural Center	390
2	Athletics	355
3	LGBTQ+ Student Support	284
4	Communication	215
5	Redbird Esports	117
6	Accounting	79
7	Student Engagement	77
8	WGLT	73
9	Student Affairs Scholarships	72
10	Center for Civic Engagement	66
11	Support MCN priorities	60
12	Family and Consumer Sciences	59
13	Illinois Shakespeare Festival	59
14	School of Teaching and Learning	59
15	U-High	52
16	Student Scholarships	51
17	Alumni Association Scholarship	50
18	ISUPD Community Engagement Unit	50
19	College of Business Excellence Fund	47
20	Special Education	47
21	Ewing Cultural Center	44
22	School of Music	42
23	Black Colleagues Association Scholarship	39
24	Gamma Phi Circus	38
25	School of Theatre and Dance	38
26	Kinesiology and Recreation	35
27	CAST Student Persistence Fund	34
28	Vidette Digitization Project	34
29	Chemistry	32
30	Criminal Justice Sciences	30
31	Politics and Government	28
32	Finance, Insurance, and Law	28
33	Horticulture Center	27
34	Agriculture	25
35	Wonsook Kim CFA General Fund	25
36	Metcalf	24
37	Friends of the Arts	24
38	Educational Administration & Foundations	23
39	Technology	22
40	Information Technology	22
41	Marketing	21
42	Health Sciences	21
43	College of Arts and Sciences Funds	20
44	Biological Sciences	19
45	Wonsook Kim School of Art	18
46	Military Science - ROTC	18
47	International House	18
48	Pay it Forward Business Scholarship	17
49	History	17
50	More ways to support Milner Library	17
51	College of Education Persistence Awards	16
52	Creative Technologies Program	16
53	Mathematics	14
54	Sociology and Anthropology	13
55	CAST additional priorities	12
56	Communication Sciences and Disorders	12
57	Geography, Geology and the Environment	11
58	Latinx Alumni Network Scholarship	11
59	Physics	9
60	Social Work	9
61	Psychology	9
62	Management and Quantitative Methods	9
63	Languages, Literatures, and Cultures	8
64	English	8
65	The Graduate School	8
66	University Galleries	6
67	Economics	4
68	International Business	3
69	Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies	2
70	Latin American and Latino/a Studies	1
71	Marian H. Dean Legacy Scholarship	0
72	Philosophy	0

Ended

$10,000

Campus Community Challenge

Thanks to 250 faculty, staff, retiree donors for unlocking $10,000 during Birds Give Back!

250 / 250 Donors

Completed

$2,021

Illinois Shakespeare Festival Challenge

When 50 donors give to the Illinois Shakespeare Festival, a secret challenger will donate an additional $2,021 to celebrate the Festival’s 2021 Season.

50 / 50 Gifts

Completed

$25,000

Redbird Romance Challenge

Rod Sargeant '65, '67 wants to celebrate his Redbird romance and challenge us to reach our goal of 2,021 gifts to show Redbirds we’ve got their backs in 2021. He will unlock $25,000 to establish a scholarship in memory of his wife, Darlene Ann Sargeant '66 when we reach our goal today. Rod encourages you to make your gift in honor of, or in memory of, a Redbird you love.

521 / 521 Gifts

Completed

Participating Groups

Alumni Association Athletics Center for Civic Engagement Ewing Cultural Center The Graduate School International House College of Applied Science and Technology College of Arts and Sciences College of Business College of Education Mennonite College of Nursing Milner Library Multicultural Center Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts Lab Schools Student Affairs WGLT

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Or you can contact us at annualgiving@illinoisstate.edu.

Illinois State University