The Naples Players CEO announces and Celebrates Prestigious Honor
By Bryce Alexander TNP CEO/President
The Naples Players has been chosen as the inaugural recipient of the Collier Community Foundation’s Provol Award, recognizing excellence in nonprofit leadership, ingenuity, and broad, measurable community impact.
This prestigious honor — the pinnacle of CCF’s annual awards — celebrates the extraordinary dedication of our volunteers and staff and the transformative programs they bring to life. Helping to support our Creative Communication for Care Partners and ArtRX programs, these initiatives are changing how our community uses theatre to connect, heal, and grow.
It is an incredible recognition that affirms the heart of who we are and the values we stand for. Added to the Aurora Award, which recognizes the impact of our newly renovated facility, it’s easy to see how TNP is not only shaping our community but also redefining how theatres do business by balancing artistic excellence with community impact and financial sustainability.
Like many nonprofits, we rely on a blend of ticket sales, tuition, and philanthropy to sustain our work. As a nonprofit business, the community (and the IRS!) expect that our mission, not a profit, will drive every decision we make. That means the revenue we earn from ticket sales is reinvested directly into our programs; keeping ticket prices affordable, providing scholarships, and funding initiatives that serve our community. As a result, ticket sales cover only about half of our annual budget.
As a result, we rely on people who choose to “buy” impact for their community — donors who invest year after year in the belief that TNP can build a stronger, more compassionate Naples, and that TNP can help change the national perception of how theaters can impact communities. And like every business, we rely on both new and returning customers.
The Provol Award is a tremendous acknowledgment of the impact our community has “purchased.” What will sustain this success are the donors, season ticket holders, and volunteers who make the choice every season to support our work. Your generosity ensures that every student can learn, every audience can belong, and every partnership can grow.
As we enter the holiday season, I invite you to consider making a year-end contribution to help continue the work that this award celebrates. Every gift — large or small — has a direct, lasting impact on our ability to build community through exceptional access to the power of theatre.
Recent and upcoming changes to charitable giving laws mean this is a strategic moment to consider your year-end gift:
- Beginning in 2026, individuals who don’t itemize will be able to claim an “above-the-line” deduction of up to $1,000 (single) or $2,000 (joint) for cash donations to qualifying charities.
- For donors who do itemize, key limits remain but are evolving: the limit on cash contributions to public charities of up to 60% of AGI is now permanent.
- Also beginning in 2026: itemized-deduction benefits for charitable gifts will be subject to a floor (only gifts above 0.5% of AGI qualify) and a cap for high-income taxpayers (deduction value capped at ~35 cents on the dollar for those in the highest bracket).
- To maximize your impact under the existing rules (for 2025 tax year), strategies like “bunching” multiple years’ worth of giving into 2025 can be beneficial.
If you’d like to explore how these changes might affect your giving — or discuss how to align your gift with both your philanthropic goals and tax strategy — we’d be glad to connect you with helpful resources or your trusted advisor.
Call the box office today at (239) 263-7990 to make a contribution over the phone, or speak to Liz Rountree to make stock donations, legacy pledges, or to get more information: (239) 776-9555 or erountree@naplesplayers.org. You can, of course, always reach out to me directly, as well!
As we celebrate this milestone and look ahead to a new year, I’m reminded how fortunate we are to be part of a community that believes in the power of the arts to make a difference. Your trust and generosity allow The Naples Players to keep growing, innovating, and sharing that power with others. Thank you for continuing to be the heart of this organization and the reason our story keeps moving forward.
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