The storied concert venue Caffe Lena, seen on Friday on Phila Street in Saratoga Springs, has received an anonymous $1 million donation.
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Event info for Caffe Lena is posted outside on Friday in Saratoga Springs.
Will Waldron/Times Union
Exterior of Caffe Lena on Friday in Saratoga Springs. The storied concert venue has received an anonymous $1 million donation.
Will Waldron/Times Union
Entry to Caffe Lena on Friday in Saratoga Springs.
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Doorway sign for Caffe Lena on Friday in Saratoga Springs.
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The “house guitar” on the bandstand at Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs is seen on Jan. 14, 2010. The historic music venue recently received a $1 million gift from an anonymous donor.
John Carl D’Annibale/Times Union
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The music will continue to play at Caffè Lena, thanks to an anonymous donor.
In a message sent to subscribers on the venue’s mailing list on Thursday, the historic folk music landmark in Saratoga Springs announced it had received a $1 million donation from an anonymous donor. This is the largest single contribution Caffè Lena has ever received, said Sarah Craig, executive director.
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The anonymous donor is a member of the Lena Legacy Society, Craig confirmed. This is a group of donors building an endowment for Caffè Lena predominantly through estate plans, meaning the funds are often distributed after the donor’s death.
Although the donor isn’t identified, Caffè Lena released a statement shared by the venue’s anonymous benefactor.
“Folk music has always been an integral part of my life, and in my opinion, the Caffè is one of the most revered institutions supporting folk music in the Northeast,” the statement read. “The work the staff and board have accomplished over the past decade under Sarah Craig’s leadership to improve the Caffè’s performance space and expand outreach while staying true to Lena Spencer’s mission is what inspired me to make this donation.”
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The donor’s decision to gift $1 million now came after conversations “about challenges around keeping some of our community programming funded,” Craig said.
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“This person made a decision to just take us out of their will and give us money right now just to make sure that these programs are not at risk, because they really believe in this kind of work,” Craig said.
One of the programs in jeopardy was Caffè Lena on the Road, a community outreach program developed in 2018. For the past few years, the program was supported by regular, $10,000 grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Craig said. The grants “took care of a big portion of the bill,” but the NEA canceled this set of grants amid sweeping changes to the agency earlier this year. With competition for state and local grants now increasing due to the scarcity of federal funds, Caffè Lena has started to receive more grant rejections, Craig said.
“We got toward the end of the year, and we began seeing we’ve overspent on some of the community programming, and it doesn’t look like the money is going to come in, so we’re going to have to dive into reserves to cover that,” Craig said. “That presents some big decisions for next year and the year after: Are we going to be able to find the money to keep it going? Are we going to have to scale back?”
This spurred the anonymous donor to action.
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“In light of uncertainty around future foundation grants, I am pleased to help provide financial stability so the Caffè can continue fulfilling its mission for the indefinite future,” the donor’s statement read.
The transformation afforded by the $1 million “is one of security,” Craig said. The gift is doubling Caffè Lena’s endowment, which was established through the Community Foundation for the Greater Capital Region in 2022. To provide its concerts, community outreach and educational programming, Caffè Lena must raise $700,000 each year, which means “there’s still a tremendous need.”
Craig said the donation “affirms the value of a community space where people gather, create, listen, learn, and work together to bring the joy of music to all. We are deeply grateful for the trust and faith that this gift represents.” She also noted that, at a time when donors are choosing between supporting organizations providing other basic needs such as shelter and food, she is grateful to those who do and can support the arts.
“I’m just so glad that there are people out there, whether they’re making $10 donations or million-dollar donations, who still see the potential of music to bring joy and health into the human family,” Craig said. “It’s such a simple thing in a sea of so much need. But if you dispense with it, if you dispense with music and theater and literature and all of those things, then you know, our spiritual life is so impoverished.”
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“So I’m so glad that when people are hearing about a housing crisis, and all of the really desperate problems that we all care so much about and are all trying to help with, that they’re watching out for our humanity,” she said.
One of the oldest coffeehouse music venues in the U.S., Caffè Lena first opened its doors in 1960 and has hosted a wide range of acclaimed folk and singer-songwriter musicians over the decades, including Bob Dylan, who played a two-night set at the venue in 1961. Other notable performers include Tom Paxton, Ani DiFranco, Sawyer Fredericks, Anaïs Mitchell, Emmylou Harris, Arlo Guthrie, Don McLean, and the Freedom Singers. After founder Lena Nargi Spencer died in 1989, Caffè Lena became a nonprofit organization.
The Library of Congress dubbed Caffè Lena “an American treasure,” and the venue has been recognized by the Grammy Foundation.
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