Philanthropic giving falls into a handful of categories – religion, education, human services and the arts. Some benefactors specialize, while others, such as Tom and Linda Koehn of Des Moines, spread their money across all these areas.
Over the decades, the Koehns have generously supported a variety of nonprofit organizations -- such as United Way of Central Iowa, the Des Moines Area Religious Council and the Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center -- that are all pitching in to meet the needs of the community. That’s especially been the case during the pandemic.
“We realize there is more to the community than the arts, especially with the pandemic,” Tom said in a recent interview for
dsm magazine (read the full story in the current issue
here). “There are huge mental health challenges.”
The arts that he spoke of are where their hearts lie -- with music, in particular, and the Des Moines Symphony. The Koehns have spent multiple decades supporting the Symphony with the three T's -- their time, treasure and talent.
The foundation for it was laid years earlier, said Linda Koehn in the dsm story. For many years the Des Moines Public Schools sent students to select Symphony performances. Linda had a fourth grade teacher who wanted her pupils to arrive at the performance hall with schooling about the day’s program.
“Our teacher coached us well,” Linda recalled. “The pieces usually had stories to accompany them, and we knew the stories and the music.”
Years later, as married adults, Tom volunteered at the Symphony as a board member and treasurer. Linda became a member and later chair of the Symphony’s Women’s Guild.
A major fundraiser began in 2012. The initial goal was $4.5 million but it eventually topped $10 million. That success, said Symphony Music Director Joseph Giunta, “would not have happened without Linda and Tom’s help.”
And a key component of that drive turned out to be establishment of the Linda and Tom Koehn Endowed Chair of the music director—Giunta’s job.
In 2018 the Symphony sought backing for a series of summertime concerts at the new amphitheater at Water Works Park. The Koehns donated to the Water Works Foundation, which built the amphitheater, and they also committed to fund the first five years of concerts there. Giunta said he believes that series – which paused last summer due to the pandemic – eventually will be as popular a draw as the long-running Yankee Doodle Pops concert that celebrates the
Fourth of July.
“If you want to be in a community, you really should support it,” Linda said. Sometimes with a musical ear.
