Bravo Greater Des Moines will bring back its fundraiser gala in February as an in-person event, but while organizers are excited to bring the community together to honor the role, value and impact of the local cultural sector, they acknowledge it is only one of many steps the organization will take in its financial recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

The annual Bravo Awards Gala is scheduled for Feb. 5, 2022, at the Iowa Events Center, with all proceeds going to offset the organization’s operating expenses. Whatever is raised above that level will go back to the community in grants to Bravo’s 75 nonprofit cultural partners, said Sally Dix, Bravo’s executive director.

The gala was last held live in 2020, just weeks before the pandemic began to shut things down. The organization called on corporate partners in 2021, which helped Bravo continue to invest more in grants in 2021 than it ever has before, Dix said.

In the 2021 grant cycle, Bravo invested more than $3.3 million in grants to its partner nonprofits in the cultural sector.

“We really responded to the needs of the cultural sector when all their revenue was cut off as well,” Dix said. “Admissions, donations, it was a really tough time for the cultural sector. So Bravo made a strategic choice to push out as much as we could when there weren’t other dollars coming in.”

Bravo is 99.95% funded by hotel-motel tax receipts, and in 2021 the organization was down about $2 million from where it had projected it might be before the pandemic, Dix said.

“Hotel-motel tax revenues are swinging back, but we’re not there by any stretch of the imagination,” she said. “We need to continue to keep Bravo whole, so that we can continue to support the 75 organizations that rely on us every year.”

Dix estimates that Bravo won’t return to pre-pandemic levels of revenue until 2025.

“If we had projected to stay on the same revenue growth that we were on pre-pandemic, and compare that to what we project now to 2025, it’s a loss of $6.75 million of hotel-motel tax revenue,” she said.

And it’s that long-term recovery that Dix keeps in mind as she looks ahead to the gala and what it represents in the organization’s recovery.

“Every step is an important step, and we are grateful to be able to get together to celebrate,” she said. “Organizations are still going to struggle, but there is so much to celebrate. These organizations stepped up and did so much. They were creative. They were innovative. They were resilient.

“So we’re excited about getting together to celebrate and to honor and recognize the cultural sector that really made a huge difference in so many people’s lives during the pandemic. This is going to be a joyful celebration of the value that this sector adds to our community. It’s not a celebration of being finished with all the pandemic impacts. It’s time to get back together, but it’s also a really critical time and we need to continue to support these organizations that bring so much to our region.”

Dix said Bravo is maintaining the elements that make the gala unique, but also refreshing it to keep the familiar black-tie, cocktail party format exciting and focused on the local arts, culture and heritage sectors.

Bravo is working with West Des Moines-based event management agency ITA Group on the gala, which Dix said will offer exceptional food and beverage options, new entertainment headliners and interactive experiences.

Sponsorships for the 2022 Bravo Awards Gala are now on sale for past event partners. Depending on availability, tickets for new supporters and the general public will go on sale Dec. 10. More information is available and sponsorship requests can be made by emailing gala@bravogreaterdesmoines.org.

“We typically start selling tables in the beginning of October, and we have worked with many of our partners for many years and they are already reaching out asking when tables are going on sale,” Dix said. “We’ve received a dozen, maybe 20 calls over the past three weeks with people saying, ‘Hey, we really want our tables, when can we buy them?’ So we’ve put everybody off as long as we can.”