Dallas Shows its Fundraising Might in a $4.5 Million Night

We may as well start calling Dallas the fundraising capitol of Texas — if not the country. Excuse the boldness of the statement, but we think there’s good reason for this title.

Dallas famously breaks records and holds court as hosting some of the largest fundraisers in the country for a swell of nationally known organizations.

Take Cattle Baron’s Ball, for example. It’s the largest, single-night fundraiser for American Cancer Society. Then there is TWO x TWO for AIDS and Art benefitting amfAR and the Dallas Museum of Art. For amfAR, TWO x TWO is the organization’s second largest fundraiser outside its megawatt, start-studded event in Cannes.

Dallas’ chapter of the American Heart Association falls squarely in this heavy-hitting category, too,. Throughout the year, it hosts a trio of fundraisers, from the Collin County Heart Ball to the million-dollar Go Red for Women Luncheon.

The star of American Heart Association’s year, though, is without doubt Cotes du Coeur. The black-tie food and wine event is always a sellout — and it ranks as American Heart Association’s largest and top-grossing fundraiser in the country, having raised more than $42 million in its 28-year history.

This year was no exception to the event’s reputation to secure famous culinary talent and to draw in top dollar from its more than 1,100 attendees. After every last bite was devoured and every sip of wine imbibed, the tally came in. More than $4.5 million had been raised in one night to benefit American Heart Association’s local and national cardiovascular research and heart health education programs.

Held at the Omni Dallas Hotel, the thousands of bottles of wine for auction — many of them rare and hard-to-find vintages — matched the number of attendees, making for a boisterous bidding war upon many occasions. Chef stations were manned by a number of the city’s top chefs including Kent Rathbun, Jim Severson, David Holben, John Tesar, and Gerard Thompson.

No doubt, partygoers went home full satiated — and American Heart Association’s event organizers went home proud of yet another masterful fundraising achievement.