Since the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center opened in 2004, the Hippodrome Theatre has welcomed more than 4 million guests and contributed more than $400 million in economic benefit to Baltimore City and the State of Maryland. As the non-profit partner of the center, The Hippodrome Foundation, Inc. (HFI) provides free education and outreach programs for thousands of Maryland young people each year. This grant provided funds to enable HFI to hire a professional development consultant to evaluate operations and deliver a best-practice fundraising plan.