SPRING GREEN — In June, floodwaters grew so menacing that the outdoor American Players Theatre canceled a live performance for the first time several hours before showtime in nearly two decades. A couple of months later, an economic tsunami engulfed the nation, and ticket sales plunged.

"It was like someone had unplugged the phones to the box office," says APT producing artistic director David Frank.

So last fall, Frank sent a plea out to donors to help raise $180,000 by Dec. 31. It was the only way, he wrote, of "maintaining the theater's 17-year record of operating without a deficit."

The donors delivered.

"We're just adding it up," Frank said Monday. "It all comes in at the end (of the year). But I think we'll be over (by) $5,000 or $10,000. We have exceeded our goal."

Meanwhile, capital donations are on track for APT's new 200-seat indoor theater, scheduled to open on the APT grounds in July.

It's a heartening tale at a time when many arts organizations are struggling to bring in patrons and cash gifts.

"The response has been extraordinary these last few months," said Frank, who oversees APT's $4.3 million annual operating budget. "Although government, foundation and business giving were really tough this past year for obvious reasons, individuals made up the difference. We actually raised a little more from individuals in these last two months than we did the same time last year. And we needed to."

The destructive floods that hit much of the state in June put APT $70,000 behind at the box office, said Frank, who speculates that tourists were scared away by reports that Spring Green was under water. ("And they were right, but only for a day or so," he said.)

In all, the June-to-October season drew 105,128 people.

To help close its budget gap, the APT staff turned to "letters, phone calls, e-mails" to donors, said Frank. "But I think the 'strategy' is to talk honestly and openly to the people who made this theater what it is. Our resolution is to be transparent and prompt, not to shield anyone from bad news, and above all to know that when we spend money, we are spending other people's money, and we have to spend it with great care, to put the best possible work on the stage."

In addition to five plays in its 1,148-seat outdoor theater this year, APT has slated three plays for its new Touchstone Theater, part of a $4 million complex that also includes a rehearsal space and scene-painting shop. Nearly $3.8 million has been raised and construction is well under way.