2004 Director's Meeting
Part 1: Copyright
Part II: Funding
Part III: Diversity

Part II. Funding:

1. Introduction:
George Arthur (Cape Cod Opera): (he reads his questions:)
“Finding funding for Administrators,”
“Finding and retaining good Volunteer Help,”
“Maintaining high production values on a low budget,”
“What happens when the money runs out?”
“What magic is needed for maintaining underwriters?”

2. College Interns ; Professionals who want to fill thier resumés while unemployed; and Grants to fund Executive Secretaries
David Walther (Acting Singers Project): by “Finding funding for Administrators,” do you mean “how does the board get paid?”
GA: No, I am talking about writing a grant to get a half time executive secretary. We have been lucky, we’ve reached a point were we’ve been able to do very well artistically for the last few years, but the amount of “donkey work” required of the board has been tremendous. There is a limit to how long they continue this. It’s very difficult to get grants in this economy.
Scott Brumit (Longwood Opera): Over the last few years I have been trying to make introductions into the local colleges. I went to the Northeastern Co-operative education department. They offer a “Bachelors of Arts in Music Industry.” That includes all of the drudge work that is behind the music industry, regardless of whether we are speaking of popular or classical music. These students are training to be Roadie product managers, P. R. persons, accountants.... I thought that they could help with Longwood Opera, or perhaps I could talk to them about the difficulties involved in running a company like ours. The schools weren’t interested. I think that it would behove these colleges and universities to offer credit for practical experience with actual companies.
Stephen Marc Beaudoin (The Vox Consort): I’m surprised that you didn’t have any luck with N. E. C.. I attended that school and they have a very active intern program. Speak with Angela Beeching. I think it is just a matter of developing a relationship with them. When I did my internship with The Boston Gay Men’s Chorus, Ms. Beeching wanted to make sure that I wasn’t just shuffling papers: that I would have a reasonable educational experience.
SB: Right, of course!
Kathryne Jennings (Opera Providence): I’ve had good luck at Brown, where I teach voice, getting some students involed in the summers as interns. One theater student became our office manager (a part time possition). She was involved in every aspect of our company. She was chosen out of a thousand applicants for her current possition, largely because of the experience she gained with us.
GA: When did you get an office manager and what did you do before you had one?
KJ: When I took over 1998 Opera Providence was a community level company trying to become professional. They had a business person that had been working with them up to that point. She was paid, but not much, only what was left over from the summer operetta. I didn’t get paid for the first few months; which was unfair, because I was not a volunteer. When she left, I did everything. Then a member of the chorus was interested in getting some part time work. She came in until we found the intern that I spoke of earlier. When the intern left we brought in one of our opera guild members. We don’t need someone full time, except during productions.
GA: We have the same problem. There are two issues: 1. availability of people to do the job, and 2. the availabiltiy of funds to pay them.
KJ: Exactly.
SB: Due to the poor economy there are a lot of people who are unemployed and are very well versed in what they do. I had a marketing person show who was interested in working for us for free just so that he could have some credits on his resumé rather than empty time. Instead of saying that he was unemployed he was able to say that he took some time off to work with non-profit companies.

3. Grants: account for 5-10% of one’s budget; one can not depend on ticket sales; individual contirutions are the best means to fund a group. Funding is scarce, and is usually available based on community needs and tend to favor cultural diversity (see Part III) rather than artistic merit
KJ: There are places that help with strategic grants. In 2003 a big corporation in Rhode Island gave us a matching grant to hire a marketing and development director, We requested the funding for several years, and then mid way through they changed their focus, so we were not given anything for this year. Now we now have to find a way to pay this person. As a result of this, and other grant cancellations, we had to cancel our performance of “La Traviata.” We are wondering whether we can continue to do grand operas on the scale that we have been doing them, unless we have more support.
GA: You’re absolutely correct. The one grant we got was a matching grant. I like matching grants, because they tend to break money loose from people.
KJ: That’s true!
GA: But all one has to do is have one show that is bad financially, and all of one’s operating capitol disappears. Yours probably costs a little more than ours, but ours is a fairly expensive operation. It is very frustrating.
SMB: What about corporate sponsorships?
KJ: I find that opera is a hard sell, because it doesn’t give the kind of visibility that that interests corporations.
GA: The Cape Symphony had someone die and leave them a few million. Otherwise it’s hand to mouth.
KJ: Companies are continually working to paying off their debts, and they are never ahead of the game. Funders don’t like to see a deficit. So one has to show that the deficit is being paid off.
GA: I have trouble telling people that one can’t support these companies on ticket sales.
SB: They may understand, but they don’t care. They want to see a performance, and don’t care if one messed up one’s budget.
KJ: We were doing well until 9/11. We had our “Madame Butterfly” with a fabulous cast, three weeks latter and the tickets didn’t sell because no one wanted to go out.
We’re down-sizing right now. We have a beautiful theater, and it breaks my heart.
GA: There are pluses and minuses to performing in a high school. We had been performing in a high school for five years, because their theater was available during their vacation in February, a time of year that many feel is not adequate. Now we are moving to a college theater. Tilden is probably the only real theater on The Cape. It’s part of the arts department of the community college. It holds about 750 people. It’s got a good stage, good facilities and a good lobby. Opera New England brings in the New York touring group to perform there.
DW: SMB had said that it is difficult to get grants for an administrative assistant. Have you tried?
SMB: Grants tend to be given to programs rather than to fund positions. There are “Operational Grants,” “Strategic Planning Grants,” and “Infrastructure Building Grants” which can lead to funding a position if there is the need for a position.
GA: Everyone seems to be talking about The Wallace Foundation, which is from Readers’ Digest.
SMB: You can’t apply to Wallace, you have to be invited to apply. I do currently work for The Fenway Alliance, and have asked The Wallace Foundation how to be invited. I was told to make friends with organizations that are already funded, and find out what they are up to. The cultural community is very small, and one’s interests are spread by word of mouth.
KJ: I met some people at The Wallace Foundation, and they are very interested in what one does for the community. What I am finding is not whether one has a great artistic product, but how one reaches into diverse or under served communities.
SMB: I think the best organizations do both.
KJ: We have a strong educational program involving 7000-10,000 children a year including children from inner city schools. But that didn’t seem to be enough, and they are very nebulous in what they are looking for. Most of my experience has been as a performer, and this all a new area for me. We are looking for a grant to use the Columbus Theater on Broadway in Providence’s West End which is an up and coming neighborhood. About one in three people is Hispanic It’s a nice old theater that holds about 800, It has a good stage and pretty good acoustics. It will need a lot of up keep and renovations. Maybe this is a way that we can start to make a difference.
William Sano (The Concert Singers of Lynn): We found out about The Essex County Cultural Foundation. We had 2 dozen singing in our concerts for the kids. Their "scout" met with about 8 or 9 of us over dinner in Nov. 2001, and interviewed us for the proposed project. We did get $2950, exactly as requested, but noticed that all of their other projects received much higher figures. We should have gone for broke (or baroque???) They seem to have a lot of $$$$ to hand out--requirement: It be related to Essex County MA.

4. Other means of support: Cocktail fundraisers, auctions and silent auctions, parties honoring prominent people, and a lobster roll sale
DW: Could you please say more about how your group supports itself.
WS: The Concert Singers is a 25 year old community chorus of about 55 members.
Each member pays dues of $15 a year, which is extremely modest. They have to buy their music, but they mark it and keep it. We’ve never had to charge for a concert, and we do not sell sponsorships, The way that we make 90% of our money is by having two lobster roll sales a year. I didn’t dream this up, I inherited this. When they first started they sold 200 lobster rolls, now we sell 1800 - 2000. We make $4500 clear profit each time. No restaurant will sell a lobster roll, a bag of chips and a brownie for $6.50; but we do. For a while we put in an apple, but we cut that out. We make 43% profit. One person is in charge of the lobster meat. We do 5 lobster rolls per pound of meat. When one buys that much lobster, the price is open to negotiation. Someone else negotiates the price of the chips. They used to make the brownies and bring them in, but it was impractical to make that many, so we now buy them from a bakery in Lynn. They deliver right to the church.
DW: This asks GA’s second question: “How to find and retain good Volunteer Help,”
WS: We have a lot of former members and friends of the organization. It is only a twice a year commitment: in November and in April. Because we are dealing with lobster meat, and it can spoil, we only do it in the cool weather. We always do it on Friday. We sell to schools, banks... General Electric takes about 150. If one orders six or more they will be delivered. Otherwise they have to be picked up. People take them to their neighbors. We stuff notices for the concert into the package... a good three weeks before to remind people to save the date. We make about $4000 minimum profit from about $18,000 gross. It pays all of the bills, we’ve never been in the red. The sale is about $10,000 - $12,000. The biggest expense is the lobster meat. It comes in by truck the day before, and has to thaw out. I can’t help because I have Thursday night choir rehearsal. Volunteers pick it apart and put it into two pound bags. One bag makes exactly 10 lobster rolls. They use the small size ice cream scoop for measuring. The same three or four people always do the measuring, and put it on trays that goes into the refrigerator. Volunteers start coming in at 5:30 in the morning. A lot come in before they go to work. Some place the meat into rolls and different people place them into aluminum foil and then they placed into boxes marked: GE or Horus Mann School, Salem. Everything is already in the bag in the morning: the chips, the brownie, the napkin, the announcement... and all that has to be added in the morning is the lobster roll. Starting about 6:30 in the morning people come arrive in a steady stream to pick them up. Someone takes the money and checks of the names. Someone else double checks the money and keeps track of the books. They are done by 9:00. Less than half of the deliveries are picked up on the site. All labor is volunteer. We make 42 - 43% rate of return (profit).
GA: How many people come to the concert because of the fliers?
WS: Very, very few. These people want lobster rolls, because they don’t want to bother to make lunch on Friday.
SMB: I am so glad that we got out of talking about grants, because, as we all know, grants make up about 5-10% of a groups budget; and the real money comes from individuals. (Much agreement from group.) The problem is that they will think of your organization as the place where they got the lobster rolls. Richard and I are trying to think of fundraising events that are tied to the group’s mission. We are thinking about doing small chamber concerts in historic venues in Boston or fundraising cruises with live music from our ensemble.
WS: I will say right off, that we do it for the money.
SMB: Yes, of course. Think of the thousands of audience members you could have if you take your idea one step further, and tie it more directly to your group’s mission!
WS: It’s a nice idea. We also give a fundraiser cocktail party in which we present music from the up coming concert: especially the popular type music that they want to hear in that type of setting... or one could have a small contingency of one’s group go out and sing for a birthday party, or bar mitzvah or briss.... (Laughter!)
SB: What about serving clam chowder to augment the lobster, and have a concert included in the event?
WS: The difference is that people have to make a donation to come to such an event; whereas with the lobster roll they get a lunch for a very reasonable price. About five months in advance people start asking when the lobster roll sale is being held.
SMB: It’s grand: it’s a signiture event!
WS: No one ever has to contribute to this organization. We never say: we’re short $5000, can everyone please give $100. We don’t need to go to corporate sponsors, although we do have a 4 or 5. We don’t have to charge admission, although we do have a donation basket at the back with a sign saying that people may contribute to the Concert Singers if they so desire. We get $400 - $600 for each concert from this donation box.
KJ: We did our most successful fundraiser ever this past year. We created a person of the year award. The award was created to honor a prominent member of the community who had nothing to do with opera. About 250 people came because he was being honored. We made $27,000 and sold a lot of tickets and subscriptions.
One has to identify the right person. We chose a judge who was very well connected politically, and sat on the board of many universities. So all of the politicians and college presidents came to the event. Not only were we raising money, but we also sold a lot of tickets for “Porgy and Bess.” We got a free ballroom at The Crown Plaza Hotel in Warwich. We brought our own wine and had a buffet style dinner. It was an Italian feast because it was on Columbus Day. The cost was high, but we cleared over $20,000. We sent letters of invitation, and charged $125 a person.
GA: One always wants to know what the return is on a mailing. Our history of mailings as been poor. If one charges $125, the question is, how much is that going to cost to raise that $125?
KJ: We didn’t spend more than $45 per ticket on the event.
GA: Have you every gone to clubs?
KJ: Yes, we’ve done that.
Jordan Popkin (Cape Cod Opera): Was all the food donated?
KJ: No. We paid for the food. We didn’t need to pay the tax, because we are non-profit. I had four singers and an accompanist. I performed that evening, which is unusual. I don’t perform in our main stage events, because I don’t feel that it’s appropriate. But I will do fundraisers. I got Maria Spacagna, and Diane Alexander. We did a “Three Divas” concert a few years ago. At the recent fundraiser, we got their attention with “Quando m'en vo'“ sung as as a trio. I was the host, so we didn’t pay anyone. I had a tenor sing “ridi, Pagliaccio.” We wrote words to The Gilbert and Sullivan Trial by jury song and changed to apply to the individual judge being honored. Then all three of us sang a parphrase: “Can’t help loving that Judge of Mine.” This was the most fun and interesting fundraiser! The Judge’s brother did a video, so we only had to rent the equipment. This took an enormous amount of time. We had to have a great committee, and a great CHAIR of the committee. We had over 300 people attend the event. We started late May and presented it on Columbus Day. Next we are thinking about honoring a movie director who grew up locally and who has given a lot to charity. We will hold auditions in the community. People will have to sing an operatic selection. The better performers will be videoed and the director will choose a few people to be walk-ons in an up-coming movie.
JP: A friend of ours did a similar fundraiser. She had started a small school for people with learning disabilities. She discovered that a lot of famous people have learning disabilities, and she gave awards dinners in honor of some of these people. She also gets famous people to introduce these people. She got Waterford to design a special piece of crystal for the awards. It has become one of the major social events of Washington D.C.. Now she raises over $300,000 a year with these dinners.
KJ: We have another fundraiser in April. We are very lucky that our current governor and his wife have always been supportive of our compnany even before he was elected. They are giving a fundraiser at the state house. We have another big fundraiser in August, in Jamestown. We will get five people to host a party all on the same day. We have found two people already. They can invite who ever they want, and they are each responsible for raising a specific amount of money. We will find a newscaster, radio personality or an author.... some celebrity to attend each of the five parties. We’ll start the whole event with a cocktail party that everyone attends, and the first lady of Rhode Island will sing. I’m hoping that each of the five parties will raise between $5,000 and $10,000 each. We are working really hard to wipe out a deficit.
GA: There’s always a money problem. We have to remember that there is also a scale problem. Your group and ours do full scale operas. Everyone has the same problems, they are just on a different scale. One group is happy to raise $10,000 while another might want to raise $50,000.
Philip Lauriat (Granite State Opera): We are doing an auction, and we expect to make about $15,000. Most of our money comes from individual donations. I never thought that I would sit down with someone and ask for $50,000, but that is what I do. There were a hand full of people gave a thousand, we pumped them up to 5 and this year we’ll bump them up to 10. We do “the real thing” opera production. It is comparively cheap at $110,000.
GA: Where are you located?
PL: Our main stage productions are in Concord, New Hampshire. Our next performance is a concert with Patricia Rosset. in her home town of Manchester,
N.H.. We’re in the middle of our fourth season and we are projecting a surplus.
GA: Did you start off with a seed grant?
PL: No, a large grant in N. H. is $5000.
GA: How many productions do you do a year?
PL: So far, we’ve done one full production with two performances each, plus other events. Last year we did “La Boheme” in the fall and a concert with Frederica von Stade in the spring. This year we are doing “The Magic Flute” in January and a concert with Patricia Racette.
GA: How large is your audience?
PL: We’ve had about 1,500 for the two performances.
GA: About 750 a performance?
PL: Something like that.
GA: What theater do you use?
PL: We’ve been using The Palace Theater in Manchester N. H. but we are moving to an old 1,300 seat Vaudeville Theater.
SB: The church where we perform did a fundraiser, and turned its fellowship hall into a mock cruise ship. They had a sit down buffet dinner and the church allowed them to sell wine. They ran out of wine and had to get about 15 more cases. Those Episcopalians certainly can drink. (laughter). Each table had a different name: Jamaica Deck; St. Thomas Deck.... They had an auction of donated materials: for example: four tickets for a Red Sox/Yankee Game and they sold for $600 a piece. They made a profit of $27,000 in one evening.
WS: My church, in Weston, had an auction last May, to raise money for the badly needed reonovations of the pipe organ. There was a VERY nice sit down dinner for $23 a person, with a cocktail before that really got them in the mood for the auction. It being Weston, the things that were donated were out of this world: like a three day week-end in a Greenwich Village apartment in NYC, which went for $1200. The church cleared over $17,000 in one night. People loved it because they got a product back for what they paid. It was advertised in advance and it went on until midnight. People were instructed to bring their check book and make tax deductible checks to First Parish.
JP: We’re about to have a fundraiser at the Fine Arts Museum. In conjunction with this $100 event we’ll have a buffet cocktail party and we’ll bring in singers. Our last one was in a hospital. We’ve had to limit the number of people; but this time we won’t have these limits. We are going to start out with a silent auction, which has become very popular on The Cape. Services, week-ends away and things like that. But we keep them secret until the event. The first year we made $37,000, that was 20 years ago. I’ve been noticing that people are shifting to television. especially for schools: parents and alumni. Look at WGBH.
SB: Another thought is to auction ethnic dinners, either in people’s homes, or perhaps they might come to one’s house and prepare it. Those are what brought top dollar in silent auctions.
PL: The Revels presented a Cuban Dinner and Salsa Dancing. One thing that DIDN’T sell: a doctor offered to donate a vasectomy.
GA : That’s a good item, I like that.
Dorothy Yanish (The Raylynmor Opera): We are in the southwestern Monadnock region of N. H. and we have been around for about 8 years. We started out with “Ahmal and The Night Visitors” in Peterborough, N. H.. We had a very large deficit after our third year. It took us about three more years to get it straightened out. Our supporters were very paient and continued believing in our mission. We are now on stable financial footing. As a silent auction in the region, two very fine performers were offering a performance of “Love Letters.” We bought it for $200 and then we presented it as a fundraiser in a small theater. Our patrons paid $25 a ticket. We made about $7,000 or $8,000.
SB: Do you have any tips on the stock market?
DY: Yes: buy low, sell high (Laughter!)
JP: We did “Love Letters” for a fundraiser.
Someone said: Contrary to common belief, there is a lot of money in non-profit.
JP: I was reading in the Globe, about people who have incredible salaries as heads non-profit agencies. I need to find one of those positions. (Laughter!)