Progress Report, Week #7

Final Project, Week of November 2nd:

- I have working title for the project, "Elektra, Petie & Other Misunderstood Girls". That seems to encapsulate the themes behind the pieces in the project in a way that I can communicate clearly.

- I have a lead on a venue. Need to follow up.

- Jen Barclay (Exile playwright) has a suggestion for a composer/songwriter she has just shared with me. Plan to look him up. I realized that some of my hesitation about working with people I don't know at all, is about expectation. 1) Getting them on-board with my vision, and 2) getting them to go along without any guarantee of financial resources. This has proven to be a stumbling block in confirming a director for "Exile".

- Now I'm working with a tentative budget. That's good, I guess, since now I have a clearer idea of the real scope of the project. And now I need to find away to raise the money. Sean (Rogue Artists) and I have been sending each other messages but haven't had a chance to talk. My assumption has been that we will be able to share the cost of producing their project. I also need to have a budget talk with Katie (puppetry project).

- Fundraising: Years ago I raised some money for a film project with a friend of mine. We never made the film, and we've held onto the money thinking maybe some day we would. It's only a few hundred dollars, but I have been told I can have what's left of the money. Baby steps.

- I've looked into setting up a small business account and made a comparison about creating a "Fictitious Business Name" (aka a D.B.A.) in either Los Angeles County of Kings County, NY. Considering I don't need a fictitious name to open a small business account as a sole proprietor I think it's more hassle to do now than it would be worth. I may change my mind in a few months, who knows?

- Working on a well-written project description to use for potential fundraisers and grant proposals.


That's all for now -- Liz E

Mission Paradox says something I wish I'd said: it's all about The Whales

All the questions we ask about many arts organizations:

Why don't they diversify their organizations more?

Why don't they do more interesting programming?

What don't they change their connection to the consumer?

All of them have the same answer.

It's because of the whales.

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Stay with me on this.

Let's imagine a fictional arts organization that has a budget of say, $7 million dollars a year. Let's say that 50% of that money from ticket sales. That means they have to raise 3.5 million from other sources.

3.5 million is a LOT of money to get via fundraising.

I know it may not seem like much, but really it is a LOT. Particularly when you need that 3.5 million EVERY YEAR.

Where are you going to get that sort of cash from?

Corporate funding/sponsorship? Not anymore.

Your endowment? That will be good for some of it, but not nearly enough.

Foundations? Please. Sure, they may give that big arts organization 50,000 a year, but that's a drop in the bucket.

Where is the money coming from?

The whales.

Or at least that's where they hope the money is coming from.

So the arts organization go whale hunting.

Most of their major decisions, the programming, who the Artistic Director is, etc. are all seen through this prism:

What will make the whales happy?

Read the full post here at Mission Paradox.

Week #6 - Week of Budgeting

Week of October 26th

It's not that writing a budget takes a week in itself. Although for me, I admit, there is a lot of staring at the wall. And rubbing my forehead or temples. It's like if I rub my brain just right I will think better.

I also find that I need an hour or so of decompression from other concerns (read: my day job) that muddy my thinking before I actually can write down anything useful.

First there are my assumptions. You know what they say happens when one assumes. Except that making assumptions about the project is really helpful in shaping my thinking.

There's also the deciding which line item goes where. This is a non-traditional project that breaks down into smaller projects. I feel that differentiating between them in "micro" and then putting them together under one "macro" umbrella is the way to go. Knowing the budget of each component should make it easier to target fundraising, and hopefully make the accounting easier in the long run.

It's just that right now it makes my head hurt.

So there you have it, it's just me duking it out with a spreadsheet this week. My ideals vs my parsimony. I've posted my weekly blog early this week because it somehow makes me feel better. I don't have a budget completely written down yet, but I plan to my the end of the weekend.

Pass the ibuproefen -- Liz E