Paying the Artists / Paying the Admins

A thoughtful post via Technology in the Arts about non-profits and the payscale for artists.

Some of corwinchristie's inportant points:

-Non-profits arts organizations need to be able to employ artists at a rate that is livable.

-Art is not a luxury.

-Do non-profits perpetuate the undervaluing of art by expecting to have artists’ collaboration without paying them What They Are Worth?

But, of course, we can't talk about pay for artists without taking on the issue of administrative pay scales. What are the big dogs making? Is it in line with the overall budget of the company? John Fogle of North Shore Art Throb blog addresses this in regards to the recently shuttered North Shore Music Theatre:

"Perhaps the corporate model - wherein competition reigns supreme and CEOs are compensated at 400 times the average employee* - invaded this theatre world. I’d be curious to see what the composition of the NSMT Board was but I’d wager there weren’t too many folks with direct theatre-arts experience there. Such a disparity in compensation (or value) is toxic to any arts group sets off a particularly nasty racket within a theatre company. Reports of a staff revolt prior to NSMT’s meltdown do not surprise."

Want to do your own investigating into the top salaries at non-profits? The steps are simple:

1. Go to Guidestar.org and register (it's free).

2. Once registered, use the search box on the front page to find the theatre or other non-profit you're interested in.

3. After finding your non-profit, choose the tab marked "Forms 990 and Docs"

4. View the pdf of the non-profit's IRS 990 -- it's on this form that the organization lists the salaries (if over $50k/year) of the 5 highest-paid employees -- other than trustees, officers, or directors -- in Schedule A. The other top people (like the AD, Managing Director, etc) will likely be listed separately, in Part V-A, under the heading "Current Officers, Directors, Trustees, and Key Employees." You can also check on any independent contractors (actors, directors, etc) who earned over $50k in a given fiscal year.

5. Of course, if you're at all savvy about reading tax forms, there's a lot more info to be gleaned from the 990 -- from yearly budget, to earned vs. donated income, to expenses, etc etc.