Philanthropic Giving in Economic Downturn / Artistic Risktaking

The Chronicle of Philanthropy offers news that, while not surprising, is still disheartening. Basically, the economy is making it pretty difficult for charities right now. Here are the stats.

Initial analysis shows that small organizations have been hit the hardest:

"Seventy percent of organizations with revenue of less than $1-million reported that their financial picture had worsened in the past six months, compared with fewer than half of larger organizations."

Successful orgs are getting donors to specify funds for core programming central to the org's mission. William Foster notes "these steps to bolster core operations are a 'small silver lining' to the brutal economy." and that: “The economic tightness is forcing nonprofits to do things that would be healthy habits in any economic time,” Mr. Foster said. “If we’re going to come out of recession smarter than we came in, it will only be if tough decisions and thoughtful economizing has taken place.”

Interesting. Especially in light of Michael Kaiser's central argument in "The Art of the Turnaround" that in arts orgs, the natural impluse in the midst of financial crises is to economize to the point where the art itself -- productions, commissions, long-term programming etc -- is on the chopping block. Kaiser's point is that this is a mistake -- that the only way to survive as a vital arts org is to continue to take artistic risk, even in the midst of crisis. This is the only way to keep the audiences interested, to help them keep the faith, and so to have them on board as the org attempts its "turnaround."

The Boston Globe touches on news of the Chester Theatre, a small summer company in the Berkshires of Western Mass. They program edgy material -- not the usual summer musical fare -- and the Globe seems pretty intrigued. Why take risks in a down economy? Artistic Director Byam Stevens notes at the end of the piece that:

“Yes, things are tight, and yes, we’re worried. We did downsize our budget across the board. ...We’re trying to keep a really tight ship. To me, the main thing is I believe we have developed an audience over the last 20 years that is interested in what we do. You create a brand, you’ve gotta stick by it."