Monday, November 23, 2015

Field Leadership Fund- What Do We Stand to Gain?

By: Rajeeyah Finnie-Myers, Field Leadership Fund Project Manager

What do we stand to gain by working towards a more equitable arts sector? What do we stand to lose if we don’t?
It’s been two months since the final deadline for Field Leadership Fund applications and it feels like we’ve already learned so much when it comes to these two questions. Thank you to all of our applicants and to our adjudication panel for being such a valuable part of the process!


When we first started planning the application and adjudication process we were hoping for somewhere around 60 applications. Much to our surprise we actually received over 200. It was exciting to see such a strong response but also a lot more work to get to our final 12 fellows than initially expected.  There were 2 rounds of adjudication –first by an internal panel and then by an outside panel. Next, we interviewed a little over 40 finalists. The upside was that we had a lot of really strong applicants and learned about some awesome work that is currently taking place in the arts sector. On the downside, a lot of deserving people will not be a part of the final cohort. No one wants to be told no after investing time and energy into something that they’re hoping will propel them forward in their work. But with only 12 places available not everyone gets a yes. It was extremely difficult and it is clear that we have a lot of work ahead of us if we hope to stay true to the mission and goals of FLF. The cohort has the potential to hold us accountable in a way that promises growth for all of us involved. I was inspired by how folks came to the room during our group interviews. Applicants entered the conversation willingly and thoughtfully. It was a preview to what could be and a reminder of how much is lost when we don't create space for equity in the arts sector.


We sent out notices to every applicant about our final decision last week. Overall, most of the feedback/responses have been positive and supportive. A few have been more on the critical side - questioning the process and the decisions made thus far.  My message to the outside world is please remember this pilot is only one small step towards a major shift that we are seeking. Perhaps with more time and resources we would have done things differently, but I'm confident that we have the right people in the mix. The FLF cohort and I will all be in the room together in December and then again in the New Year.

Look for more from us as we get to know these 12 amazing people that make up the first Field LeadershipFund Cohort. And let us know what you think about the questions posed.


A very special thank you to our FLF Adjudication Panel...Sarita Covington □ Andrew Dinwiddie □ Kimani Fowlin □ Daniel Gallant □Sara Juli □ Jonathan McCrory □ Sophie Myrtil-McCourty□ Morgan von Prelle Pecelli □ Yvette Ramirez □ Tiffany Vega




Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Field Leadership Fund - Will we do the good that we set out to do?

By: Rajeeyah Finnie-Myers, Field Leadership Fund Project Manager

As the deadline approaches for FieldLeadership Fund (FLF) applications, I'm hoping that we've done all the right things to reach the people who need this opportunity the most and that they feel compelled to actually apply. And even with months (really years for The Field Executive Director Jennifer Wright Cook) of visioning what the fellowship will be, carefully crafting language to describe it and nothing but good intentions, I am very aware of the fine line that exists between doing good and perpetuating the very issues we hope to address.

Who makes it as a leader in the arts sector? As a woman of color, the stakes feel particularly high for me both professionally and personally. Too often I’ve been disappointed to find that at the heart of the opportunity for advancement is the belief that the reason I haven’t advanced thus far is that I don’t have enough training or skills. The Field’s 2013 report to fail and fail big explains:


“success is often supported by privilege or thwarted by under-privilege”
and 
“whether that privilege is economic, cultural identity, education, gender or class-based, the divide between who gets to be an artist, who can afford arts school or who can afford not to have health insurance is getting wider and wider. We are losing people. We are losing their artistic revelations.”

Here is what we hope:

§  Accepting where we are - In acknowledging the root causes of oppression and thinking about the ways in which we can work towards equity in the planning stages, we stand a better chance of doing good.  Jennifer and I have done our homework - looking at many resources around the issues of social justice and equity. We’ve had open and thoughtful conversations about our own experiences and have made it a point to call on others who could offer a different or broader perspective.

§  Broadening our perspective - By soliciting the support of people who have wider reaching and/or more diverse networks and tapping into their experience and expertise, we will reach individuals who might not otherwise know about this opportunity. The FLF Advisory Council is the main way we do this but we also reached out to organizations that have missions centered on issues like equity and access.

§  Using what we have - Having someone manage the fellowship who has been on the other end of a career development program at The Field adds a layer of understanding about what it’s like to apply and participate in such a program. I was involved in a program called Artist Manager Partnership (AMP) at The Field back in 2005. Although I had a master’s degree and a few years of work experience under my belt at the time, I was having a hard time securing a job in the arts.  I was in the midst of a career change, looking for opportunities in a new city and happened upon AMP just at the right time. The program was not perfect but it definitely played a major role in me getting my career in arts administration started.

§  Advocating for change - By calling attention to the issues and putting resources towards making change, we inspire, equip and enable arts organizations, artists and arts managers who feel stuck move forward in their work. The Field’s report to fail and fail big gets at the heart of this idea and stems from the voices of people who are living as arts professionals in New York City.

Here is the reality:

§  Much of our outreach has been done online and through social media, so there will still be a large group of artists and potential arts managers left out of the mix because of a lack of access and our limited network. Also people who are already a part of The Field’s existing network carry a certain advantage in that they are the first to learn about the opportunity and likely to feel more comfortable reaching out to us to get clarity about FLF to submit the strongest application possible.

§  The only option for applying is an online application, so if you don’t have online access you can’t apply. Even limited Internet access creates a challenge since completing the application takes time and space to comb through the guidelines, delve into the questions, edit and then review responses.

§  Our first round of decisions about applicants is based solely on a written application, so there is an imbedded advantage for those who write well or have honed their written application skills through the experience of applying for similar opportunities.

§  Just because someone needs this opportunity doesn’t mean that they will be a good fit for the program. Things like scheduling and location could lock people out. There are only 12 spaces to fill and hundreds of interested candidates, so even the most qualified applicants may not get to participate.

§  Although we have intentions of addressing an ongoing lack of diversity in leadership in the arts sector in New York City and beyond, our goals are ambitious and our way of "providing access” may not be seen as drastically different from the norm.

Here’s what we’ve done to address the issues:

§  We've challenged ourselves to think differently about outreach and the application process because most often the disconnect starts there.  There is a person (me) to contact and talk to about any questions or concerns during the open application period.  No inquiry goes unanswered and I am ready and willing to walk anyone through the details of the fellowship. I’ve had countless phone conversations when email responses weren’t enough in hopes that people feel confident that they can decide if this opportunity is for them.

§  We consciously included information about getting computer access in the FLF FAQs and even offer to provide a laptop and Internet access at our office to anyone who needs it to apply. 

§  We kept the application short and asked questions in a way that we felt would help us get to know the applicants rather than test their writing skills. The only supporting document we ask for is a resumé to help us get a better sense of how a group might work together based on their professional background, skills, training and experience. We do not ask for artistic work samples or budgets.

§  We built in a 2nd phase in the application process for finalists so that we could get to know people beyond their written application before making a final decision. There will be a group interview so that we get a sense of group dynamics. FLF will be a collaborative learning experience and so much of the fellowship will be about the people in the room.

§  We will have an evaluation consultant get feedback from participants about the application process to learn how we might improve our approach. Tied to this plan, is the intention to share what we have learned with the larger arts community.

§  We are paying participants instead of asking them to pay us. Often the cost of professional development/support makes it difficult for many to pursue.  In the attempt to even the playing field FLF offers financial compensation for the time spent in the fellowship.

Going Forward
With terms like social justice, diversity and equity being thrown around a lot these days, FLF faces the threat of getting lost in a world of fancy words; intellectual conversations and superficial successes that make us feel good. The fellowship is an ambitious undertaking for The Field. It is a direct response to systemic issues like inequality, white male privilege and lack of access.  We see that there is a need to explore (1) why things are the way that they are and (2) how we can make a meaningful shift. Though we can't say for sure how this fellowship will impact systems; we are committed to the inquiry - the process - the journey. The rest is to be determined. We don’t know the path FLF participants will take after they complete the fellowship in 2017. Will they become leaders in their field in the way that they had hoped? Will they take this work and use it as momentum to propel the idea of equity in the arts sector in New York City further? Are we doing the good that we intend to do?

The deadline for FLF applications is September 14th. I will be blogging regularly throughout the run of the fellowship. Follow the conversation to see how the pilot year unfolds!


Jennifer Wright-Cook, Sonia Louise Davis and Rajeeyah Finnie-Myers


Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Deepening Our Roots: Capacity Building Cross-Country

By: Ilana Silverstein, Field Network Manager

With generous support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the The Field Network convened for our Annual Field Network Conference in Washington, DC last April and, shortly thereafter, for a new network capacity building initiative.  In May, Joelle Worm (The Field/Milwaukee) and I flew to Boulder to meet Chrissy Nelson (The Field/Boulder) for a 48 hour Capacity Building Meeting.  Our goal was to build the Boulder and Milwaukee Field sites by sharing best practices in fundraising, community building, and facilitation.

Of the many takeaways from the weekend, here’s three:

Back Up is the Best  On the Saturday night of the site visit, we gathered some local artists for a happy hour.  We promoted the event as an evening of mingling, mapping, and the de-Mystification of peer to peerfeedback. I sensed that Chrissy was nervous that no one would come. There were other popular arts events happening that evening and only a few people had RSVP’d.  But then, her energy shifted because she realized that she had us. Having 2 colleagues as back up, gave the work validation, felt less isolating (she was reminded of the larger community that she is a part of), and made hosting the event not as scary. And, people did come, and had a great time!

Post-Feedback Shout Outs  During our session on facilitation, one of the topics discussed was how to help artists apply feedback.  The three of us, along with James Scruggs (via conference call) developed a structure to make sure artists are getting the feedback that they need. After Fieldwork, the facilitator invites the artists to say one thing they heard that they are going to go back and use or a recent “aha moment” in making the work. By saying these observations out loud, the artist may be more likely to apply them as she or he continues in the creative process.  I look forward to trying this out in Fieldwork this Fall. 

Collaboration and Fieldwork Workshop  One of The Field/DC's dreams is to host a workshop on collaboration.  We find that artists come to Fieldwork wanting to collaborate but do not know how to initiate that relationship.  Chrissy shared a structure for a successful 2-hour collaboration workshop that she organized in Boulder.  I hope to produce a similar workshop in DC and tie in some Fieldwork basics.  

Just as arts residencies provide artists with time away from family/home for diving into the creative process, this site visit gave us the opportunity to focus and look critically at our sites’ organizational development.

In 48 hours we:
-   Strategized how to share the work load of running a site with our colleagues
-   Connected with local artists
-   Brushed up on facilitation skills
-   Brainstormed how to support and be supported by our kindred spirits, The Field Network.

The timing of the visit was perfect.  Joelle, Chrissy and I had recently connected at the conference and were able to draw on the inspiration we had felt from the guest speakers and other colleagues there.  Working as a cluster of three seemed just right.  We were effective in getting work done, as well as nurturing our artist-selves (desperately needed as site-leaders). 


In planning this capacity building initiative, Jennifer Wright Cook, Susan Oetgen and I had considered a web-based convening, but I am so grateful that we didn’t go that route.  Meeting face-to-face was key.  Being in the presence of other Fieldwork lovers is a tremendous gift.  There is a heightened sense of investment and listening among us whether we are engaging in Fieldwork or not.  

By tapping into The Field Network, anyone can find these individuals across the United States and Europe - from Boulder to Berlin!


To learn more about The Field Network, Fieldwork, or connect with the Washington, DC arts community, email me, at dc@thefield.org

Thursday, July 2, 2015

A Glimpse Into Artward Bound 2015


What happens when you gather 10 mixed disciplined artists, and a facilitator for 9 days in the hills of western Massachusetts and provide them with space, time, peer-to-peer Fieldwork workshops, and delicious vegetarian food? The answer: Artward Bound!


I experienced a metamorphosis as the seedling of my idea transformed into actual material. I feel inspired and excited to continue my work.
Kirsty Little

Now you can join us to see how Fieldwork works and participate in the critique yourself!  Sign up here.



Artward Bound gave me the time and support to open up my process and take big risks.
Alice Klugherz
Marisa Gruneberg
Artward Bound fosters art-making of all disciplines at an unparalleled qualitative level in a progressive and transformative environment.

Colin Dixon

Artward Bound was a wonderful experience. I'm grateful for the opportunity to develop my work and create in an environment outside of the hustle and bustle of the city.

Earthdance

Having the gift of being planted away from the minutiae of my daily life - in a  a community with no distractions - is exactly the boost I need to make new work.
Alice Klugherz and James Scruggs

Marisa Gruneberg and Laurie Taylor

I am so thankful for the opportunity to have time to work in these beautiful studios and to interact with the amazing facilitator and supportive peers. I feel renewed and inspired!

Facilitator: James Scruggs

Artward Bound has brought a new level of seriousness to my relationship with my work.
(haha)
Mike Mikos

The experience of Artward Bound was pivotal in my journey as an artist at both a creative and practical level.  I am overflowing with gratitude to have been able to experience this time which, in retrospect, seems like it should be a part of every artists development.
Marlene Nichols

Artward Bound is the kind of program that makes being an artist possible.
Libby Skala

Experience the essence of Artward Bound in Fieldwork this summer.  Sign up for the full 6 weeks  here or ease in with the Open Trial Day, Tuesday July 7 at 6pm.

Quotes by the 2015 Artward Bound Artists:
Robin Conrad, Colin Pip Dixon, Marisa Gruneberg, Alice Klugherz, Kirsty Little, Alisa Matlovsky, Mike Mikos, Marlene Nichols, Libby Skala, Laurie Taylor, and James Scruggs

Photos by Marisa Gruneberg for Artward Bound

This program could not exist without the generous support from the National Endowment for the Arts and individual donors like you!

Thursday, June 18, 2015

If You Believe...

By Jennifer Wright Cook

You may not know what this is:  http://council.nyc.gov/html/about/budget.shtml
You may not care. You may not think it impacts you.
But it does.
It’s your money, your taxes, your city.
And how our city doles out its budget definitely impacts you.
Budgets are moral documents. 

They are moral declarations of what we believe, what we prioritize, what we dream of. 
We each can (and should) participate in our city’s budget: by testifying, by calling our City Council members and advocating, by sending emails to our electeds http://bit.ly/1JPTkNI, and simply by getting informed.

Right now our New York City is in the final stages of adopting our Fiscal Year 2016 budget.  There have been sessions at City Council for the past few weeks where all kinds of New Yorkers stood proudly and asked for money for their programs, dreams and priorities.  http://legistar.council.nyc.gov/Calendar.aspx

I had the deep honor of hearing everyday New Yorkers talk about their local libraries, Access-a-Ride, public school athletic leagues, access to mammograms and more.  It was truly inspiring.  And The Field went, as we always do, and testified on behalf of our artists and the arts sector.  We had the pleasure of testifying with our colleagues, Heather Alexa Woodfield from One Percent for Culture http://www.oneforculture.org/, and Thelma Golden, Director and Chief Curator of The Studio Museum and the new head of the Cultural Institutions Group (CIGs) http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcla/html/funding/institutions.shtml

The Field’s testimony, below, focused on the historic unified message as agreed upon by the CIGs and the Programs Group (all the non-CIGs funded by DCLA): “a $30 million increase in funding for the Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA), to be divided evenly between the Cultural Institutions Group (CIG) and Cultural Development Fund (CDF).”

It’s not too late to add your voice to this vital process. Tell your electeds where you want your money to go and what you want our city to be. 


CITY COUNCIL OF NEW YORK CITY TESTIMONY  - June 9, 2015
Jennifer Wright Cook, Executive Director, The Field

Thank you Finance Committee for the opportunity to testify.
           
My name is Jennifer Wright Cook and I am the Executive Director of The Field.  The Field is a 29-year old arts service organization dedicated to helping New York artists thrive.  The support we receive from the Department of Cultural Affairs CDF is vital to our mission-delivery.  Thank you!
IF
You believe that every New Yorker deserves access to the arts, you must say YES to a $30 million increase for the arts.
IF
You believe that going to a museum, a dance concert, a play or a concert etc should be affordable to all New Yorkers, then you must say YES to a $30 million increase.
IF
You believe that being an artist in New York should not be limited to those who can afford to be an artist, then you must say YES TO $30.
IF
You believe that job opportunities in the arts should be available to all New Yorkers, then invest in our Field Leadership Fund. Say YES TO $30. http://thefield.org/content/field-leadership-fund.
IF
You believe that more diverse voices and visions should be added to our cultural economy, then add cash grants to the Community Arts Development Fund.  If you want to truly build their capacity then say YES TO $30.
IF
You believe in the arts, then you must invest in the artistic process, not just the product.  Say YES TO $30 and invest in experimentation, risk, failure and growth. 
IF
You believe in the arts, then invest in the artists.  Say YES TO $30 and increase the Borough Arts Council re-grants to individual artists and small companies*. 
IF
You believe that cultural diversity and equity are VITAL to New York’s health and vibrancy, then you must say YES to $30.  Let’s put our money where our mouths are.  The work of diversity and equity needs funding to be successful. SAY YES TO $30.


What would The Field suggest we do with a $15 million increase to the CDF?
·         Fund new groups – particularly those from under-represented districts.
·         Give more money to current grantees (like The Field!).  We all do more with less.  Help us thrive.

·         Increase money to the Borough Arts Council’s DCA regrant budgets so that more unincorporated artists and companies can make work.  These thousands of unincorporated artists (of whom The Field serves 1,100) are in many ways the movers and shakers, the avant garde, the up and comers that make New York bold, vivacious and provocative.  Their work is seen at many of the DCLA-funded venues but many of them receive no city funding directly – due to insufficient grant dollars at the Borough Arts Councils. The Field specifically requests an increase to the Bronx Arts Council.  This past year the Bronx Council received approximately 300 funding requests totaling nearly $1 million*.  They had only $144,000 from DCA for 56 recipients.  Clearly, the demands and need outpace the supply.

·         Successfully launch our own Field Leadership Fund! A transformative job creation program specifically to address the lack of diversity in arts administration.
·         Increase the arts in education budget and initiatives.

·         Add cash grants to the Community Arts Development Fund. To truly build capacity, arts organizations need funding.

Thank you for your consideration and for the opportunity to testify. I look forward to working closely with all of you on both the budget and cultural issues.

Jennifer Wright Cook, Executive Director, The Field, jennifer@thefield.org


* From Ellen Pollan, Deputy Director, Bronx Council.  $144k from DCA split $75k for BRIO Fellowships and $69k for regrants.  250+ requests for BRIO ($3k Fellowship) and 51 applications for regrants totalling $215k.


Thursday, May 7, 2015

Make artWORK: You and Your Books, Part2

By Clay Schudel

Last month I wrote about getting more control over your life by getting a better understanding of your finances. Click here to read that post! If you are just getting started, or don’t know where to start, here are a few useful tips:

1-      Organize your paperwork. Whether you’re making your living as an artist / performer or if you’re just getting started as a working artist (but all of your income is from a day job), remember to take your business seriously.

l  Get into the habit of keeping all bills in one place, so that you can easily put your hands on them, and commit to visiting your home “financial center” at least once a week. Develop a simple system that works for you and stick to it – for example, if you need to, use a red pen to write at the top of each bill the due date so you never get stuck paying a late fee for a credit card bill or miss an important payment.

l  If you’re an individual artist your business expenses and personal living expenses are likely mingled; this makes it extremely important to save your records in an organized way so that when you file your tax returns you can claim every legitimate business expense as an independent contractor against any income, to make sure that you only pay taxes on any profit that your business made. Do this organizing as the year goes along. If you are going to claim a deduction, you’re going to need a record of:

When: The date of the transaction
Where: Where you bought the item
What: What the item was
Why: What purpose it served in your business

Try making a simple spreadsheet with these columns: 

Date  |  Category  |  Vendor  |  Cost  |  Purpose


Make a note on your receipts (“rent; costumes; business meeting”) and file them as you pay them; $10 spent at Staples now on a few file folders will save you so much stress at tax time, digging through every drawer in your apartment and trying to remember what these receipts were for.
·         If you’re prefer saving digital copies of your receipts, there are several phone apps that allow you to photograph and save a cloud based copy of your receipts; probably the two most popular ones are Shoeboxed ($9.95 a month, but this app has many other mobile accounting features than just organizing receipts) https://www.shoeboxed.com/features/
and the much more basic One Receipt (free app) http://www.onereceipt.com/



2 - Evaluate and understand your income and your expenses. Knowing what you spend, and what your income is, over a period of time will let you make intelligent budgets, better use what resources you have, and do all kinds of short and long-term planning. As I wrote last month, the program that I still rely on MOST OF ALL is one that almost everyone already has if they have a home computer – the old fashioned Excel spreadsheet.

·         Start by listing regular income and expenses you know will happen or feel pretty sure about:
Make a thorough list of your regular income, and note when it happens; you should put down things that happen monthly (a job that pays a salary every 2 weeks), a few times a year (do you a get quarterly royalty check?) or once a year (do you usually get a tax refund every May? Teach a paid workshop every summer?)

·         Make this same list for your known fixed expenses. Be as thorough and as realistic as you can; after you list your large and regularly repeating expenses like rent, utilities and internet, take a good look at your cash or credit card spending and try to understand your patterns and to group your spending into categories; use your bank and credit card statements to help you note regularly repeating automatic payments you may not think of (Netflix? Insurance premiums?) and notice when your credit card payments themselves are due.

Lining these two categories (Income & Expense) up side by side in two columns will go a long way towards showing you the bare bones of your financial picture and will help you see cash flow gaps that you have to prepare for or changes you want to make in your spending.

 Follow the links below for pre-loaded templates! 

Microsoft Office (maker of Excel) has lots of preloaded Excel spreadsheets that you can download from the Office website, and easily modify for your own uses. 

SCORE, a nonprofit that provides mentorship services for small businesses and entrepreneurs also has many templates you can download and modify to help you analyze your expenses and cash flow

Here’s a very simple cash flow forecasting spreadsheet that I created using Excel


You don’t need to be stressed out about the money side of your creative business. A plan that’s simple enough for you to actually keep up with (and doesn’t take too much time away from your real work of making art) is the one that’s right for you.

Friday, April 3, 2015

Make artWORK: You and Your Books, Part 1

Part 1, By Clay Schudel

Understanding your financial situation – what you have, where it comes from, what you really spend it on and when you need to spend it – gives you much more control over your life. It gives you more control over creating the work you love. It lets you make smarter choices. Understanding your finances lets you plan bigger projects, and avoid the stress of not being sure if you’re on the right track or of being caught by surprise by something you could have seen coming.

You may already have a great accountant (or you may BE a great accountant; I have seen some amazing financial records from some member artists at The Field!) but if not, there’s no time like the present to take a fresh look at your bookkeeping system.

There are some great accounting software packages out there that can help people with very little accounting training keep an impressive and accurate set of books; while you may think of a complicated software systems as "real" bookkeeping, any process that involves the recording of financial transactions is a bookkeeping process. You don’t need any special tools to keep good financial records. Until 30 years ago, almost every system relied on paper, pens and ledger books! But there are a lot of tools now that can make bookkeeping much simpler.

By definition, bookkeeping is “the recording of financial transactions, including purchases, sales, receipts and payments”, so at the most basic level, we’re talking about keeping clear records of your income and bills, all in one place, and understanding your bottom line. Having an accurate sense of how your money flows in and out, over a period of time, will help you plan in every way, from putting together a long term budget for a business plan, to strategizing a fundraising plan for a one-time performance.

The program that I still rely on MOST OF ALL is one that almost everyone already has if they have a home computer – the old fashioned spreadsheet. If you’re comfortable at all working with spreadsheets, Excel (Microsoft) or Calc (Open Office, and free) are extremely flexible programs that you can use to set up any kind of budget, cash flow forecasts and other planning tools, checkbook registers or really anything to do with numbers. The web is FULL of free tutorials on how to get the most out of Excel, sample templates you can download and tips about using spreadsheets in general. Google is your friend!

QuickBooks is a great software package with a not-too-steep learning curve but it’s sophisticated enough for most small businesses. The QuickBooks Pro desktop package costs about $250.
QuickBooks also has a cloud-based online product that costs about $10/month.

I have heard good things about Zoho, another cloud-based accounting program (but have not used it myself).
https://www.zoho.com/books/

Another cloud-based personal budgeting app that has been recommended to us is “You Need A Budget” ($60 one-time fee for download)
http://www.youneedabudget.com/

No matter how well you understand your business figures, unless your finances are extremely simple and you’re filing a basic non-itemized tax form, it’s a good idea to find a professional accountant to look over your books once a year (or quarterly if necessary) and to prepare your taxes. A good accountant will almost always be able to help you find deductible expenses that you may not have thought of yourself, and she may be aware of changes in the tax code that can make a big difference.

April 15th is just around the corner, so grab life by the horns and good luck!




Thursday, February 26, 2015

Make artWORK: I Love Budgets

Make artWORK: I Love Budgets
By Jennifer Wright Cook

Do you hate budgets?  Do you get hives when you are asked to do one for a grant or a presenter?

I love budgets! Yes, I do. Budgets are just numbers really.  And numbers are just numbers. They won’t judge you.  They won’t tell you how much you are worth.  They won’t reject you.

Budgets are information that you can use to make strategic decisions about your creative projects or your personal life or anything involving money.  Without a budget plan you risk making last minute decisions and using your credit card to finance your show or your life.

Budgets are mutable.  As your creative project unfolds over time you can update your budget with new information.  For instance, if you estimated that you could raise $3,000 from Individual Giving and you actually raised $3,500 that means you have $500 more for your work!  Amazing.  Maybe that means you can afford a consultation with a Costume Designer or you can pay your artists a tad more. 

And if you raise less than you estimated then you can make strategic decisions in advance about what you can cut.  Rather than going into debt yourself (again and again and again).

A budget is also a moral document.  It shows what you believe in and what you value.  If you show that you are paying your artists a decent fee for their time then that shows your donors and presenters that paying your artists is vital to you.  Conversely, if you don’t have artist fees then that shows something else.  (Yes, of course, whether you can afford to pay your artists or yourself is another matter.  But most funders and many presenters want to see that you aspire to that.  And, yes, you should aspire to that.  And you can make it happen.  Maybe it’s all inkind/donated for now but maybe you start small with a stipend for a show. And then you grow from there….)

Ok fine.  So in terms of your artistic life: how do I make a budget for my show?

Start with expenses by projecting what you will need and researching or figuring out how much each of those needs will cost.  Ask people you know, use your contacts and resources to find this information, and tackle it one item at a time.  Think about your whole project and any possible expenses.  Is your show outside for example? Then you might have expenses for permits, sound amplification, port-a-potties, etc!  You might also consider adding a Contingency or Miscellaneous line item (FYI some funders want to see detail on such lines and some won’t let you have any lines like these though).   

Your budgeted income should realistically include a variety of sources of support, including individuals, fundraising events, ticket sales, grants, in-kind (free) donations etc.  Count all possible sources, noting any sources already “secured,” or "received."   If you list any grants please be realistic and do your research.  For instance, if you list Jerome Foundation at $25,000 that’s crazy town.  Jerome (and any other arts funder) would think you don’t know what you are doing.  You want them to trust that you know what you are doing.

It’s really that simple.  Income and expenses. Not your worth.  Not your value.  Just plans and ideas. 

Some other things to consider:
·         Make sure that your overall budget is not too large or too small for your level of experience, scope of the project, and your history of carrying out similar projects.  Do research on your peers’ budgets.
·         Inkind income must be matched in expense.  So if you show $5,000 in donated rehearsal space you must show at least $5,000 in expenses for rehearsal space.
·         For internal purposes I often have 3 budgets!  My big dream budget, my realistic budget and my sh*t  hits the fan budget.   As the project unfolds I tweak my budget as needed.
·         Your final budget should always balance—meaning that income equals expenses.

And if you want an app or a program to help you deal with budgets?  Our amazing choreographic colleague, Yanira Castro, recently pointed me to YNAB (aka You Need A Budget).  She swears by it for her home budgeting.  And understanding your personal finances is key in knowing what you need for your artistic work! 


What budget tricks and tools do you love?  Tell us on Facebook or Twitter.