To avoid the bankruptcy that killed the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, the newly formed Symphoria will have to grow a grassroots network of small donors, say experts on funding for the arts.
“Government agencies like the National Endowment for the Arts would be the last place I’d look for money,” says Mark Neurenhausen, founding director of the Janklow Arts Leadership Program at Syracuse University. “The biggest sector that donates money to the arts is individuals.”
In the spring of 2011, the 50-year-old Syracuse Symphony Orchestra filed for bankruptcy after failing to raise enough money to support its $7 million operating budget. In 2012, the Musical Associates of Central New York, a musician-owned and operated organization, was formed to resurrect the orchestra under a new name: the Symphoria.
Board members of the Symphoria did not respond to six requests for interviews for this story.
As a first step toward raising money, Symphoria won approval in early April from the Internal Revenue Service to become a not-for-profit entity. This makes the orchestra exempt from federal income tax and eligible for tax-deductible private donations, as well as federal grants.
That’s a major accomplishment because orchestras depend on donations. “The largest piece of an orchestra’s funding is through individual philanthropy,” says Rachelle Schlosser, media relations director for League of American Orchestras.
For example, in the fiscal year of 2009-2010, about 37 percent of revenue for the country’s 1,800 plus orchestras came from private donations, according to the League of American Orchestras. Only 16 percent came from the National Endowment for the Arts and 3 percent came from other government grants. In that same fiscal year, orchestra revenue from all sources – tickets, grants, donations – totaled $1 billion.
In Syracuse, the new orchestra, Symphoria, downsized its budget and runs on $1.6 million. But from 2015-2016, its budget may increase to $4.4 million if the orchestra is successful in public funding, reported The Post-Standard in October 2012. Between 53 and 60 musicians play for Symphoria, many of them freelance. They are paid $200 per week.
Now, the orchestra is getting at least some money from local government. For 2013, Onondaga County legislators voted to grant the orchestra $420,000 from the hotel occupancy tax. That grant will decrease to $404,465 and expire in 2016. Before the government chipped in, Symphoria operated on $50,000 in seed funding and $28,000 from the Syracuse Symphony Foundation.
But experts say it should avoid depending on government for significant funding because government has no obligation to support the arts. “We rely primarily on private donors to do what in Europe would be done by the government,” says David Rubin, Newhouse School dean emeritus and a symphony enthusiast who teaches courses in journalism about the arts. “Government in the U.S., unlike in Europe, has never believed that support for the arts is a priority.” Instead, art not-for-profits like the Symphoria get treated like any other business would, says Rubin.
To attract private donors, experts suggest that Symphoria should:
- Create a marketing and advertising strategy.
“The orchestra members who are running the operation have to figure out pretty fast how to do things other than play clarinets, French horns and violins. They have to learn how to run a business,” says Rubin.
- Develop a sales pitch that connects with donors.
“You have to ask donors for money based on what they want to see accomplished, not what you intend to do with the money, “ says Neurenhausen of the Janklow Arts Leadership Program at Syracuse University. “It’s no different than selling an ice cream cone on the street in the summertime. I don’t buy the cone because I want the person selling it to get rich. I buy it because I’m hot, ice cream tastes good and it makes me happy. It’s the same concept for music.”
- Rebrand.
“The modern orchestra has to be much more than just a means to deliver classical music,” says Neurenhausen. “They can be incredibly valuable as an adjunct to the school system.”
- Get donors on the board of trustees.
“It’s important to reach out to members of your community with similar philanthropic mindsets and get them on your board,” says Schlosser media relations director for League of American Orchestras.
- Emphasize charitable giving incentives.
“Donors can give money to not-for-profits as gifts and take a tax deduction. So if I give to Symphoria, I can write it off my taxes,” says Rubin, who gives locally to the Glimmerglass Opera, the Everson Museum and WCNY. “That’s a huge benefit to me, depending on my tax bracket.”(Dee Lockett is a graduate student in magazine, newspaper and online journalism.)
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