Falling Through the Cracks?
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Morehead is right about Sara Lee. A spokesman says the foundation made a decision four years ago to fund only organizations with budgets of $150,000 or more because the state of Illinois requires audits for groups of that size. Sara Lee “just matched up with some of the state’s thresholds,” he says. But Kassie Davis of the Chicago Community Trust says they do fund organizations with budgets of less than $250,000, and launched a new program last fall that provides operating and other support for 40 small and very small groups. Peter Handler, program officer at the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, says his group found a “big gap” in funding for small theater and dance companies as far back as the mid-1990s, and began working with them then. Now Driehaus administers several small-group programs funded by the MacArthur Foundation, including one that will distribute $500,000 this year to arts and culture organizations with budgets of that amount or less.
CUBE, now in its 18th season, has outlasted what Morehead says is the usual seven-to-ten-year life span of a chamber group. It’s an eight-member ensemble of composers and musicians that performs a festival of a half-dozen concerts every spring. She and flutist Janice Misurell-Mitchell are coartistic directors; the group also includes Morehead’s husband, conductor and keyboardist (and Lyric Opera music-staff head) Philip Morehead. “It would make a huge difference if we had another $20,000 or $25,000 a year in order to hire someone half-time,” she says. CUBE does have a grant consultant, “but my husband and I do everything [else], and we have to earn a living on top of that. I don’t think we’ll ever be a $150,000 organization, and I’m not sure one should be forced into that position. But when you function without staff–without money for press releases or an office”–never mind recordings–“it’s hard. I’d love to see someone continue the work Philip and I have done when we drop dead from exhaustion, but I don’t see it happening.”
Lord knows these poor souls need the help. According to the study, conducted by CompassPoint, a consulting group that also provides executive coaching services, and titled “Daring to Lead” (though “Daring to Leave” would be more accurate), three-quarters of the execs are planning to dump their jobs within the next five years. That may be for the best, since the study also found that one-third of them are likely to be fired. Their biggest source of frustration is the board of directors, which never seems to get the message about sticking to fund-raising and letting the staff run the organization, and a significant number said they’d rather be doling out donations or advice (at foundations or consulting firms) than scrounging for them. The majority of nonprofit executives are women, 82 percent are white, and most of them say they know they’re not getting paid what they’re worth.
INFO: 312-554-1133, cubeensemble.com
