Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation

Berkshire Taconic Invests $100,000 to Strengthen Local Cultural Organizations

June 29, 2011

SHEFFIELD, MA—Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation today announced that through a grant from the Kresge Foundation, it has launched two major initiatives designed to support the region’s cultural sector: Berkshires Audience Initiative and the Berkshire Taconic Capitalization Initiative. The announcement came after a year of extensive research and development nationally and locally.

“Our cultural organizations are a critical component of the regional economy and identity,” said Jenifer Dowley, president of Berkshire Taconic. “As the region’s community foundation, we are committed to helping ensure that these institutions not only survive these difficult economic times, but thrive. These two initiatives were developed to build stronger capacity for the organizations that participated so that they can continue to present the good work they do for our community.”

The first, the Berkshires Audience Initiative (BAI), is a collaborative market research tool to help the participating organizations better understand their existing audiences, broaden and expand those audiences and increase their marketing effectiveness. Twenty seven arts organizations throughout the region are now in conversation with each other for the first time about joint programming and marketing. Berkshire Taconic engaged ArtsBoston, a Boston based nonprofit arts service organization, to manage BAI which is modeled after similar, successful programs in a dozen cities around the country.

“This is an incredibly helpful collaborative effort that has already yielded some enlightening information,” said Vicki Saltzman, director of communications at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. “By working together, arts organizations from across the region are finding innovative ways to draw more audience members to our individual venues and to provide more diverse experiences to visitors to the region,” said Saltzman, a member of the Berkshire Audience Initiative taskforce.

The second initiative is the Berkshire Taconic Capitalization Initiative to address the economic challenges facing arts and cultural organizations. While led by smart, committed individuals and dedicated board members, arts organizations are struggling to adapt their programs and maintain their facilities with diminishing financial resources. Today, cultural organizations are called upon to be agile, adept and entrepreneurial. Many have the talent, ideas and facilities to excel, but lack the capital structure to thrive. The Foundation hosted “Bright Spots and Balance Sheets,” a symposium held at the Berkshire Museum in April and widely attended by arts groups from all three states. National, regional and local arts leaders discussed modes of leadership effective in this new economy and different financial models that lead to stability.

In addition, The Hudson Opera House of Hudson, NY and MASS MoCA of North Adams, MA were selected to receive $10,000 grants. They will also work with the consulting firm TDC to create long term strategic financial plans (valued at $43,000) that link the organization’s mission to the realities of the environment. The work will take place during the remainder of 2011 and is intended to provide a clear capitalization plan to allow the organizations to stabilize and grow with confidence building reserves for program, operations, and facilities.

Joe Thompson, CEO of Mass MoCA said, “The timing of this grant – and its purpose – could not be more felicitous. We are just now in the midst of drafting our next five year strategic plan, and capitalization is at the heart of that effort. Having made substantial balance sheet progress over the past five years, we look forward to the deep analysis of MASS MoCA’s short and long term capitalization needs—from endowment and building maintenance funds, to operating reserves and risk capital pools.”

“The Capitalization Award comes at a vital moment for the Hudson Opera House,” said its CEO Gary Schiro. “Despite some funding reductions, we have successfully expanded our programs and are poised for our greatest leap yet as we finish the restoration and move toward opening the second floor auditorium. I know the expert guidance that will come our way through this award will help insure that HOH is an arts center that is sustainable for the long term.”

In the fall of 2009 The Kresge Foundation recognized that it was an extraordinary time for arts and cultural organizations as they tried to respond to the effects of the economic crisis. In particular, they were concerned that the leaders and managers of these institutions have the tools and knowledge available to them to craft creative solutions to addressing the crisis thus building even more resilient and vital organizations. In response, Kresge issued an RFP to 25 community foundations and local arts service organizations to deliver capacity building opportunities to arts and cultural organizations in their communities. The Kresge Foundation awarded a one-time $100,000 grant to Berkshire Taconic to help build the capacity of arts and cultural organizations given their significant role in the region. The Kresge Foundation is a $3.1 billion private, national foundation that seeks to influence the quality of life for future generations through its support of nonprofit organizations in six fields of interest: arts and culture, community development, education, the environment, health, and human services. The Foundation is located in metropolitan Detroit, in the suburb of Troy, Michigan.

Regina Smith, Senior Program Officer from The Kresge Foundation said, “One of our priorities is to advance capitalization principles among arts funders and arts organizations. Of the 15 capacity building grants awarded, Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation is the only partner to engage arts funders, board members, and arts professionals in a conversation on capitalization, and to invest its own resources for arts organizations to test capitalization principles. We believe these types of conversations and activities provide a cohesive framework for how arts organizations and funders to think about the long term health of arts organizations and the cultural sector.”

Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation builds stronger communities and improves the quality of life for all residents of northwest Litchfield County, CT; Berkshire County, MA; and Columbia County and northeast Dutchess County, NY, acting as an agent for positive change in the region. Since 1987, Berkshire Taconic has managed a growing collection of charitable funds created by individuals, families and businesses. Each year, the foundation distributes over $7 million through grants and scholarships for programs in the arts and education, health and human services and environmental protection, helping thousands of donors achieve their philanthropic goals and hundreds of nonprofits carry on their good work. Berkshire Taconic is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity.

Your gift will make a difference—please consider donating online to any of Berkshire Taconic’s existing funds, or call 413.229.0370.

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