Building Cash Reserves in Arts Organizations

Monday, October 19, 2:00pm – 3:15pm

Organized by James E. Herr, Program Officer, California Community Foundation.

Moderated by Elisa Callow, Project Consultant to CCF; and James E. Herr, Program Officer, California Community Foundation.

Table moderators: Trini Rodriguez, Operations Director, Tia Chucha’s Centro Cultural & Bookstore; Claire Knowlton, Associate Director, Nonprofit Finance Fund; and Tim Carpenter, Founder, EngAge.

In 2012, the California Community Foundation began a pilot project, Building Equity in the Arts, to help arts organizations build cash reserves through technical assistance and training, cohort support, and a matching grant opportunity. Five small to mid-sized Los Angeles arts organizations participated in what was to be an 18-month project. This session will reveal what happens when real life intervenes and disrupts the best of intentions. Is it possible to build reserves amidst unanticipated challenges and turns in the road? The project design, the process, the unexpected, and the surprising results make for an engaging and enlightening discussion and will also ask the question: where do we go from here?