Arts Stabilization Project

The Greater New Haven Arts Stabilization Project was launched in 2001 as a concerted multi-year effort to provide financial and technical assistance to eight local arts organizations. The participating nonprofits included:

Arts and Ideas New Haven , Creative Arts Workshop ,Guilford Handcraft Center, Long Wharf Theatre , Neighborhood Music School , New Haven Colony Historical Society , New Haven Symphony Orchestra and the Shubert Theatre .

The project provided valuable knowledge about the management practices and needs of each of the participating organizations. Key outcomes included:

• total working capital improved by $5.8 million since the Project began
• organizations improved their financial record-keeping and reporting, which is contributing to better financial planning and decision-making
• the total endowment of participating organizations grew steadily from 2002-2008, and as a whole kept pace with their total expenses
• two organizations established board-designated working capital reserves beyond the grants provided by the program to further strengthen their capital structure

For the Guilford Art Center, funding from the Project that was used to create an endowment "helped us weather the economic downturn," says Suzanne Hens-Kaplan, the Center's Operations and Finance Director. "It has provided a very good cushion and makes us feel comfortable especially in a time when we are looking at options to refinance our mortgage which is coming due."

The Project was funded with nearly $5 million from a consortium of public and private sector funders, including $1 million invested by The Community Foundation, which served as the fiduciary.