Cameron Artigue
Lynne O. Wood
Arizona Theatre Company is at a place that no nonprofit likes to be: needing to go public to engage the community in saving this vital 50-year-old arts organization.
Unfortunately, as we know, this is not an isolated incident. Too many wonderful arts and cultural organizations have faced similar financial challenges, and way too many haven’t made it.
Making a public plea for $2 million was not a decision made lightly or on the spur of the moment. The fact is, ATC was engaged in a concerted, more traditional and quieter fund-raising effort the last eight months. Unfortunately, that effort did not produce the outcomes we had anticipated and hoped for, and our decision to go public was out of necessity, coming after lengthy discussions among senior management, consultants and the board of trustees.
Yes, we had a successful challenge-match campaign to cover costs for the 2015-16 season, which was equally successful in terms of critical acclaim and sales of season subscriptions and individual tickets.
But even with that boost, it was not enough to cover the combination of lower-than-hoped-for contributions, lingering ongoing debt from both the recession and a difficult year in 2012 that resulted in a $1.5 million loss, and projected costs for our 50th anniversary season.
As a nonprofit arts organization, ATC generates 40 percent of its annual $6.5 million operating budget from contributed revenue through grants, sponsors and individual donations that underwrite ATC productions and support statewide youth education outreach initiatives, which include the Student Matinee Series, Summer on Stage and Theatre on the Go – Shakespeare residencies.
Collectively, our education and outreach programs bring professional theater experiences to more than 30,000 students in Arizona every year, many for the first time in their lives.
Ticket sales represent about 60 percent of ATC’s overall revenue, a percentage that is higher than for most theater companies nationwide.
The fundraising challenge for ATC, as well as other nonprofits in Arizona, is compounded by an underfunding of arts and cultural organizations generally, relatively small city and state funding, and the lack of Fortune 500 companies in Tucson and Phoenix, where ATC performs.
It’s not that there’s a dearth of individual funders – ATC has about 2,500 donors – but we can’t rely on, nor can we expect, major gifts to come in from the same people every year.
During the past several years, ATC has taken significant steps to reduce costs and create a more efficient organization by cutting staff and production expenses and renegotiating our operating agreement with the Herberger Theatre Center in Phoenix, among other initiatives.
It simply isn’t enough.
And so, we turn to the public in the hopes that Arizona Theatre Company’s 50 years of quality, often groundbreaking and, we believe, always entertaining professional theater productions don’t go from being our hallmark to our historical legacy.
Arizona Theatre Company holds an impactful and unique place among the state’s diverse arts community. Arizona’s official state theater, ATC is the only professional theater company and only member of the prestigious League of Resident Theatres (LORT), alongside American Repertory Theatre, Geffen Playhouse, Guthrie Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Lincoln Center Theatre, the Old Globe and Yale Repertory Theatre, among others.
ATC has consistently attracted the best and brightest actors, directors and professionals to our stages and has produced or co-produced many shows and world premieres that have gone on to critical acclaim on Broadway and internationally.
A vibrant, growing state like Arizona needs and deserves an equally vibrant and diverse arts community that contributes to economic growth, educational opportunities and quality of life.
For five decades, Arizona Theatre Company has been a significant part of that family. We hope to be there for another 50 years.
