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A SIX YEAR LOOK AT SSO FINANCES
Recently, the SSO board and management provided the Times newspaper and OPUS with a set of numbers outlining the finances of the Shreveport Symphony for the last six years. Here is a look:
| INCOME |
2001-02 |
2003-03 |
2003-04 |
2004-05 |
2005-06 |
2006-07 |
| Ticket Sales/Performance Fees |
$360,826 |
$308,622 |
$304,054 |
$307,173 |
$376,367 |
$395,590 |
| Grants |
$138,561 |
$172,889 |
$183,466 |
$183,128 |
$188,816 |
$199,470 |
| Annual Fund |
$333,282 |
$329,088 |
$270,933 |
$270,280 |
$329,880 |
$309,763 |
| Other Fundraising |
$162,419 |
$127,462 |
$166,857 |
$130,045 |
$174,132 |
$196,473 |
| sponsorship |
$164,440 |
$51,248 |
$123,872 |
$114,691 |
$105,500 |
$107,000 |
| Advertising |
$76,398 |
$56,838 |
$56,725 |
$44,235 |
$52,575 |
$49,975 |
| Other Donations/One Time Contributions |
$171,473 |
$13,257 |
$120,744 |
$39,372 |
$144,184 |
$123,325 |
| Investment Income |
$14,515 |
$23,606 |
$24,196 |
$15,861 |
$19,204 |
$39,783 |
| Total |
$1,421,914 |
$1,083,010 |
$1,250,847 |
$1,104,785 |
$1,390,658 |
$1,421,379 |
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| EXPENSES |
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| Concert Production |
$158,442 |
$165,152 |
$213,131 |
$185,173 |
$179,670 |
$206,630 |
| Music Administration |
$848,666 |
$684,561 |
$598,477 |
$658,780 |
$642,556 |
$703,001 |
| Marketing |
$96,796 |
$116,535 |
$110,938 |
$127,031 |
$104,638 |
$105,794 |
| Education/Outreach |
$10,861 |
$515.00 |
$260 |
$582 |
$1,109 |
$916 |
| Development |
$54,989 |
$60,930 |
$69,113 |
$104,299 |
$69,773 |
$121,414 |
| Administrative |
$259,335 |
$217,595 |
$215,098 |
$222,746 |
$254,837 |
$327,486 |
| Total Expenses |
$1,429,089 |
$1,245,288 |
$1,207,017 |
$1,298,611 |
$1,252,583 |
$1,465,241 |
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| Surplus/Defecit |
-$7,175. |
-$162,278 |
$43,830.00 |
-$193,826 |
$138,075 |
-$43,862 |
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Net after 6 years:
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-$225,236 |
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Some observations and questions:
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Ticket Revenue over the past four years has increased steadily .
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Grant income has increased steadily over all six years.
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Investment income initially dropped significantly due to the liquidation of much of the SSO endowment previous to the years included on this chart. However, following that liquidation, the earnings have increased gradually. Also, while the Times reported the principal value of the SSO endowment to be at $218,000, this amount does not include the 2nd endowment in the Shreveport Symphony Foundation which is valued at over $169,000. (Perhaps they were unaware that the 2nd endowment existed.) Increasing both endowment funds must be a priority. At the end of the last fiscal year, the total amount in both endowments was $412,718.
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Between 2003-2006, the previous administration of the organization made a real attempt at saving as much money as possible in programming and producing concerts.. (See Music Administration under Expenses.). The lowered costs of producing the concerts did not adversely affect ticket income nor did these lowered costs require a reduction of the full-time core. This philosophy has evidently changed under the newer SSO administration, which has increased the cost of presenting a season while cutting back drastically on the number of concerts actually produced.
- With the newer administration, expenses in administrative accounts have risen dramatcially starting with 2006-2007. Since the SSO has stated the office staff is smaller, and with no development director hired as of yet, the big question is: why? Indeed, the organization spent over $200,000 more in 2006-07 than in 2005-06 while the amount of money going to the full-time musicians remained the same.
- The SSO management's statement of $500,000 in accumulated losses is only accurate if you ignore those years that had surpluses.
- The net operating deficit of $225,236 is still a substantial figure, however it is our philosophy that the organization has many more options of solving this problem other than devestating the artistic product. By the way, this number is a paper deficit only - the SSO currently has no outstanding long-term debt.
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