LTC 265-2004 Miami Beach Arts Trust
CITY OF MIAMI BEACH
Office of the City Manager
Letter to Commission No. 265-2004
m
To:
From:
Mayor David Dermer and
Members of the City Commission
Jorge M. Gonzalez~~
City Manager i
MIAMI BEACH TS TRUST
Date: October 8, 2004
Subject:
This Letter to Commission (LTC) is in response to your request for a report of the Cultural
Arts Council and Miami Beach Arts Trust's private funding efforts during the budget hearing
on September 28, 2004.
As you know, the Miami Beach Arts Trust (Arts Trust) is a 501 (c)3 tax -exempt corporation,
registered with the Florida office of Corporations on April 26, 1999 and recognized as a
charitable organization with the State of Florida. The Arts Trust was created by the City of
Miami Beach and the Cultural Arts Council (CAC) in 1999. The Arts Trust original mission
was to support the work of the CAC by working to build a financial endowment for the arts
in Miami Beach.
In FY 2003/2004 the CAC and Arts Trust procured the services of Organization
Advancement Associates, Inc. to complete two studies that, together, analyzed the City of
Miami Beach as an arts and cultural destination, analyzed the Miami Beach Arts Trust's
ability to raise significant private funding, and develop a fundraising program that would
compliment the efforts of the CAC. These studies were presented to the City Commission
at the January 8,2004 Cultural Affairs Workshop and described a variety of best practices
and approaches that both governments and non-profits emplcyto stimulate private income.
In brief, Organization Advancement Associates, Inc. stated that the City was wise to
incorporate the Arts Trust as a fund-raising nonprofit. However, the report noted that the
Arts Trust official By-laws requirement of a Board, composed of independent volunteers as
well as members of the Commission-appointed Cultural Arts Council, violates a
fundamental principal of best practices in arts and cultural fund-raising. Many of these
non-profit agencies operate with complete legal separation from government and with total
organizational transparency. This is essential for them to lead the private sector and
philanthropic community to theirfullest income potential. They become the key leadership
organization with a mission to identify and attract business and community leaders.
The report also went on to make the following recommendations:
1. Establish the Arts Trust as a truly separate 501 (c)3, independent of the City of
Miami Beach and of the Cultural Arts Council.
2. Establish an independent Board of Directors of the Arts Trust, with strong
business and philanthropic leadership credentials, to lead the private effort to
create a long-term infrastructure of local, regional and national financial and
cultural development support for arts and culture on Miami Beach.
3. Write a strategic operations and action plan to define the priorities of the Arts
Trust in the first year of its independent status.
4. Develop a systematic, membership and fund-development plan ofthe Arts Trust
to attract a diverse community of members, new donors. Raise money that is
"new" to Miami Beach and identify new income streams that do not compete with
existing efforts.
5. Establish an annual advocacy campaign to clarify the City's arts and cultural
assets and value, and to educate and attract a growing number of supporters at
all levels, including residents of Miami Beach.
Since that time, the Arts Trust has separated itself from the City of Miami Beach and the
Cultural Arts Council. Because the Arts Trust is an independent 501 (c)3 tax-exempt
corporation, they have no organizational link to the City of Miami Beach nor does the City
of Miami Beach retain administrative control over this organization. A recent flier
promoting one of their events states that the Arts Trust's mission is" to help build financial
support, public awareness of, and participation in arts and culture, through the providing
information, advocacy, awareness and support to individual artists and to local, national
and international arts organizations." It also states that they are managed by a Board of
Directors and indicates that an Advisory Board exists also. At this time, the City is aware
that the Arts Trust has held several events/fundraisers, but the results of those efforts are
unknown.
As it regards the CAC, they have created three task forces (Finance, Facilities, and
Marketing and Communications) to work simultaneously on a number of objectives. The
Finance Task Force focused its efforts on the increased quality of life funding allocated by
the City and how best to use those funds in fiscal year 2004/2005. The CAC as a whole is
also looking at collaborative opportunities with a number of cultural arts groups in the
community. However, private fund raising has not been discussed to date. If you would
like the CAC to address this subject, recommend alternatives or develop an action plan for
private fund raising, please advise and it will be added to their next agenda for discussion.
Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
JMG\dAA~\mas
c: Christina M. Cuervo, Assistant City Manager
Kathie Brooks, Director, Office of Budget and Performance Improvement
Max A. Sklar, Acting Director, Tourism and Cultural Development Department
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