28 Aid for arts organizations from their local city and county governmental units is fundamental to the overall local support of these organizations. The Committee study shows that such aid has been increasing across the country, in spite of the difficulties cities have faced in the last four years. State/Federal Aid To supplement broad local support, increases in both state and Federal aid to the arts are needed. Support from state and Federal sources, however, cannot be allocated according to a formula. The arts of this country-responding to its rich ethnic background-are infinite in their diversity. And no formula could be devised to cover the range of differences in arts organizations, from those which require no support to those which properly should be funded by government. Nevertheless, it is possible to develop in broad outline a policy for the arts which could be applied by the National Endowment for the Arts and by the state arts agencies. The support of Congress for the National Endowment for the Arts, and, increasingly, the support of state legislatures for state arts agencies have helped make possible the remarkable growth of the arts in recent years. It should be the function of these agencies to establish widely understood principles of aid and to apply methods of support which will allow the administrative managers of arts organizations to budget their operations in an orderly way. Increases in state and Federal support should not lead to interference. Artistic direction and quality valuations should be responsive to local judgment; they should not be usurped by officers of state or Federal government agencies. The National Committee for Cultural Resources has not found any well-documented estimate of the national or state gross product of the arts, because the research to define and determine such a figure has not been undertaken. The Committee strongly recommends that such research be undertaken. More useful and direct than the "gross product" approach is measurement of the support that arts organizations need, as a percentage of their gross expenditures, to meet the costs of their services. The Committee has followed this approach as the only practical method, in measuring the requirements of arts organizations. The following recommended percentages of state and Federal aid are expressed as minimum amounts, partly because aid on a lesser scale is not sufficient to aid an arts organization materially, and partly because the rising interest in the arts throughout the nation is resulting 29 in increased operations and calls for at least such amounts of aid. 1. The Level of State Aid-10 Percent In order to meet the financial needs of arts organizations, state aid should provide an average of no less than 10 percent annually of the funds needed by the arts organizations in the state. Since state aid to arts organizations varies widely across the country, those interested in the arts in each state should see to it that the necessary research is done to determine the specific dollar amount of state aid required to accomplish this average of no less than 10 percent aid, and they should work together to achieve that goal. 2. The Level of Federal Aid-10 Percent In order to meet the financial needs of arts organizations, Federal aid should provide an average of no less than 10 percent annually of the funds needed by the arts organizations of the nation. The Committee recommends strongly that further research be undertaken to determine the amount which is necessary to provide arts organizations throughout the country with Federal aid which meets an average of no less than 10 percent of their costs. Research by the Committee found that Federal aid varies widely among organizations and averaged approximately 3.5 percent of gross expenditures during 1974-75. To meet the need, Federal aid should be increased to provide an average of 10 percent, or almost three times as much. This would have required a Federal appropriation of $209 million for the National Endowment for the Arts in 1974-75. Taking into account the present rate of growth of the organizations studied and National Endowment for the Arts programs not dealt with in this report, the National Committee for Cultural Resources recommends a Federal appropriation of no less than $225 million in 1976-77. 30 30 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The National Committee for Cultural Resources, in accordance with policy established at the time of its formation, will terminate all activity and cease as a committee shortly after the release of its final report. The National Committee for Cultural Resources wishes to express its appreciation to all those who contributed their services to the work of the Committee: to Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc. which made no charges for its work; to the Metropolitan Opera Association, Inc., for computer time; to the Associated Councils of the Arts; to Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co., and to the state arts agencies for assisting in the work of the Committee without charge. We particularly wish to acknowledge the staff work and counsel provided by Hill and Knowlton, Inc., and especially by the following members of its staff: Edward Starr, executive vice president, Philip W. Callanan, senior vice president, Agnes S. Galban, vice president, and Christopher P. A. Komisarjevsky, account executive. We also wish to express our thanks to the several advisers listed on the title page of this report who repeatedly sat with the Committee at its sub-committee sessions and participated in providing their broad knowledge in the area of the arts, with special thanks to Howard Klein and to Stephen Benedict who devoted long hours to the preparation and editing of this report. We also wish to express our thanks to John A. Woodcock of Indiana University who helped in its preparation, and to Edward D'Arms, Winnie A. Scott and Victoria Levene who prepared special material for this report. The Committee has commissioned two studies by the National Research Center of the Arts, Inc., an affiliate of Louis Harris and Associates, Inc., on "public attitudes toward the arts-1975," and on "essential service budgets" for arts organizations. The Committee will arrange for the publication later this year of these two reports before terminating activities and has made arrangements for distribution of these two reports by the Associated Councils of the Arts. Copies will be available through ACA. Vernon R. Alden Amyas Ames, Chairman Martin E. Segal, Vice Chairman C. Douglas Dillon Mrs. Edward S. Marcus Jacquelyn Anderson Mattfeld John W. Mazzola, Secretary Appendix 1: METHODOLOGY OF THE NATIONWIDE STUDY The nationwide study of arts organizations undertaken by the National Committee for Cultural Resources was a self-contained qualitative study, designed to collect statistical information on arts organizations throughout the country. In conducting the research, the Committee felt it was important that the wide diversity of arts organizations in this country be reflected in the study. Therefore, three requirements were made. First, arts organizations in as many states as possible were to be included in the study. Second, arts organizations of all sizes were to be included; there was to be no exclusion of arts organizations based on gross expenditures. And third, arts organizations of all types were to be included; any arts organization which fell within the broad spectrum of "cultural resources" was to be part of the study. Information was collected by means of a mail questionnaire. Only data which were submitted voluntarily by the arts organizations contacted were included. No effort was made to collect data from non-respondents through any other means. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES I. To analyze summary data on arts organizations throughout the country. II. To document or refute the assumption that there is a common financial problem facing arts organizations throughout the country. STUDY GUIDELINES The nationwide study was conducted according to the following guidelines: I. Selection of Arts Organizations Each state arts agency should be asked to select representative arts organizations for study. Those organizations should then be asked to complete questionnaires and submit their responses directly to NCCR. II. Criteria for Determining a Response as Usable in the Study (a) The organization must be a non-profit arts organization. (b) The organization must be in operation during 1974-75, and expect to be in operation during 1975-76. (c) The organization must submit a questionnaire with complete data for the applicable years. (d) Discrepancies in the data must be investigated and reconciled by the NCCR staff. III. Tabulation of Data (a) When tabulating the summary data (Research Objective I), only those organizations which were in operation during all five years of the summary period should be included, so that any trends would not be distorted. (b) When tabulating the data which discuss any common financial problem (Research Objective II), data for the most current year, 1974-75, should be used. IV. Comparison Groups (a) For Research Objective II, cross-comparisons should be made on only three mutually-exclusive bases, namely: (1) Four regions of the country divided according to a combination of Standard Federal Regions (East, South, Central, West); (2) Three types of arts organizations (visual, performing and other); (3) Three sizes of arts organizations (large, medium, and small). (b) In addition, every effort should be made to obtain 100 responses from arts 31 organizations in each region, in each type-category, and in each size-category. However, 60 or more responses in a category would be acceptable. V. Response Since the nationwide study is a mail study, every effort should be made to obtain a 20% "percentage of response." All usable responses should be tabulated, and any disparity in number of responses within any comparison group would be no cause for concern. VI. Representations The nationwide study would be a qualitative study, rather than definitely quantitative. The study would not be a probability sample, nor projectable to the total universe of arts organizations throughout the nation. Statistical tolerances (+ or -) would not be applied to the tabular results. Even though the total universe of arts organizations in the country is not known at this time, the Committee believes that a non-projectable study of arts organizations throughout the country provides valuable data. ACTUAL RESPONSE With the help of the state arts agencies, NCCR mailed 2,063 questionnaires to arts organizations as part of the nationwide study. A total of 682 arts organizations in 47 states returned questionnaires. A total of 433 responses were usable and tabulated in the study. The actual "percentage of response" is as follows: |