Fixed costs can the bane of the nonprofit arts organization’s existence. Overhead expenses like rent or facility heat/light/security chew away at the bottom line, and are often the most difficult to support with contributed income (who wants to donate to keep a light bulb glowing in the basement?). So, I’ve often wondered how lean and mean an arts organization can be and still accomplish its mission. Do they need an office at all? Do they have to own their own capital — like office equipment, computers, theaters, museum space, etc? Or does this stuff just bog them down, make them bigger than they can effectively be, and burden them with mundane management tasks that bury any inspiration they might have had?
For example: I’m on one board where we rarely talk about the cultural activity we’re governing. It’s all about landscaping contracts, elevator repair, security systems, HVAC bids, and computer use policy. We might as well be running a warehouse.
Mostly, this is just a mental exercise. Of course, arts organizations need control of many assets to do what they do…since often what they do requires lots of physical space. But there are signs in the world that new options are available, if an organization is really serious about rethinking its fixed costs, its overhead, and the ‘stuff’ it thinks it needs to do its work.
One case in point: Delicious Monster, a rather strangely named software company (it’s a reference to a jungle flower species, if you must know) whose primary office isn’t an office at all, but a Seattle coffee shop with wireless network access. There’s no rent expense, no lighting bill, no heating or air conditioning or security to worry about, just the cost of coffee and snacks (and a few wireless laptops).
Another case in point: CafePress, a web-based service company that lets you set up your own on-line merchandise shop without any inventory, any warehousing, and even without any products of your own. You just upload some logos and/or photos, tell them how to put them on any number of available products (T-shirts, mugs, calendars, magnets, journals, calendars, etc.), and open the virtual doors to your shop. They take the order, make the item, ship the item, run the phone bank, and cover the product guarantee. Then they send you a check for the small margin you earn on each item sold. They don’t even charge you a set-up or hosting fee.
So, an organization without an office…and an on-line shop without a warehouse, a shipping staff, a production staff, or a design team. Perhaps the ‘no-overhead’ arts enterprise is not a fantasy after all.
AND NOW YOU CAN BUY ARTFUL MANAGER CRAP: To test out the CafePress system, I actually set up my own shop with T-shirts, mugs, and such. It cost nothing, and it took me about 30 minutes. Now the world can finally purchase the Artful Manager merchandise its been longing for…or not. And yes, it’s really a shop. You can buy this stuff if the mood strikes you. Makes a great gift!
