PSO adopts a business approach to stay in the black
Photo/Robert M. Cook
Robert Moody, music director for the Portland Symphony Orchestra, at a recent Portland Regional Chamber event
The Portland Symphony Orchestra will end its fiscal year in the black, for the second year in a row, less than a month before it performs the "Patriotic Pops" Fourth of July fireworks concert on the Eastern Promenade.
Robert Moody, the PSO's music director, says the 85-year-old orchestra is actually doing pretty well compared to many other orchestras nationwide that have been hit hard by the recession and declared bankruptcy.
Moody, who spoke at the Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce's final eggs and issues event of the season June 2 at the Holiday Inn by the Bay, says the PSO realized it could not do business as usual to pay its bills, which often involved using a line of credit from next year's projected ticket revenue to cover the current season's expenses.
"I'm the worst businessman on the planet and I can see how the old model is a recipe for failure," he says.
Under the new model, Moody says the PSO's board of trustees and administration decided to live within the organization's means and still put on the best-quality concerts it can. He says that at any given PSO meeting, it is common to see administrators, trustees and musicians in attendance. In order for the PSO to survive and thrive, Moody says financial success and artistic success must happen together.
"We all have skin in the game," he says.
As part of its efforts to boost its revenue, the orchestra is planning on launching four one-hour concerts in its discovery series that will feature the music of the Harry Potter movies, Peter and the Wolf and Star Wars. The PSO will also debut a new website in August.
Eleanor Chatto, the PSO's acting executive director, says it took some tough decisions over the last two years to get the PSO's financial house in order without sacrificing the quality of the performances. The nonprofit group had a $2.4 million annual budget in fiscal years 2009 and 2010, a drop from its $3 million budget in 2008.
She says the PSO has 12 full- and part-time staff after two full-time and one part-time employee were let go in January and June 2009, respectively. Senior staff also agreed to take a 10% pay cut in January 2009 and have not had a raise in two years. The orchestra's musicians have not seen any pay raises the last two years, she says.
As the PSO nears the end of its fiscal 2010 year on July 31, Chatto says 60% of the group's budget comes from performance revenue and 35% comes from donations and gifts from individual and corporate sponsors like Idexx Laboratories in Westbrook and Wright Express in South Portland. The remaining 5% comes from program advertising and equipment rentals.
"We've decided we're going to be prudent with our spending and not pull forward," Chatto says.
In order to stay in the black, Chatto says all PSO departments have to monitor their budgets closely. The organization also hopes to increase revenues through group ticket sales and more aggressive advertising and marketing campaigns.
The group's efforts were recognized on April 1 when the PSO was awarded the Maine Association of Nonprofits Governor's Award for Nonprofit Excellence. It marked the first time an arts organization received the award, she says.
Chatto says the PSO will also benefit from the exposure it will receive when it performs the "Patriotic Pops" concert on July 4, funded by MaineToday Media, the Maine Red Claws, Quirk Chevrolet and Wright Express, which donated $45,000 to make the event happen after the city cut the fireworks from its annual budget.
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