If you are in a nonprofit arts organization and you want to pay a "living wage" to anyone, artist or administrator the money has to come from two sources:
1. Individual donations
2. Ticket sales, or some similar type of earned revenue
That's it.
That's the list.
There is no foundation, no government source that is EVER going to provide sufficient income to consistently pay a living wage.
If you want the wage, you are going to have to build the infrastructure and capacity necessary to get actual money out of the pockets of actual people.
"But Adam, we don't want to focus on this things, we want to focus on the art."
Fine. Cool. I understand that building the sort of relationships and connections you need for audience and donors is a lot of work. I know from experience that it is easier to write a grant.
I also understand that you may find it hard to justify bringing in (and paying) fundraisers and marketers when you don't even have the money to pay the artists.
I get all of that.
But there is NO BUSINESS (nonprofit or otherwise) that can neglect the revenue side of the equation on one hand and then be worried about wages on the other.
It's your choice.
Develop the skills necessary to fundraise and market your work or live on the whims of foundations and government sources.
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