Category: Help Yourself

Thanks to the generous partnership between the League and the Nonprofit Finance Fund, we are please to offer two new opportunities designed to help your organization with cash flow planning:

Webinar: Cash Flow Planning
Available on-demand now through July 2010, free of charge

This timely, practical webinar will provide participants with tips and tools to understand how to appropriately plan and monitor cash needs by analyzing your incoming and outgoing cash, including learning to use a monthly cash flow projection.

To access this webinar, click here. You will need the password “metlife.”

Conference Call: Cash Flow Planning
Live on Wednesday, November 4, 2009 at 2pm EST, free of charge

This conference call will build upon the lessons in the Cash Flow Webinar and will provide participants with additional tips and tools to understand how to appropriately plan and monitor cash needs by analyzing your incoming and outgoing cash, including reviewing the use of a monthly cash flow projection. The call will be highly interactive – please come with your questions about preparing your cash flow documents.

Questions can be submitted in advance by October 23rd to emily.guthman@nffusa.org. Please enter “MetLife Conference Call” in your email subject. We will try to answer as many questions as possible during the allotted timeframe of this call.

Please register in advance to participate in this important question and answer session by clicking here. You will need the password “metlife.”

And don’t forget:

Webinar: Sound Financial Planning
Available on-demand now through July 2010, free of charge

This timely, practical webinar will provide participants with tips and tools to lead their organizations during challenging times and beyond. NFF will offer guidance to enhance staff’s understanding of the interplay between financial risk, revenue reliability and fixed costs. We will also discuss how this information can be used to inform planning and decision-making organization-wide.

To access this webinar, click here. You will need the password “metlife.”

For more information on this exciting partnership and other Learning Online opportunities, click here . Stay tuned for more valuable resources from the League and the Nonprofit Finance Fund!

Posted October 22, 2009

Artists from Abroad – The Tax Webinar:  The Basics You Need to Know
Date:  Thursday, October 29
Time:  12 – 1:30 pm (Eastern)

BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND! The U.S. tax requirements for foreign guest artists are vastly different than the laws for U.S. residents. Do you have all the information you need to be in compliance with IRS requirements? Learn the essentials about Internal Revenue Service (IRS) withholding rules from attorney Robyn Guilliams, contributor to the Artists from Abroad website, including insight into tax treaties, the latest news regarding U.S. tax identification numbers, and tips for planning ahead to avoid last-minute tax mishaps.

Your questions are welcome in advance and will help shape the content and focus of the presentation!

For more information or to register for The Tax Webinar, click here.

With the accelerating pace of technological change, the League will now post monthly summaries of relevant news and information regarding changes, trends and developments that may affect the electronic media activities your orchestra uses to achieve its institutional mission. You’ll find these monthly summaries in the Knowledge Center’s newly created Electronic Media Services area under Technology News of Note.  (Read this month’s update)  

The advertising deadline for the January/February 2010 issue of Symphony magazine has been extended until next Friday, October 16th. For placement rates or to reserve your ad please contact Steve Alter at 646 822 4051 or salter@americanorchestras.org. Or click here to download the rate card: http://www.americanorchestras.org/images/stories/symphony_magazine/2010_ratecard.pdf

Posted October 7, 2009

Essentials of Orchestra Management – New York City, January 5-15, 2010

This is the year to invest in yourself. This intense, interactive eleven-day seminar is the learning and networking bootcamp you need to advance your career. Lead by seminar director Peter Pastreich, Essentials will expand your potential and provide a deeper understanding of the orchestra field. To learn more and to apply, click here.

The NYC Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) and the NYC Department of Youth & Community Development (DYCD) are pleased to announce program guidelines for the After-School Arts Partnerships (ASAP) awards.  The awards are for nonprofit New York City cultural organizations to provide services for elementary and middle school students participating in out-of-school activities near schools in need of improving their programs in arts education throughout the City. In Fiscal Year 2010, one-time funding is available for cultural initiatives to be delivered in collaboration with specially designated after-school program sites. Awards will be made at the level of $5,000 per site.

For more information on the program and application instructions, visit the DCA’s website at www.nyc.gov/culture. If you have any questions regarding the program, please contact the Department of Cultural Affairs by email at ASAP@culture.nyc.gov.

ASAP is a program of the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City with generous support provided by a one-time grant from the JCPenney Afterschool Fund.

You’re invited to complete the League’s 2008-2009 Orchestra Repertoire Report Online Survey.  The survey is now simpler and more intuitive to complete. Ready to see how? Check out the new instructional video and let Marcia Farabee, librarian of the National Symphony Orchestra, talk you through the process!

The video is found on the page linked below. When on the ORR page, click the link to watch, or right-click to save (by selecting “Save Target As…”). The video can be viewed through Windows Media Player or Real Player.  If you would prefer written instructions, you can print them here or you can call Jan Wilson for personal support at jwilson@americanorchestras.org

To access the survey and watch the instruction video, go to:  http://orr.americanorchestras.org

REASONS TO COMPLETE THE SURVEY:

• Your orchestra’s programming will be included in the 2008-09 Orchestra Repertoire Report, which is the go-to source for artistic administrators, conductors, musicians, executive directors, librarians, and researchers;
• The ORR gives you access to programming, repertoire, and soloists for any budget group of orchestras;
• Completion may impact your orchestra’s marketing and artistic programs by providing hints for new and exciting programs.

View the results of previous years here.

FOR COMPLETE AND DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS, MEMBER ID, AND INFORMATION ABOUT THIS YEAR’S ORR SURVEY – please refer to the email delivered to librarians, executive directors, and/or artistic administrators or contact Jan Wilson in the Knowledge Center by email at jwilson@americanorchestras.org  for assistance.

The annual Administrative Staff Salary and Benefits Survey is now available online.  Only participating League member orchestras will have access to the final reports from this survey.  Please complete the survey using your orchestra’s current salary figures for the 2009-2010 budgeted season.  Your timely completion of this survey will allow us to get final reports to you as quickly as possible.

All information and data submitted will be confidential. Only aggregate salary and benefits information will be included in the final reports. No individual’s salary or individual orchestra salary data will be reported.

Read the instructions below and those included on the homepage of the survey tool carefully.

Click here to access the salary and benefits survey.

For complete and detailed instructions, member id, password, and information about this year’s survey, please refer to the email sent to executive directors or contact Jan Wilson in the Knowledge Center (jwilson@americanorchestras.org) for assistance.

Please complete and submit this survey by Friday, November 6, 2009.

We are pleased to announce the 2009-2010 Learning Online season from your friends in Learning and Leadership Development at the League.

As you’ll see, we are offering a variety of learning opportunities now and in the coming weeks, covering topics such as cash flow planning, artist visas, electronic media, and civic engagement – and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

We are particularly excited about our partnership with the Nonprofit Finance Fund that offers financial advice and tools specifically for our members. The first on-demand webinar, Sound Financial Planning is available on our website now, click here to access.

You’ll see that many of our offerings are available free, others have a nominal charge. Ready to see what we have to offer? Click here now!

If you have questions or need more information, please contact our member services team at member@americanorchestras.org.

Webinars are made possible by grants from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Hearst Foundation, Inc., and the Argosy Foundation.

Distance learning resources developed in partnership with the Nonprofit Finance Fund are made possible by a generous grant from MetLife Foundation.

The League is proud to announce an exciting new partnership with the Nonprofit Finance Fund. Over the coming months, this partnership will bring League members a series of webinars, seminars, conference calls, and newsletters that will focus on key areas of financial concern including Basic Financial Literacy, Cash Flow Management, Managing Credit, and Practical Recession Planning.

The first webinar in the series, Sound Financial Planning, is a timely, practical webinar that will provide participants with tips and tools to lead their organizations during challenging times and beyond. NFF will offer guidance to enhance staff’s understanding of the interplay between financial risk, revenue reliability and fixed costs. We will also discuss how this information can be used to inform planning and decision-making organization-wide. The webinar is available free of charge! Click here to access.

The first conference call, Revenue Realities in a Challenging Time, will take place on September 17 at 1:00 pm EST. This one-hour, interactive call will address decision-making strategies for managing revenue in this challenging climate. Click here to register.

For more information or to register for upcoming webinars, conference calls, and newsletters from the League and the Nonprofit Finance Fund, please visit the League’s new Learning Online area of Learning and Leadership Development: Learning Online.

Distance learning resources developed in partnership with the Nonprofit Finance Fund are made possible by a generous grant from MetLife Foundation.