Artown fine-tunes requests for in-kind help

Chris Fleiner says JLH Inc. will donate printing and mailing services to Artown this year, and organizers of the annual month-long festival hope other companies follow the example of Fleiner's company.

With cash tight for many of the businesses that historically have provided financial support for Artown, its organizers are looking for in-kind donations.

Donations of goods and services are nothing new for Artown.

It's received in-kind donations valued at about $300,000 a year for recent events, donations that help stretch Artown's cash budget of roughly $1 million a year.

Grand Sierra Resort, for instance, has provided rooms for visiting performers at Artown events.

But this year, Artown Executive Director Beth Macmillan says the organization has sharpened its focus on the use of donations to provide goods and services that otherwise would require cash expenditure.

Its organizers have carefully analyzed each line of Artown's budget, identified places where donations could offset cash expenditures and began talking directly to potential in-kind donors.

That allows Artown to conserve cash for budget items such as performers' fees.

The focus on in-kind donations is important, too, to companies that have been long-time donors to Artown, but now find themselves strapped.

"It make them feel that they are part of the game still," says Macmillan. "People are very receptive to this."

Fleiner, a principal in JLH, says contributions to Artown whether cash or in-kind have proven to be a good tool for marketing to festival-goers.

"The exposure is almost priceless," he says, noting that Artown executives are careful to expose the sponsors' message to the wide variety of audiences at its many events.

Mindfulness of the needs of sponsors is the same whether the donor gives cash, services or merchandise, says Macmillan.

"The accountability doesn't change," she says. "We need to be a good partner."

Part of Artown's accountability, Macmillan says, is ensuring that sponsors get their share of business from the arts festival.

"We're doing everything we can to push business back to the sponsoring organizations," she says.