The recent conductor rant from the Richardson Symphony Orchestra that was caught on tape has produced an intriguing comment thread. One item that caught my attention was the notion that the group has been wrestling with their cash flow issues for some time and the decision as to whether or not this should be brought to public attention is one of the reasons for discord. As it turns out, this very topic was the source for one of my blog posts back in November, 2004…
Finance
Claims Of “Gross Mismanagement And Incompetence” In Honolulu
According to two news reports (here and here), the Honolulu Symphony Musicians presented a filing this week that “(Based) on its history of gross mismanagement and incompetence …management is incapable of the task reorganization and a Chapter 11 trustee should be appointed, or, in the alternative, the case should be converted to Chapter 7 or dismissed.” This comes barely a month after an article here from 2/8/2010 which speculated on whether Chapter 7 liquidation might be a better alternative than Chapter 11 reorganization bankruptcy…
Let The Thieving Begin!
Thank goodness it has been awhile since the dirty little secret of just how easy it is for someone inside a nonprofit performing arts organization to misappropriate organizational funds has made headlines. And by misappropriate, I mean embezzle and by embezzle, I mean steal. Nonetheless, from across the Atlantic comes a report that the former Financial Director for the London Philharmonic Orchestra “siphoned off” just under US$1,000,000 over a period of four years. The indiscretion was brought to light after the organization executed an external audit…
There Will Be No Further Reductions In The Ranks
Amidst all the buzz this week about new business models sparked by an article from Michael Kaiser for the 11/9/2009 edition of The Huffington Post (no worries, we’ll be examining that in more detail after Mad Men week) I thought it would be fun to look at one of the major plot points from this year’s season of Mad Men and how it relates to this field…
When High Standards Collide With Low Expectations
Last week’s poll asking readers “how many orchestras will take advantage of having the direct link to their respective financial reports page at GuideStar.org and post it on their webpage by the end of November” and if “institutional transparency in the form of posting financial and annual reports matter” generated just over 100 responses. The results, at the time this article was written, can be summed up by saying that stakeholders have high standards but low expectations…