2015 Portfolio: Cultural Across Communities is the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance’s first national report, covering the activities of 5,502 organizations in 11 metros: Bay Area, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Twin Cities & Washington DC. Collectively, these communities employ 906,000 through paid and volunteer positions and pump $13 billion annually into the economy. The communities examined have 23.7% of the total population of the nation. The report relies on data from the Cultural Data Project and is supported by a grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
The report reveals that, overall, cultural regions across the country are on the road to recovery from the Great Recession, with revenue, attendance and net assets all increasing from 2009-2012. Nonprofit arts & culture organizations were also able to rebuild savings and investments, increasing net assets 7.6% and endowments 13.7%. Profit mar-gins in aggregate were also positive, with a slim aggregate surplus of 3.2% in the most recent fiscal year of the report (2012).
“There are clear signs that the arts, museums, and the broad spectrum of cultural nonprofits have been able to navigate past the recession—increasing audiences and building revenues,” said Maud Lyon, President, Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance. “But progress is fragile. To remain relevant and viable, it is clear we need to engage the next generation of donors and audiences.”
For more information about this report visit https://www.philaculture.org/research/2015-portfolio-culture-across-communities.