Last August my friend Stephanie and I put on a show at a place called "The Jon Sims Center for the Arts". Now for those of you who don't know (which at this point I am guessing all of you that read my blog), Jon Sims founded the San Francisco Gay Mens Chorus, the Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San Francisco, the San Francisco Freedom Band... basically he was the father of the gay musical movement.
Well when we were doing this show last year it became pretty clear that the organization was in dire straights. When I say dire, I mean the board walked out six months before, the lighting girl was holding everything together and they were about a week away from being evicted. Steph and I thought that was horrible and that it was a worthy organization that deserved to continue on. So, we did the only thing that we could think... We took over. Steph formed a new board and got us an interim Executive Director.
We had our first board meeting and got our first inkling of how far gone the organization really was. By November our board of seven was down to three and the ED had resigned. The board that walked away and just left the organization to fail really did a good job of making sure that that is exactly what would happen. The records of the last few years were a nightmare. Taxes were never filed. Money was clearly embezzled. Rent had not been paid since the board walked away. So basically there was over 50k in debt, and we had no idea how to do it.
We were planning on closing the doors for good in December, but then we got an offer that we thought might save the place. An artist and teacher at a local college said that his school would pay a a third of the rent if they could have one of the studios for classes and student performances. We said hell yeah and brought him in. I started booking artists into the studios as fast as I possibly could and we honestly thought that we would be able to make it.
Over the last few weeks I have been pulling my hair out trying to figure it all out. I am desperately trying to figure out how to keep this place up and running. We consistently run about $1500 short on rent... Steph has been putting up her own money for months now, and she just cant afford it anymore, so now we are at wit's end. I can run the place and make all the bookings, but when it comes to the laws and standards of running a non-profit, I must admit I am at a loss. You see, I am the president and CEO now. Steph can not only no longer afford the financial burden, but the time burden is becoming too much as well. The only other board member is moving away in August, so she is basically gone already.
I am single handedly running that place. I have managed to knock over two thousand bucks of our debt out just with my silver tounge. Steph has personally been paying all of the utilities. Next week I am meeting with the property managers and eventually the landlord. Not a single day has gone by in the last two weeks when a debt collector hasn't called with a new bill. I am seriously about to cry. I don't know what else to do, I don't want the place to close but I cant seem to bring in enough money.
There is only one good thing that I have learned in the last two weeks about the organization and even that is pretty bad. If we walk away from the organization and leave it to fail on it's own like the last board did... the last board will be the ones held accountable. See, because Steph and I don't know all the details of running a non-profit we never changed any of the forms the state has that tells them who is accountable. So, in the eyes of the Federal Government and the State Government we don't exist in the organization.
I want to yell at those people that just walked away, they sabotaged the organization and the staff stole money and crippled us. I want them held accountable. I just don't know what else to do. I want to find someone who can help. I mean you would think that we could call the police... Or that there would be someone at the government that could help us or tell us what to do. I am just sick over this. It really is adding so much stress to my life.
Any ideas?
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