How Manifest supports itself..

As I mentioned in my last post, Manifest is a not-for-profit art gallery. Officially, it is a 501(c)(3) non-profit arts organization. Many people don't know exactly what that means, so we tell them that it's the same type of organization as the Cincinnati Art Museum and the Cincinnati Zoo.

Since Manifest doesn't rely on sales, it must support itself in other ways. Private donations cover a lot of Manifest's operating costs. Becoming a member is one way that many people choose to donate. By becoming a member, people pledge to donate a certain amount of money and they also receive some perks for their donations such as a Manifest T-shirt, complimentary catalogs, and special invitations to events for members only. Also, people can and do choose to make donations without such premiums.

Because we're a non-profit, we can also apply for grants that help fund our programs. In some other larger arts organizations, there may be one person in the development department who is exclusively responsible for grant writing. From what I understand, it can be a very tedious job. Manifest, however, is a small organization so we don't have a specified development department or grant writer. We also have sponsors such as The Ohio Arts Council and The Fine Arts Fund. These organizations and others like it believe in investing in the Arts and have chosen to invest in Manifest.

Although we don't rely on sales, we do take a small commission (30 percent) when we sell artwork. Other galleries that are more focused on retail may take as much as 40 or 50%. We also take profits from the sale of catalogs and our other publications.

Being a non-profit does make fundraising very important for Manifest, but it also gives us some freedoms that we wouldn't have if we relied exclusively on retail sales.