Just a quick observation about "hard" vs. "soft" money.  In my experience,
there is simply no difference between the two!  Money is money, and the
only thing that will ever protect a budget from being cut one year to the
next is the commitment of the department head, the museum's director,
and/or the museum's board to the program in question.

At RSABG, for example, as much as 70% of our annual unrestricted operating
budget come from our endowment.  This is what most people would call "hard
money."  What happens, however, when a major recession reduces income from
the endowment (as happened just a few years ago)?  Well, that hard money
softens up quite a bit!  Someone or some program paid for on a multi-year
grant from an outside funder may, in fact, fare much better in a budget
cutting session than someone funded by the endowment.  Likewise, any
institution relying on admissions fees (not ours since we don't charge one)
can be negatively affected by a reduction in gate revenues.  Here at our
Garden, our visitation dropped by about 10% this past spring due to a
seemingly unending parade of rain storms.  Our annual rainfall
figure--normally 12 to 15 inches or so a year--was more than 35 inches for
the year!  What would we have done to compensate?  Probably cut our budget.


Soooo, I believe that one should never overlook an opportunity to get money
from a grant to cover some portion of salaries, supplies or other
"overhead" costs.  Including money to relieve the operating budget of a
part of someone's salary is the only way to obtain operating funds from
many private corporations and foundations.

Well, I'll be off the list for the next several days as I'll be out of
town.  I'd be interested to see what others think about this topic when I
return next week.

See ya!

Richard Chute ([log in to unmask])          Dir. of Corp. & Fndtn. Rel.

Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden         1500 North College Ave.
Claremont, CA 91711
Phone:  (909) 625-8767, ext. 222        FAX:  (909) 626-7670