In addition to continuing its regular national program of support for the creative and performing arts, the Foundation this year took three major steps on which long-range planning had been under way for several years:

• a nationwide survey of the economics of nonprofit performing arts organizations;

• a program of cash reserve grants to enable performing arts groups to eliminate accumulated operating losses and create a capital reserve fund;

• support of the long-range training resources of first-rank conservatories of music.

The Foundation also continued assistance to a small number of leadership groups in the arts to consolidate their operations.

Since 1957 the Foundation's regular program in the arts has emphasized the development of individual talent for professional careers in music, theater, and the dance, and the strengthening of key artistic groups and institutions through which that talent may be displayed. Support has also gone to experimental projects and demonstrations that show promise of revealing new artistic dimensions or setting higher standards in the whole art field concerned. The Foundation-wide commitment to enlarging opportunities for minorities is reflected in grants to further the professional development of artists from minority groups.

Support for humanistic scholarship is given at the postdoctoral level through grants to the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS). Assistance to the ACLS programs of postdoctoral fellowships and grants-in-aid to scholars began in 1956 and now totals $16.5 million.

ECONOMIC SURVEY

To obtain more accurate data for performing-arts managers, for potential donors, public and private, and for all those concerned with public policy about the arts, the Foundation this year commissioned a searching survey of the economics of the nonprofit performing arts in the United States. The lack of systematically compiled and comprehensive financial data has long handicapped performing arts managers trying to appraise their own current economic situation and plan rationally for the future. Furthermore, actual and potential supporters need a clearer notion of how the performing arts are financed, why they cost what they do, and how these costs are met. One of the premises of the survey is that such information is essential to the development of an effective national policy for the arts.

The survey, which is scheduled to be completed and published in 1972, includes a financial history and analysis of some 200 nonprofit professional groups in the theater, opera, symphony, and dance. A long questionnaire solicited detailed information on each group's income, earned and contributed, and expenses of all kinds for each of five years ending with the 1969-70 performance season. The data bank thus established is to be updated each year; updating through the 1970-71 fiscal year has already begun.

A separate market study is being conducted in twelve cities to determine actual and potential audience size and interest.

The survey is being conducted with the help of experienced economists and systems analysts. The audience survey is being carried out by a market research firm. Some 8,000 interviews will be analyzed to learn, for example, what factors affect people's decision to buy or not to buy tickets.

CASH RESERVE

A new program consisting of "cash reserve" grants was designed to attack the recurring economic problems of most performing arts groups in the United States. Chief among these are accumulated operating losses, a chronic shortage of cash to meet current expenses, and, because of inadequate capital, a crippling inability to plan for future seasons. Money from contributions, subscriptions, or the box office comes in irregularly, leaving critical periods when there is a lack of cash to meet payrolls, rehearsal costs, or other current financial obligations. Although some companies are able to raise emergency funds, others must borrow on a short-term basis to bridge the gap. These debts must be paid out of subsequent income.