ArtsPool Launches in New York City

ArtsPool Services Inc. (ArtsPool), a New York City-based company that delivers core administration services to nonprofit arts organizations through a cooperative and shared infrastructure, announced today that is has begun serving its first three pilot members: The Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York (A.R.T./New York), Big Dance Theater, and Harbor Lights Theater Company. Initially a project of A.R.T./New York and developed by Guy Yarden, Sarah Maxfield, Max Dana and David Sheingold, ArtsPool organizes and provides skilled labor in tandem with a shared suite of web-based tools that help arts organizations save administrative time, control cost, and elevate output so they can allocate more resources toward their artistic endeavors.

ArtsPool initially provides three key infrastructure services: Finance, including bookkeeping, accounting, annual and grant budgeting, forecasting, reporting, and preparation for annual audit; Workforce Administration such as payroll, employee documentation, and coordinating insurance; and Compliance with core funder and regulatory requirements such as reports, filings, and policies.

"ArtsPool is a cooperative framework for arts organizations, with a central goal of helping those organizations streamline and improve their administrative work, so that they can focus on their core purpose and strengthen their operations," stated co-founder Sarah Maxfield. "Nonprofit arts organizations often face a one-two punch of limited capacity and extreme levels of regulation, which can cause an overload of administrative and compliance tasks, draining funds and increasing risks. ArtsPool is an effort to tackle this issue and provide flexible support to help its member organizations thrive."

"I am incredibly proud that A.R.T./New York was able to nurture ArtsPool in the early years of its development and is now one of its pilot members. I am confident that this company will change the face of how performing arts organizations are managed; thereby allowing all of us to focus more of our time and energy on the vital artists and art-making that are at the heart of our field," stated A.R.T./New York's Executive Director Virginia P. Louloudes.

Harbor Lights' Executive Artistic Director Tamara Jenkins added, "Harbor Lights is thrilled to be joining ArtsPool at its exciting inception. We are looking forward to having more time and energy to commit to our art, board growth, and fundraising efforts. We anticipate not only increased capacity, but also the kind of back-end expertise that we have been seriously lacking in this growth stage of our development."

In addition to serving its members, ArtsPool offers a free online Compliance Toolkit (http://compliance.artspool.co) through an easy to use interface that helps non-profit organizations stay on top of their federal, state, city and funder-related requirements. The Compliance Toolkit runs on a rule-based system that compares user-entered data with the numerous regulatory requirements and then provides the user with a customized task list so that they can address their compliance needs without spending hours wading through confusing information.

ArtsPool is run by a core staff of three managers including co-founders Yarden, Maxfield, and Dana and is governed by those managers and the organizations it serves. A member-driven governance process ensures that ArtsPool continually adapts to member needs.