No Man is an Island

No Man is an Island

Collaboration is key to making effective change. The proverb “no man is an island” rings true in these turbulent times as it falls onto us to initiate that change. Joined together, we create a persuasive voice that is hard to ignore with the power to influence nations. Most believe that these voices can begin in the Arts community. But as was said, “no man is an island”.

The end of the year giving is an important sustainable facet of our Arts community. The audience of these organizations may not understand the price that we pay to bring quality productions to them at a bargain price. Donations are an extremely massive portion of the funds that allow us to operate and tell our stories. Without them, we are unable to fill the void that is needed in the city of Chicago.

At this time, it is vitally important to explore the reality of how much we rely on donations and how they keep us contributed to the community. According to the 2015 Charity Navigator, about $373.25 billion is made available to all non-profit organizations total. Arts organizations only see 5% of that number or $18.66 billion spread amongst ALL arts organizations. Here’s a breakdown of how contributed income supports a standard arts organization:
 
Corporations - 5%
Bequests – 9%
Foundations – 16%
Individual Donations – 71%
 
That is why there would be no Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble without the continued support of our current donors and the gracious gifts of from our new donors. 81% of our budget goes towards funding our programming.  Our audience should know the major impact that they have on the accessibility of our stories and what it takes to keep them alive. In order to grow and ask the bigger questions, we need to take action in spreading our tales to those who have yet to see them.

In Chicago, we are the only multidisciplinary arts organization that engages in social justice material that gives the community tools to challenge the status quo. We are living in an important moment where we stand on the precipice of change. We can join hands and take a leap of faith together into a bright future or we may stay standing, watching the events unfold before us without challenging what comes next.

This is the reason why we need to grow and join our voices to make sure we are heard. CDE has many communication outlets for you to come and engage in conversation about the society we live in. There you can see what we are doing to take a stand and maybe after some time getting to know us, you may join hands with us and leap into a brighter tomorrow.

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Mitchell Wilson

Mitchell is a Junior at Depaul University working towards degrees in Theatre Management and Marketing. In his free time, he's an Actor, House Manager and Gamer. Mitchell joined CDE this past Fall as a Marketing Intern. He's excited to learn new facet of marketing techniques for the socio-political works that CDE creates.