Foundation Cited in Troubled Drive to Fund Art Parks

The first major fund-raising campaign of the San Fernando Valley Cultural Foundation has fallen short of meeting even half its goal, due mostly to a lack of commitment by the foundation’s board and poor public relations, according to a confidential report obtained by The Times.

The nonprofit foundation, made up of Valley business and political leaders, hopes to raise as much as $100 million over 10 years to build theater and art complexes in Warner Park in Woodland Hills and in Sepulveda Basin.

In December, 1985, the foundation retained the fund-raising firm of Douglas M. Lawson Associates to raise $1 million in six months to seed its future multimillion-dollar solicitations.

With a June 1 deadline nearing, however, the Lawson firm, which is receiving $10,000 a month from the foundation, reported that it had raised only about $400,000.

The firm said it received about $150,000 from board members--$52,000 less than expected--and had commitments from only seven other potential donors, totaling about $300,000.

Start-Up Effort Extended

In response to the report, the board voted to extend the start-up campaign by nine months, said board member Ross Hopkins, press spokesman for the group. He said the board intends to kick off the first phase of its capital campaign on schedule next March.

The meeting, held Monday, was not open to the public. The Times, however, obtained a copy of the Lawson firm’s report and a copy of the minutes from the board’s March meeting.

A report in the minutes shows that the campaign has progressed only marginally since then. According to the minutes, dated March 16, the firm had secured $300,000 from 17 donors and had “requested” another $350,000 to $400,000.

Although the report issued to board members Monday did not state a current total, Hopkins said the New York-based Lawson firm reported orally that secure contributions now total about $400,000, half in cash and half in pledges. Another $350,000 is still considered possible, Hopkins said.

Hopkins and another board member said the board received the report in good spirits.

‘Just Challenges’

“A couple of people said, ‘Well, it looks like we’ve got some problems here,’ ” Hopkins said. “Other people said, ‘Nope, just challenges. That’s a challenge; let’s go meet it.’ ”

“It’s not as wonderful as we would have liked, but it says in no uncertain terms that you can do it. But you are going to have to work harder than you did before,” said Los Angeles City Councilwoman Joy Picus, also a member of the board.

Picus said the Lawson firm’s representative to the foundation, Linda Kinnee, said the campaign might have been more successful if it had been designated as a “building” rather than a “seed” campaign.

“She indicated to me that she has $3 million to $4 million in pledges for a capital campaign,” Picus said.

Picus said the board decided to raise operating funds before it hired the Lawson firm in December.

“I suppose those who built the Music Center and the Orange County Performing Arts Center made mistakes of that caliber, too, before they succeeded,” she said. “We’ve defined the problems that we need to address.”

Madeleine Landry, executive director of the foundation, said she did not interpret the report as being negative.

“Between what’s in-house and cash and what’s out there coming in, there’s close to two-thirds of our money,” Landry said. “We don’t think it’s pessimistic at all.”

Dire Terms

In places, however, the report painted the foundation’s fund-raising efforts in almost dire terms.

“All giving seems to have dropped off in the past year,” the report said. “The annual campaign has fallen back again, due to lack of board involvement in the asking process.”

Elsewhere, the report said, “There seems to be a wait-and-see attitude among most board members in terms of making appointments, opening doors and / or assisting in the fund-raising effort.”

Plans Unclear

Quoting several prospective donors anonymously, the report faulted the board for being unable to make its plans clear to the public and failing to maintain contact with key people.

“I didn’t even know I was on your Board of Advisers,” one prospect was reported as saying. “Nobody talks to me. I don’t even know what you’re doing--are you doing anything? I’ve just about given up--I told someone two years ago I’d give you $100,000 a year, and I have never heard from anybody since.”

The report said another prospect protested: “We’ve been waiting for this group to come back to us with something definite--why is it taking so long? I think they only like to give little parties.”

Landry said many of those comments were taken out of context to demonstrate things the board needs to work on.

Kinnee’s report told the board that it could overcome its problems by developing a “total communication strategy” to build awareness of its goals.

Kinnee said that all the prospective donors she interviewed could be persuaded to give to the foundation after they learned about its plans.

Prospects ‘Excited’

“With all new prospects, they were totally unaware of the existence of the foundation and, once they heard the story, became very excited,” Kinnee said.

Kinnee recommended 11 steps to build public support.

Among them, the foundation needs to form affiliated groups, recruit new board members “of influence or affluence or both” and immediately develop a five-year business plan.

One prospective donor, Kinnee reported, chastised the foundation for not having a five-year plan, saying “no major corporation will give to you without one.”

The slow start of the foundation’s first major campaign comes after seven years of preparation by the group, which was formed by two older Valley arts groups to raise money for arts facilities.

Much of the group’s early efforts went into forming a board of directors that grew to include such influential people as Herbert (Bert) F. Boeckmann II, the multimillionaire owner of Galpin Ford in Sepulveda, and Robert Voit, developer of much of Warner Center.

Plans for Arts Complexes

After conducting studies of the demand in the Valley for cultural facilities, the foundation then settled on plans to build Performing Arts Square in Warner Park, consisting of a 1,200-seat theater and a 650-seat theater, and Arts Park L.A. in Sepulveda Basin, consisting of a 2,500-seat concert hall, an amphitheater, a museum and a restaurant in addition to artists’ work areas on the borders of a lake that will be constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

In February, 1985, the foundation announced that, after planning the facilities, forming a campaign committee and bringing aboard a nationally known general manager, it was ready to launch a major capital campaign.

A feasibility study conducted that winter, however, concluded that the foundation could not reach its fund-raising goal for 10 to 15 years.

The following spring, General Manager Luke Bandle resigned with a terse announcement that her skills were better suited to operating cultural facilities than to fund raising.

At the same time, the foundation struggled for months to finalize legal agreements with the two arts organizations that formed it and to secure a lease from the City of Los Angeles for the Sepulveda Basin property.

Meanwhile, the foundation has been required to prepare an environmental impact report for Warner Performing Arts Square. Landry said that will be started as soon as the foundation can hire a consultant.