Columnist Scott Dickensheets: Banking on corporate arts support

Scott Dickensheets

Sunday, Jan. 31, 1999 | 9:37 a.m.

With creativity," the distinguished, white-haired gentleman on TV is saying, praising the creativity workshops at the Lied Discovery Children's Museum, "there's no telling how far a child can go."

This is a bank commercial, by the way. The man is Pioneer Citizens Bank President Bill Martin, and while the spot has a certain bankish message -- "there's no telling how far a child can go," he says over gently lilting music; "maybe even to one of our branches" -- it's as much public-service announcement as ad. It's a distinctly new wrinkle in corporate arts support in Las Vegas.

Now, one normally thinks of banks as citadels of evil, wherein covens of financial officers cackle over our desperate loan applications, frolic in piles of cash, and make grisly sacrifices on altars to their leering, greedy gods ... well, that's how I always imagine banks, anyway. Which makes this a canny move on Pioneer Citizens' part -- you gotta love an institution that cares enough about our kids to commit pricey air time to them.

"It really combined two agendas," says Jeff Bargerhuff, the bank's senior vice president and marketing director. "One is the philanthropic mission; we like to better the community. The other is more of a branding strategy; how do you differentiate yourself from the competition?"

Companies traditionally aid the arts in several ways, from opening the checkbook to big-hearted gestures (including events calendars in its mailings) to the better-than-nothing (hanging local art in the lobby). But Pioneer's commercials -- which also promoted the museum's recent Jim Henson exhibit -- are a "pioneering effort," Bargerhuff says, and, yes, pardon the pun.

"There's no way we could have ever bought that kind of advertising," says Emily Newberry, Discovery Museum spokeswoman. And it worked. Membership increased. Attendance increased. "If we'd have done the advertising we could normally afford," she says, "we wouldn't have drawn nearly as much."

Such intense partnerships may be a model for the future of arts support. "It helped us and it helped them," says Bargerhoff, noting that the bank's donations and other support of the museum added up to $400,000 last year. "It was good for both."

According to Richard Hooker of the Nevada Arts Council, corporate cash usually accounts for 6 or 7 percent of an arts group's yearly budget. In some cases, the figure is significantly higher. "Corporations and funders will give to organizations with a track record and a professional staff," Hooker says. Such as the Discovery Museum; corporate giving comprises 20 percent of its $1.4 million operating budget, says Director of Development Alan Lipsky.

"It's good business," says Barbara Mulholland, vice president of marketing at Citibank, which recently laid out big bucks to sponsor a visit by the New York Philharmonic. "It makes people like you. And you're doing a good thing for the community."

It's not just banks. Utilities and architecture-engineering firms are big givers. Gaming gets a bad rap for its tepid support of culture, but there are some notable exceptions: Mirage Resorts, the Rio. All will tell you cultural support not only enhances their corporate images but enlivens the city where, after all, their employees live and work.

Because they are businessmen, donors are pragmatic about wanting results. So they usually favor youth-related or educational projects. "Maybe when they grow up they will remember it was Citibank who helped them," Mulholland says.

On the downside, companies usually have far less funding available than hands outstretched. That's assuming a company even considers such donations a priority.

"One of the things I find is that I have to start from a whole different place," Lipsky says, comparing his fund-raising experiences here and in New York. "In New York, support for the arts is a given. Here I have to do more groundwork, to make the case about why the company should support the arts."

But he's optimistic. "As the community grows, corporate support of nonprofits grows."