CYT Baton Rouge has served the Baton Rouge community for over a decade since it began in 2013. Back then, our first session had about 25 kids. Today, we have grown to serve close to 700 kids every year through our classes, shows, and camps. In addition, over 7,000 people enjoy our performances annually.
As we have grown, the need for larger and more appropriate space has become apparent. CYT Baton Rouge currently leases space from five different churches and theaters, as well as warehouse space for set building and costume storage.
CYT Baton Rouge has a vision to establish a one-location campus that will provide space for all of our classes, rehearsals, and camps. In addition, it would also provide an expanded warehouse space which we will use for building and storage for sets, props, and costumes. Finally, this Performing Arts Campus will also be home to a state-of-the-art 700 seat theater and a multi-use event space.
Not only would this Performing Arts Campus provide enough space for current CYT needs, but it would also allow expansion for our programming – additional classes and class times, shows, etc. And since the space would be owned by CYT, it could be used much more often throughout the week, greatly increasing the reach and impact of CYT for the kids and families in this region.
CYT Baton Rouge Endowment Fund & Building Fund
With the future Performing Arts Campus in mind, CYT Baton Rouge has established a permanent Endowment and a Building fund. Although CYT Baton Rouge has been successful since its founding and produces enough income through programming and donations to fund our annual budget, this is nowhere near enough to buy land and to build and maintain a Performing Arts Campus.
The CYT Baton Rouge Endowment exists primarily to provide sustainability for the operation and maintenance of CYT Baton Rouge's planned Performing Arts Campus; it will also help ensure sustainability for CYT operations overall.
Short-term Goal
The short-term goal is to acquire a property that would accommodate CYT's needs for classes and rehearsals, sets (building and storage), props and costumes. And due to our ability to use the space without limitations on time, these properties would allow us to grow exponentially the amount of kids and families we can serve through additional classes, shows, and programs. Within the last 12 months, several Baton Rouge properties have hit the market with enough space to accommodate CYT’s needs.
Though this would not provide performance space, we feel purchasing a property such as these and renovating to our needs is the absolute best next step in building CYT Baton Rouge’s future. This would allow us to have one location instead of the five locations that we currently rent from. Most importantly, we would have full use and control of this space which would allow us to expand our programming and give us freedom and flexibility for class and rehearsal times, etc.
With this goal in mind, we are seeking to grow our endowment to $2,000,000 to help fund the upkeep and maintenance of such a property and secure $3,000,000 for the property purchase itself.
Once our Endowment and Building funds grow, we will be able to move to our long-term goal of building the larger Performing Arts Campus.
Long-term Goal
The Long-term goal is to buy land and build our Performing Arts campus, which including a theater and will be custom built for our needs.
A Master Plan has been developed to reach strategic benchmark levels in the Endowment and in the Building Fund. Each of these two funds will have its own financial goals with construction beginning in phases.
For this long-term goal, we estimate the entire campus project of land, structural development and infrastructure, buildings for classes, a theater, administration, meetings rooms, dance studios, a set warehouse and workshop, and storage for costumes and props to cost $34.5 million. To fund the annual maintenance of this campus, we expect an annual budget of about $670 thousand which is why we also have a goal to reach $13.5 million in the permanent Endowment. That puts our estimated total cost of the campus and Endowment at a total of $48 million.
More details about the endowment
We estimate the annual operating and maintenance costs for the Performing Arts Campus will be $671,750 per year. This takes into account utilities, maintenance, janitorial, landscaping, and additional staffing to handle any administration. The earnings and interest from the Endowment would cover those costs each and every year for generations to come without placing financial pressure on CYT Baton Rouge in the process.
Who will manage the endowment and invest the funds?
We have partnered with the Baton Rouge Area Foundation (BRAF) to manage our endowment. BRAF is among the largest community foundations in the country. It has been supporting philanthropists for over 60 years by providing education, counsel, and tools to help them support nonprofits and the community at large and brings a host of value, experience, and expertise to CYT Baton Rouge.
BRAF’s commitment to strong governance and policy will help ensure funds are managed well on behalf of donors.
How can I give to the CYT Baton Rouge Endowment?
Contact our Board Treasurer, Matt Kubicek at
matthewkubicek@gmail.com or 225-281-8546. Matt holds the Certified Private Wealth Advisor designation; he can share ways you can partner with CYT Baton Rouge, and he can help think through the best fit for you. Matt serves as the CYT Baton Rouge liaison with BRAF to coordinate gifts such as stock and other non-cash gifts.
