LETTER TO THE EDITOR / KW NONPROFITS’ POST PANDEMIC CHALLENGES

By Roger C. Kostmayer

The last couple of years have been difficult for many 501C3 organizations, especially for the cultural nonprofits that haven’t been able to control their costs or their revenues. They all need to be creative, and we ALL need to support them in every way possible.

The Tropic Cinema, for example, has done a good job.  The public largely stopped going indoors to theaters because of Covid, at the same time  expenses were increasing.  The Tropic focused on the area over which they did have control – expenses.  Management conducted a cost/benefit analysis of their 4 theaters.  The results showed that one of the four theaters contributed a low percentage of revenue and it was also a large percent of maintenance costs.  Tropic management bit the bullet, eliminated this one theater and made other adjustments that mitigated the negative financial impact. This tactic gave The Tropic more time to focus on creative ways to increase attendance and funding.

The Key West Literary Seminar (KWLS) is an international success that brings extraordinary benefits to KW and Monroe County. Year in and year out for 40 years, this seminar attracted the best and most profitable tourists to KW and the keys, along with the affluent residents who impact our local economy.  These substantial cultural and economic benefits are quite different from those attendant to cruise ship, powerboat and motorcycle tourists.

Unfortunately, the cumulative affect of huge price increases for hotels (up 70%), labor and food costs was devastating to KWLS and other cultural nonprofits.  In addition, health & safety required an outdoor venue for the 2023 seminar and an expensive tent to protect attendees from sun and rain.   All of the above raises the question of why shouldn’t the city, county and businesses help protect these invaluable cultural attractions?  It’s in their interests and in the interests of our entire community.

We’re all in this together, which means that each of us, as beneficiaries who value these cultural non-profits, should contribute and give them support.

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