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Enter Marjorie Waldo.
Marjorie came from the education
world, with years of experience turning
around charter schools that lacked resources
and funding while she advocated
for at-risk youth. After a career shift from
education, Marjorie harnessed her expertise
in turnaround management to begin
consulting for underperforming businesses
and nonprofits. It was at this time that Marjorie
was introduced to Arts Garage as someone who could
potentially right the ship. After an open discussion with the Board
regarding the big changes that were necessary to save Arts Garage,
Marjorie was offered the position of CEO in October of 2016.
In November of 2016, with Marjorie officially on board, Arts Garage’s
financial struggles loomed large. The organization had hundreds
of thousands of dollars in debt, stacks of unpaid bills, and due
to missing documentation was years behind on mandatory audits.
Unphased, Marjorie took these challenges head-on by prioritizing
payments to staff, small businesses and local vendors. She reduced
accounts payable by cutting unnecessary expenses and negotiating
payment plans with large vendors. In January 2017, Marjorie
launched the Arts Garage’s Band of Angels, whose members committed
to an annual donation of $10K and helped the nonprofit recover
long-term debt.
With a small staff and limited resources, Marjorie began to rebuild
Arts Garage. She led improvements, eliminated overlaps,
implemented infrastructure systems, initiated operational adjustments,
and improved customer service standards. She created
policies and procedures to improve the Arts Garage experience
for both patrons and staff, and cultivated a team who shared her
vision. Marjorie implemented a sustainable business model that
increased the variety of musical genres as well as the number of
shows on the stage, which ultimately helped raise tickets sales and
increase revenue opportunities. And it didn’t stop there.
“I attended every show that first year, and I would make a list
of five to twenty-five things that we needed to improve,” Marjorie
recalls. “Do we need to paint the stage? Do the seats look okay and
are the tablecloths dirty? How are the acoustics? Do the patrons
look happy? Where’s the staff member making sure that the opening
of the doors isn’t disturbing the performance, and all of that
kind of stuff.”
Marjorie’s attention to detail combined with her leadership and
operational skills meant that by the end of 2019, Arts Garage’s future
was bright. The organization had increased its budget by over
25% and ticket sales were up by 30%. Then the pandemic hit.
PHOTOS BY STUDIO B2, INC.
PHOTOS BY ARTS GARAGE
Rather than letting Covid defeat her, Marjorie rallied. With all
of the tools she had implemented in place, zero debt and a small
reserve, and all audits completed, she was determined to not let
the two-week shutdown ruin what she had built. Instead, she put a
plan in place, and adapted. During the pandemic, Marjorie made it
a priority to support local talent by continuing to produce live performances
with a commitment to book each one for the stage once
the venue reopened. She honored her commitment to donors by
live streaming and recording performances, all of which were free
and open to the community, until in-person entertainment could
resume. Although ticket sales were non-existent at the time, Marjorie
utilized reserves, leveraged numerous and large grants and loan
opportunities, and engaged in creative guerilla marketing to keep
the organization afloat.
Three years later, Arts Garage has not only returned to its prepandemic
success, but it is better than ever, outperforming even
its most successful pre-pandemic times. Over the past year, on top
of hosting over 300 performances, community events and classes
and with more than half of all performances sold out – Marjorie
has secured numerous grants, with 30% of funding coming from
significant grant funders, including the CRA, Florida Department
of Cultural Affairs, and the Cultural Council for Palm Beach County.
Combined with generous gifts from donors and record-breaking
tickets sales, the Arts Garage budget is 46% higher this year than
it was in 2016.
“This is a significant achievement, particularly for a smaller nonprofit
organization,” explained Marjorie. “We’ve learned a great
deal from our turnaround efforts and we’ve built a toolbox to make
our organization more sustainable and adept at increasing revenue
streams and audience engagement.”
And with Marjorie leading the way, it’s clear Arts Garage’s impact
here locally and beyond, is untold.
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WWW.ATLANTICAVEMAGAZINE.COM | JANUARY 2024 | 71