Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

If you have questions, we have answers.

Have you wondered about the new plus sign in our name, the new directions in our work, our budget, or the assistance we’ve traditionally provided to craft artists in emergency? See below for answers. If you have a question that isn't answered here, ask us. 

Why has CERF changed its name to CERF+?

We felt the name Craft Emergency Relief Fund no longer fully described the scope of our work to both safeguard and sustain the careers of craft artists. The “plus” acknowledges that our work has grown to include helping artists lessen and/or prevent the impacts of emergencies.

Individual donations and other unrestricted contributions go into the direct assistance we provide to craft artists, along program expenses and operating costs (staff salaries, fundraising and administrative costs, etc.). All our programs rely on staff members to coordinate them, and each of our staff members does work that relates to providing direct assistance to craft artists, and to our emergency readiness and recovery programs.

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Why doesn’t CERF+ make larger grants? These grants and loans don't seem large enough to help an artist recover from something like a fire or serious health problem.

It’s one of our goals to increase grant and loan support — but even if we could provide many times our current levels, that would not be enough to take the place of adequate health or business insurance and good business practices. That’s why we’re working to develop emergency prevention and response resources, and to help artists get the business insurance they need.

But our beneficiaries often say the immediacy of our post-disaster aid, arriving with relatively minimal red tape long before an insurance check or other responders can help, is a vital part of what we can provide. We hear consistently about the tremendous lift and morale boost that help like this provides to artists who know it comes from the community of artists, businesses, publishers, galleries, schools, show promoters and others that support CERF+.

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How large is the CERF+ staff? Could volunteers do this work?

As we’ve progressed from being volunteer-run to a professional organization, we have gone from no staff in 1985 to 5.5 salaried staff members today. We have volunteers who work with us on projects, and our board serves without compensation.

While it would theoretically be possible to raise and distribute some funds as an all-volunteer operation, it would be very hard to sustain such an organization. Passionate volunteers got CERF+ started, but they were ultimately unable to maintain and grow the organization without paid staff. At CERF+, a dedicated board, a hardworking and skilled staff, and contributors large and small have together built an organization that is thriving after 25 years and has a promising future.

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How large is CERF+'s budget? What part goes to program services, fundraising and administration?

We have just completed our annual audit for FY10. CERF+’s budget in that year was $746,888. 77% or $576,254 went to our program services, 9% or $67,392 went to fundraising, and 14% or $103,242 went to administration.

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What is included in program services and what percentage of your program expenses goes to each?

Following are percentages of CERF+'s program expenses for FY-2010. Percentages vary from year-to-year depending on demand for emergency relief, grant support for preparedness projects, and program goals. FY-2010 was a relatively light year in demand for emergency relief, possibly due to few major natural disasters affecting large numbers of craft artists; and CERF+ was able to raise substantial foundation support for developing informational resources for emergency preparedness and recovery.

Outreach; Research & Planning  (49.2%)

  • Print and electronic publications, media outreach, outreach to artists and organizations
  • Web site (applications and guidelines, professional development resources, etc.)
  • Research and program planning
  • Videos, social media, and other outreach efforts

Emergency Preparedness and Response: Resources and Advocacy (35%)

  • Studio Protector wall guide and online guide, educational programs & awareness campaign
  • Advocacy: National Coalition for Arts Preparedness and Emergency Response
  • Insurance initiative

Direct Emergency Relief  (15.7%)

  • Grants, loans, brokered assistance
  • Counseling & staff assistance to applicants, referrals, emergency outreach

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Does CERF+ have an endowment? Does it hold back funds so you don’t run short?

We do not have an endowment, but at the suggestion of the Nonprofit Finance Fund, we maintain a fund reserve of a minimum of $200,000, so that we have funds at the ready should an unforeseen emergency occur.

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The National Coalition for Arts Preparedness & Emergency Response that CERF+ helped start — what is it doing, and who’s funding it?

Over the past four years, this cross-disciplinary task force of veteran “art responders” has built a three-pronged approach of educational empowerment, resource development and public-policy advocacy. The primary focus has been meeting the needs of individual artists, the most underserved group within the arts community — but the coalition has also been tackling issues facing the organizations that support and serve artists during emergencies.

With generous support from funders such as the Nathan Cummings and Joan Mitchell Foundations, we have:

  • improved emergency communication and coordination within the arts sector;
  • built relationships with general relief providers; and
  • raised awareness about the importance of emergency readiness and business-continuity planning among artists and key stakeholder groups at the state, regional and national levels.

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What organizations are involved with this Coalition?

As of yet, there is no formal membership required to participate in the National Coalition for Arts Preparedness & Emergency Response. If you are interested in participating or staying in touch with this initiative, contact Cornelia Carey (cornelia@craftemergency.org). The following organizations have been involved with the Coalition and those marked with * are members of the Coalition’s Steering Committee:

The Actors' Fund of America *
Alliance of Artists’ Communities
Alternate Roots
Americans for the Arts*
Artist Trust *
Arts Council of New Orleans
Center for Arts Management and Technology, Carnegie Mellon
Center for Cultural Innovation
CERF+ *
First People’s Fund
Fractured Atlas
Grantmakers in the Arts *
Heritage Preservation
Jazz Foundation of America
Joan Mitchell Foundation*
Massachusetts Artists Leaders Coalition
Miami-Dade Arts Commission
Mississippi Arts Commission
MusiCares
National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)*
National Performance Network
National Assembly of State Arts Agencies
New York Foundation for the Arts*
Pollock-Krasner Foundation
San Diego Community Foundation
South Carolina Arts Commission
South Arts*
Springboard for the Arts
Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, Massachusetts/Arts and Business Council

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Along with helping build a better safety net for artists, are there other benefits to CERF+ or the craft field in working with this coalition?

We now have a better understanding of what these other organizations do, and good contacts within those organizations. The beneficiaries of those relationships are the craft artists we serve. For instance, the Actors Fund — whose program, AHIRC.org, is an up-to-date, comprehensive, unbiased database of health care resources for artists, performers, freelancers and the self-employed — has helped some of our beneficiaries negotiate their medical bills, saving them a great deal of time and money.

One benefit we did not anticipate is the advantage to the craft field of having one of its organizations take a place at the national arts table. Until CERF+ began working on forming this coalition, craft had not been part of the ongoing national dialogue among arts organizations and arts funders. Now the craft field’s interests are being represented in national arts policy discussions.

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What has CERF+ been doing to help artists get the business insurance they need?

In February 2010 we released "Insuring Creativity: A CERF Business Insurance Survey," reporting the results of our survey — to which almost 3,000 craft artists, belonging to six major craft media organizations, responded. Click here for our report, plus a brief article about the study.

Before starting this research, we had been doing seminars and presentations on insurance at national art shows and conference, and artists were telling us about the difficulties they’d had in getting appropriate coverage for their studios. When we began talking with people in the insurance industry about this issue, they asked questions about the craft-arts field that we could not answer — so we did the survey to help us and insurers understand practices in the craft field that relate to business insurance. Now we have data, and our report is available for organizations that want to put together plans for their members, and to agencies and underwriters who may be interested in this market.

CERF+ is available to organizations that need assistance in locating underwriters, or devising an insurance program for their members. We think the field needs a variety of products to meet the diverse needs of craft artists — and we’re finding that organizations like ours can play a key role in helping their members find appropriate insurance.

Both the Studio Protector and CERF+ websites have listings of insurance programs that we know about that are aimed at artists. We’ve also worked with several companies to help them create plans that are suited to our market. We talk to craft artists individually, to answer questions about purchasing business insurance and to direct them toward helpful resources. Our websites have primers on business insurance, listings of resources, and articles on subjects like disaster insurance. We expect to be adding to those offerings in the future.

Our program director, furniture maker Craig Nutt, has a blog on the Studio Protector website on his efforts to make his own studio more disaster-ready, and he takes on topics like business insurance.

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How have grant and loan amounts changed since CERF+ started in 1985?

Our assistance 25 years ago ranged from $200-$500. Today the maximum grant is $2,500 and the maximum loan is $8,000. We are also very engaged in brokering other kinds of assistance for our beneficiaries, such as booth waivers at craft shows and discounts/donations of equipment and supplies. Our goal is to expand and grow our fundraising capabilities, so that we can continue to increase the amount of our financial assistance for emergency relief — but to do this in a way that can be sustained.

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How do you determine whether a particular craft artist will receive a grant, and the amount of grant money an artist will receive?

Our goal is to distribute grant funds as equitably as possible, based as much as possible — recognizing that each emergency is unique and personal — on objective criteria.

We have recently made changes in how maximum grant amounts are determined. Now our maximum grant amounts are determined by the severity of the emergency, rated on a level of 1-5, 5 being the worst. Our staff determines those rankings. Then an advisory committee, primarily of board members, rates each application on:

  • Impact of Assistance. This involves the impact on the craft community of this craft artist recovering, not necessarily the impact of CERF+ assistance on this applicant.
  • Professionalism. Does the applicant have serious professional commitment to business-like operation and to craft? We consider factors like reputation with buyers and creditors, insurance commensurate with revenues, and good record-keeping systems.
  • Quality of Work. To what extent is the applicant known and recognized by others in field? What is the appeal of the applicant's work to collectors, galleries, museums and buyers?
  • Degree of Distress. We consider the dollar amount of loss (to date and projected), the amount of down time anticipated, and the significance of craft income to the overall household well-being.

The scores are used to determine grant amounts within each disaster level. Some applications are very easy to score, with artists clearly rating well on all criteria — and they will get the maximum level available for their level of emergency. Sometimes it’s more difficult to determine an artist’s level of professional involvement in the field. The ratings give us objective criteria to use, so grant money is distributed fairly according to merit and need.

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How much are loans, what are the terms, and how long does it take to get one?

We have two types of loans, a Quick Loan and a Phoenix Loan. The Quick Loan has recently been increased from a maximum of $3,500 to $4,000. This loan is interest-free and has a term of five years. Because its purpose is to put money into the artist’s hands as quickly as possible after an emergency, before insurance payments kick in (if the artist has insurance), we make every effort to turn the loan around within two weeks of receiving an application. Often we can do it within a week.

We also have a Phoenix Loan of up to $8,000. When an artist is over the immediate effects of a disaster, this loan is intended to help rebuild his or her business. The application process for this loan is more involved than the Quick Loan, requiring a cash-flow forecast. This loan is also interest-free and has a five-year term.

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How do you determine whether artist will receive a loan, and the loan amount?

The committee that reviews grant applications also reviews loan applications. The same application is used for both grants and loans, and an artist can apply for both with a single application. A similar rating and calculus is applied to loan applications, with ability to repay used to determine maximum loan amounts.

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Do you expect the loans to be repaid?

Yes, we expect the recipient to make every effort to repay the loan. Because the loans are for emergencies, they are by nature, high-risk — and if we think an artist is unlikely to be able to repay, we steer that artist to grants. Some artists would prefer to get a loan than a grant, and some apply for both. By targeting and budgeting for a particular repayment rate, we are able to maximize support levels with the funds we have available.

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How significant is the "brokered assistance" you provide to artists?

It’s very important. When we can arrange for booth-fee waivers, donations of tools, machinery and supplies, or other goods and services, this can substantially increase the assistance that goes to an artist. We work with a number of very generous and reliable show promoters, manufacturers and suppliers. But not every artist does the shows where we have committed partners, such American Craft Council and Buyers Market of American Craft, Contemporary Craft Market, etc.); some craft artists don’t do shows at all. And we can’t always match our partner manufacturers and suppliers with the tools and materials that artists need.

For our small staff, brokering services is very labor-intensive — both in soliciting goods and services and in keeping the relationships with these partners going. It’s worth it, though. For an artist after a devastating event, receiving a donated table saw, kiln or booth-fee waiver can be huge.

We also provide businesses with a valued opportunity to help craft artists in emergencies. We offer a structure for those transactions, and we vet applications so that businesses have a reasonable assurance that their donations are being well-used. These donations inspire incredible good will in the field — and loyalty from artists.

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Photos (L-R): Teri Greeves (photo by Craft in American), Watershed, Lyn Hunter