Beet Street
Statement of Operation
Guiding Principles

As an economic development initiative incubated and sponsored by the Downtown Development Authority of Fort Collins, Colorado, our work in the cultural and arts programming is designed to grow and attract audience participation. We share the most dynamic, creative output by providing information about the cultural arts, hosting a wide range of locally collaborative thematic events every year, in the arts, hard sciences, education, social sciences, and recreation communities.

We are an independent cultural and economic development entity.
Beet Street, Inc. is a 501c(3) Colorado non-profit organization.

We are chartered to deliver an annual programming schedule.
The Beet Street staff determines the volume and composition of its annual programming schedule which is approved by its Board of Directors. Our programming is determined in a manner that is intentionally inclusive of local cultural entities. When other entities present intriguing ideas for programming that fit our mission and operating objectives – we actively investigate the opportunity to collaborate.

We promote the local cultural arts.
Whether or not they fit into our annual thematic programming schedule, we promote local arts and culture through the use of our marketing channels, comprehensive arts and culture calendar, and incentive ticketing agreements.

We will cooperatively leverage existing local programming and businesses.
To enhance and supplement Beet Street’s annual schedule, we will seek to grow and participate in long-term, sustainable revenue opportunities (i.e., festivals, recognitions, anniversaries, etc.) where appropriate and compatible with the goals of Beet Street.

Beet Street will also convene/participate in inclusive programming summits with programmers from the arts and cultural communities to broaden our planning horizon to a three-year advance schedule.

When particular aspects of operations are out of our scope, we look to other entities to provide programming, goods and services. Unless a specific program or experience requires otherwise, we start with entities in Downtown Fort Collins, and then to other local resources before we look outside of our immediate marketplace.

Our financial relationships will be clear and appropriate.
Proceeds from all Beet Street events and programs are intended to sustain and benefit Beet Street unless contracted or predetermined otherwise. Beet Street’s long-term financial viability may affect how we interact with other non-profits in our community.
There will be a clear stated, financial expectation in each Beet Street partnership, collaboration, event, partnership and sponsorship. Some of these relationships include:

• Leveraging: refers to the practice of enhancing established community schedules with complementary, independent programming.
• Incentive ticketing: refers to the practice of offering an audience incentive of discounted tickets from participating entities bundled in the purchase of a Beet Street event ticket. Distribution of proceeds will be made to participating organizations according to mutually agreed upon, predetermined terms.
• Contractual: refers to the practice of engaging an entity as a vendor to provide goods or services for mutually agreed upon, predetermined terms.
• Contributed revenue: refers to the practice of the underwriting or sponsorship of programs to a non-profit, charitable tax exempt entity in exchange for mutually agreed upon, predetermined benefits.
• Venue-sharing: refers to the practice of sharing a facility or performing/visual arts space with another entity for mutually agreed upon, predetermined terms.
• Revenue-sharing: refers to the practice of sharing the proceeds from events, presentations or performances with another entity for mutually agreed upon, predetermined terms.
• Talent-sharing: refers to the practice of sharing a portion of the unused remainder of a talent contract with another entity for mutually agreed upon, predetermined terms as the original contract permits.

Beet Street will endeavor to:

• Promote arts and culture in Fort Collins, Colorado to increase awareness, participation and collaboration.
• Address infrastructure issues that affect a prospective audience’s experience and access to arts and culture in Fort Collins, Colorado. (Calendar, ticketing and venue.)
• Provide an annual schedule of thematic programming.
• Link to other arts and cultural sites to drive web traffic.
• Disseminate an inclusive calendar of cultural events and information.
• Recognize program partners, sponsors and donors in a mutually agreed upon manner.
• Provide our programming partners and sponsors with a written description of all agreements and expectations in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding or a contract.
• Monitor its impact on the local economy by tracking and reporting approved, pre-determined metrics.

Beet Street will not:

• Award grants.
• Underwrite fundraising events for other entities.
• Solicit sponsorship, underwriting, or foundation, corporate and individual grants for other entities.
• Negotiate talent contracts for other entities.
• Fund or contribute – in any manner – to a political campaign.
• Serve as a spokesperson for another individual or entity.
• Assume the debt or liability of another individual or entity.

Here are some tips to help you understand the ways in which we might be able to work together:

• All Beet Street events take place in venues within the boundaries of Fort Collins’ Downtown District DDA boundaries as defined by the Downtown Development Authority’s District. There are no exceptions to this primary requirement.
• We work at least one year in advance. As an organization with a vast, accelerated scope, we have to plan our programs carefully with our colleagues in the Fort Collins cultural arts community with a minimum 12-month lead time.
• Our fiscal year runs from January 1st to December 31st. Plans and budgets for the coming financial year are drawn up between August and October of the preceding year and are approved by the end of November. If you have a project that you think we should consider, please contact us by August of the year before the project is due to take place.
• Our season calendar runs from September 1st to August 31st to work in sync with the established scheduling cycle of the Fort Collins arts and cultural community.
• We do not have a standard application form to fill out for submission of program ideas. We require a project outline that includes: the proposed timing; the focus of the projects; the target audience; and, a description of participation sought from Beet Street. Projects are assessed annually in light of Beet Street priorities, available budgets and strategies applied across other sectors (such as science or education.)
• Although we have an established planning cycle, you are encouraged to approach us during the year if a project or opportunity arises that you think may be of interest. While we will have less financial flexibility, we are always interested in hearing about new programming opportunities and keeping lines of communication open.
• We focus on high impact, fresh, inspired and distinctive ideas. We look for programs and themes where we can add real value to the local events calendar by attracting audiences to Downtown venues.
• We prioritize work that is genuinely beneficial to the Downtown District, its business community, and the Fort Collins arts and cultural community.
• We like projects that involve more than one discipline or sector – projects that involve people from various arts disciplines, the sciences, and the education sector.
• Our partners agree to abide by our approved identity usage standards associated with Beet Street in all promotion, reference and attribution at the time of agreement.
• Our sponsors agree to provide financial support in exchange for predetermined and mutually agreed upon recognition and benefits. Beet Street will work with each sponsor, donor, and underwriter to maximize visibility whenever that is an important consideration.
• It is not our primary mission to develop or promote creativity and artist development in Fort Collins – we are an agent for cultural programming.

We are approached with many more imaginative ideas for events and projects each year than we can possibly include in our schedule. Even though we may not be able to be directly involved in a project, we can often help to provide you with ideas, introductions to other resources, or guidance to help your project advance.

You can make sure that you’re up to date with our plans by visiting our Programs page at http://www.beetstreet.org/Programs

For additional information, you’re welcome to contact:

Executive Director at Beet Street

Adopted by the Beet Street Board of Directors on January 24, 2008*