Craft Emergency Relief Fund Inc.

“The cerf+ finance/audit committee reviews the 990 prior to filing. This year the finance committee has empowered the finance/audit committee chair/treasurer to approve the form 990 prior to filing. The finance/audit committee then shares the 990 with the board at the time it is filed.”

“At cerf+s annual board meeting in the fall (beginning of the fiscal year) each board member fills out and signs a board of directors conflict of interest policy - disclosure form. Cerf+s bookkeeper/office manager does follow-up reminders until they are all signed and submitted.”

“As part of cerf+'s governance policy, responsibility for the executive director's compensation is determined by the board. Renumeration of the executive director is decided annually after a review of monitoring reports.”

“The deputy director researches factors relevant to staff compensation and the executive director determines the salaries.”

“Governing documents are available on website and upon request.”

“Craft emergency relief fund, inc. (cerf+ -- the artists' safety net), is a national artist service organization whose mission is to serve artists who work in craft disciplines by providing a safety net to support strong and sustainable careers. Cerf+'s core services are education programs, advocacy, network building and emergency relief.”

“Cerf+'s emergency assistance program and emergency recovery loan program - as we continued to receive record numbers of inquiries for emergency assistance and awarded emergency grants at a record pace through the middle of the fiscal year, our disaster relief fund was drained - an event we had never seen before. In late may, we made the careful, informed and tough decision to put the program on hold until a cash infusion of at least 200,000 could be raised to replenish the fund. We also created a go fund me campaign just for hurricane maria emergency response. By august, we received over 674,779 from individual and foundation donations and thanks to our supporters, the program was reopened. While the program was temporarily on hold, we researched best practices, other er programs, our past procedures and data, and consulted with board members, current and former er committee members, colleagues from the center for disaster philanthropy, fema, red cross and held special focus groups. The result was a thoughtfully streamlined emergency assistance inquiry and application process and implementation of a "lite" case management system. Simplified grant amount and review process: by august 2018, the grant program reopened. A flat grant amount of 3,000 is now awarded instead of a sliding scale grant amount with a maximum of 6,000. The flat grant award amount is intended to be a temporary measure. During 2019, cerf+ will evaluate what steps need to be taken to enable cerf+ to resume awarding grants up to 6,000. Staff determine if the artist and their situation meets the guidelines and the decision is made whether or not to award the flat grant amount. However, at times, the cerf+ staff will engage the expertise of the cerf+ grants committee to address questions particularly related to elements of an applicant's work and career and subsequent eligibility. This year, we also became the fiscal agent for the etsy artists emergency grant program in which we award funds to their grantees. The emergency recovery loan program has been under-utilized for many years, even after efforts to promote it and improve the application process. For the foreseeable future, we are focusing on increasing other forms of cerf+ emergency assistance, in particular our in-kindness program.”

“E-news averaged 11,564 recipients per issue. Our increased online social media engagement resulted in 791 twitter followers; 5,584 accessed our website in fy18. Craft emergency relief fund - cerf+ provides critical emergency financial assistance to artists working in craft disciplines who have experienced a recent, career-threatening emergency. Once applications are completed, grant determinations are made within two weeks and on average, within seven days. This year, 138 artists received direct emergency relief grants. These artists were impacted by floods, home and studio fires, hurricanes, injuries and illnesses receiving a total of 608,245 in emergency aid (554,900 in grants and 33,800 in no-interest loans) and 19,545 worth of gifts-in-kind (donations of equipment, materials, booth waiver fees, etc.), for a grand total of 608,245 in aid. Responding to artists who suffered losses in natural disasters dominated our work this year. 70% of the fy18 assistance was in response to the major disasters. By comparison, during the previous five fiscal years, 29% of the assistance was in response to disasters. Our personalized individual counseling and referrals helped 725 artists respond to their emergency in a time of crisis. This is almost twice individual emergency counseling and referrals provided in previous years (annual average the previous five years being 374). 45% of this personalized assistance was in response to natural disasters -- primarily hurricanes harvey, irma and maria, as well as the california wildfires late in 2017. Emergency response - cerf+ maintains an active list of individuals, organizations, and arts businesses that receive email alerts before, during and after a disaster. In fy18, more than 8,500 individuals and organizations received 22 disaster response messages from cerf+ with critical preparedness and recovery information, resources and support. Notices were sent out this year for the floods in florida, alabama, louisiana, and montana; wildfires and mudslides in california; the volcano in hawaii, and hurricanes nate, lane, and florence. "get ready" grants - cerf+ continued its second year of "get ready" grant program to support preparedness efforts that will help artists working in craft disciplines safeguard their studios, protect their livelihoods and prepare for emergencies. Twenty grants were awarded to 42 individual artists (up to 500) totaling 20,443 towards the purchase of goods or services. Projects included purchasing and installing dust collection and ventilation systems, fire extinguishers, hazardous material cabinets, non-toxic art materials, security systems, hard drives, estate and legacy planning. As part of the grant, artists share what they have learned through videos, blogs, workshops and social media to inspire other artists to "get ready". Cerf+ website - we continue to update our website with new content on a weekly and monthly basis. Due to the onslaught of disasters, we launched a "disaster portal," which provides alerts, information and resources on specific disasters with the click of a link. Other additions to the site include new artist interviews and stories and new content related to our get ready grant program created by recipients of those grants. Cerf+ also updated its emergency relief information pages on its website to include spanish translations. Our site has been the go-to destination for artists seeking emergency resources. It is listed on many state, regional and national arts agencies- and organizations' websites and blogs with disaster-specific information. Cover your a's: art, assets + archives - cover your a's (cya) is a train-the-trainer workshop, inaugurated in 2012, that is geared for art school faculty (bfa, mfa, and certificate programs), career services staff and professional development providers. Optimum workshop size is 15-25 participants; workshop length is flexible (1-1.5 days). Our curriculum modules focus on "defensive strategies" to build and su”

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