A feared pandemic wipeout of Denver’s nonprofit cultural sector has not yet materialized on the same scale as the restaurant industry. That, officials say, is in large part because the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District just reported the second-best year in its 32-year existence.

The SCFD has distributed more than $1 billion to arts and science organizations in the seven-county metro area since 1988 through a voter-approved, penny-per-$10 retail sales tax. But because SCFD funds are so dependent on a thriving retail economy, no one knew what to expect after the pandemic shuttered nearly all live performances and killed an estimated 57% of arts jobs in Colorado within three months.

But the SCFD has reported 2020 sales-tax revenue of $64.3 million, down just 2.7% from 2019’s all-time record of $66.1 million. And because funding generally trails sales-tax revenue by a year, most of that 2020 revenue will be used to sustain more than 300 area nonprofits well into 2021.  

“This is a much better reality than we projected last spring,” SCFD Executive Director Deborah Jordy said. “$63 million goes a long way – if not to save organizations, then to stabilize them.”

Anecdotally, Jordy attributes the surprisingly strong numbers to sales tax from big-box stores. “During this pandemic, the public wants one-stop shopping where they can buy everything from clothes to tires to food,” she said. “Yes, it has been a disappointing year for the restaurant industry, but the pandemic has been a boon for home-improvement projects and online spending.”

SCFD funding is largely intended to support programming, meaning the creation of art for the public benefit. But officials decided early on that its funding this year can be spent wherever it is needed most. “So they can use that money for salaries and other operational expenses,” Jordy said. “It’s up to organizations how best to spend it.”  

That flexibility has been essential to nonprofits like the Levitt Pavilion, which through circumstance has had no live programming to offer, making its most desperate need the help with ongoing operating expenses. The $55,000 it received from SCFD in 2020 represents about a month of average expenses, said Associate Director Andy Thomas. “I can’t tell you how much we appreciate that the SCFD understands we are literally just trying to keep the lights on right now.”

Andrea Malcomb, executive director of the Molly Brown House Museum, says the $104,000 her organization received from the SCFD in 2020 represents about 10% of the overall budget. “That funding is vital,” she said, “and it supports most of our critical education programming.”

The Molly Brown House Museum managed, through virtual programs, to serve more than 6,000 students in 2020 in spite of the pandemic. Malcolmb said a loss of SCFD funding would have resulted in further staff and programming cuts. “We are all very grateful for the SCFD,” she said. “I just feel for all of the performing-arts organizations that still can’t even open their doors – and they rely on that SCFD funding even more than we do.”

The Lighthouse Writers Workshop is the rare arts organization that has thrived during the pandemic, growing 15% over 2019 by transitioning its classes to online and attracting a larger student base from around the world.

“We received $164,000 from the SCFD last year, and that has not only helped us to stay afloat, it has kept us moving forward,” said Executive Director Michael Henry, whose overall annual operating budget is $2.2 million. “We rely on SCFD funding most for our community-engagement programs, which are non-revenue generating. So to lose that would hurt a lot.”

While hundreds of bars and restaurants have shuttered since the pandemic arrived, Jordy said she is not aware of a single SCFD nonprofit that has permanently closed, even though many of them have not opened their doors in 11 months. “That just reinforces how ingenious and nimble these organizations are at leveraging whatever dollars they have saved,” Jordy said. “While there are still many uncertainties as this pandemic continues, I’m hopeful for a brighter year.”