ArtsPool: an introduction
Updated
by Max Dana
ArtsPool is an administrative cooperative made up of New York state arts nonprofits and the arts administrators who serve them. Owned and governed by both our nonprofit members and our workers, we currently provide the following services:
- Financial Operations, including bill payments, receivable invoices, receipts/documentation, bank deposits, petty cash reports, contracts for processing (e.g. independent contractors), 1099s, W9s, bank reconciliation, transaction coding and anything related to day-to-day transactions. These services are provided by the ArtsPool Financial Operations Lead assigned to your organization.
- Financial Maintenance, including organizational budget creation and budget reforecasting, grant budgets and reports, grant award letters, support for funder prequalification requirements, financial reports, board reports, balance sheet management, project management for audit and tax, investment account recording and reconciliation, and anything related to the long-term maintenance of your company's financial life. These services are provided by the ArtsPool Financial Maintenance Lead assigned to your organization.
- Workforce Administration, including payroll processing, new hires, salary changes or other changes in pay, terminations, promotions, reimbursement requests, support for workforce insurance (worker's comp, disability, paid family leave), W2s, and anything else related to hiring or paying employees at your organization These services are provided by the ArtsPool Workforce Administration Lead assigned to your organization.
- Other services, including digital signature processing, password management, a member community, and priority access to consulting services.
Click the links above for detailed descriptions of these services.
Our default offering includes all three core services areas, but members may select Financial Operations + Financial Maintenance only or Financial Operations + Workforce Administration only packages depending on their needs.
Your ArtsPool team
Each member has a team of ArtsPoolers assigned to work with them, depending on the specific combination of services selected. Below is a brief synopsis of the roles on these teams.
Financial Operations Lead
This role is here to help manage your day-to-day transactions. Bills that need to be paid, receivable invoices to be created or for which you expect payment, receipts/documentation, bank deposits, petty cash reports, contracts for processing (e.g. independent contractors), 1099s, W-9 collection, bank reconciliation, and transaction coding, are just some of this things this role does.
The Financial Operations Lead is also the first point of contact for all requests sent into the ArtsPool app by email, and will route the request to the appropriate ArtsPool team member.
Financial Maintenance Lead
Think of this role as a counterpoint to the Financial Operations role. With an eye towards long-term maintenance of your company’s financial life, you can expect to work closely with your Financial Maintenance Lead on things like: organizational budget creation and changes, grant reports, grant award letters, funder compliance requirements, financial reports, board reports, managing your balance sheet, completing your annual audit and tax filing process, and investments.
Workforce Administration Lead
Your Workforce Administration Lead will work with you on the technical components of your company’s personnel questions. You should work with your lead on your bi-weekly payroll, onboarding new hires, salary changes or other changes in pay, terminations, promotions, reimbursement requests, workforce insurance (worker's comp, disability, paid family leave), W2s, employee benefits changes (enrollment and/or termination), and anything else related to hiring or paying workers at your organization.
Bonus feature: technology support
When ArtsPool technology hits a snag, your ArtsPool team may refer you to ArtsPool’s Technology Officer who assists us all with issues pertaining to:
- The ArtsPool app
- Our password manager
- Google Drive and other online platforms
- Payment processors such as Stripe, PayPal, and Square
- Automation and AI tools
- And more!
How to request work
Members interact with ArtsPool via email, phone calls, in-person meetings, and, most importantly, the ArtsPool management portal, a.k.a, the ArtsPool app, which allows member staff to submit and approve bills, provide receipts and other documentation, request grant budgets, ask questions, and communicate with ArtsPool staff and each other. When in doubt, just send your request into the app and it will be routed it to the appropriate person at ArtsPool to handle it.
The fastest way to request work from ArtsPool is to use the forms that are built into the ArtsPool app. You can also submit requests to the app via email by using a special email address specific to your company. More on this can be found in the article Requesting Work from ArtsPool.
For simple inquiries or meeting scheduling, feel free to reach out to your ArtsPool team members directly via email or phone.
Remember, questions about the app and interfacing with ArtsPool can often be answered by searching the ArtsPool Help Center.
How to be a member in good standing
ArtsPool's cooperative structure is based on systematized and standardized processes and deep collaboration between our employees and our members. To that end we, our Terms of Service require that all members to adhere to a set of shared standards that will ensure that our collaboration remains healthy. Be sure to review the article How to be a member in good standing and ensure that staff members who are working with ArtsPool are aware of these guidelines.
