 Page 1March 29, 2005May 10, 2004

1034 Hill Street
Atlanta, Georgia 30315

November 7, 2018[BG1][BG2]

Susan Carter

Executive Director

Georgia Power Foundation, Inc.
241 Ralph McGill Blvd., NE
Atlanta, GA30308-3374[BG3]

Dear Ms. Carter:

terminus, a locally published, community friendly magazine, is seeking $10,000 to support its multi-pronged growth initiative. In today's nonprofit environment, building a marketing plan places a strain on budgets, staffing, and organizational capacity. Therefore, we at terminus request these funds to relieve us from these strains and begin the work of bringing terminus to the community. [BG4]

terminus’ greatest challenge is incurring sufficient funds to meet our growing needs and foster sustainable growth. We currently receive revenue from subscriptions, sales, donations, contests, and volunteer income. Volunteers make up 100% of terminus’ staff. The staff puts in countless unpaid hours to produce the magazine. If we do not get the necessary funds, our magazine will fold. We cannot meet our needs or the community’s without your help. [BG5]

Atlanta needs terminus[BG6]

Atlanta, and the southeast, suffers from a lack of an arts culture. terminus reflects the vibrant growth that Atlanta continues to realize in terms of corporate job growth. terminus is the life-giving water to the barren wasteland – the local art scene.We are the “handful of dust” that re-imagines what it can be in non-traditional and traditional ways.

To make our point more salient, in January 2004 Atlanta’s Creative Loafing, an organization plugged in to the local art scene, wrote “Spend enough time in Atlanta's art scene and a litany of complaints become as inevitable as death and taxes: too few arts patrons, no real arts center, and too little corporate support.” Georgia Power must show its support for the community by supporting terminus.

terminus gives preference to local artists. Since our inception, we have introduced several major writers to American audiences. Moreover, we have initiated a section in the magazine called “Groundbreakers”. Here we showcase a local artist and his or her impact on the Atlanta art scene. In the latest issue, we feature Beth Moon – an Atlanta based visual artist. Upcoming, we profile Kodak Harrison and his immense contributions to the local art scene.

terminus is worth it

For all the strides terminus has made over the past few years, it has always maintained its vigor from the earnest and dedicated energy of a few volunteer editors who have kept it driving as a grass roots mission. The small staff has pounded the pavement seeking subscribers, patrons, printers, and distributors who deliver the magazine to a national audience. The staff meets regularly to maintain the creative and organizational structure that is necessary to keep pushing toward—and maintaining—a high degree of excellence.

Already terminus competes on the retailer’s bookshelf with such well-funded magazines as Tin House, Grand Street, Rosebud, and Boulevard[BG7]. And, for as excellent as these magazines are in their own right, terminus is already on track toward producing a superior magazine on a fraction of the budget. As an independent press, we spend most of our energy in the work of making and staying true to the artifact.

Our vision sets us apart from other magazines. Art, like life, is diverse. We blend literature with culinary arts, comic strips, interviews, painting, photography and more. We seek to appeal to a wide audience of art lovers in all communities. Increasing the accessibility to the artists in our magazine improves the overall quality of life in the community.

terminus seeks to prove that cultural arts can reach a wider audience by surviving outside of academia. We educate the public locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally and provide much needed exposure for Atlanta’s visual artists and writers. In fact, our first issue featured poetry heavyweights like Miller Williams, R. S. Gwynn, Peter Cooley, and the late international poet Marin Sorescu whose work has been translated into English by Adam Sorkin. Among these greats are also new voices like Rebecca Hanger, Daniel Ofri, and Brad Comann.[BG8]

There is strong evidence of demand for terminus

terminus is flourishing and we need funding to continue to grow terminus into an art powerhouse. In the last two years the…

Requests for printings have jumped from 250 to 1000 copies.

Readership has increased 400%

Renewal rate has gone from 5% to 25%

Contest submission rate has risen from 96 to over 500 entries

Issues have doubled in size

terminus has a solid marketing plan

terminus provides a stage for all art media accessible to divergent audiences. In order to further our mission into the 21st century we have oriented our organization to think strategically. We have created a detailed marketing and organizational plan that enables us to utilize our strengths to achieve sustainable growth.

The overall purpose of this plan is to enable terminus to compete more successfully in an evolving marketplace, to develop a broader, more knowledgeable reading public, and to make art a more elemental part of American culture. To this end, terminus has developed and implemented a marketing and promotional strategy targeted to our major market areas. Key components by market segment include:

Local and National Art Communities — Currently our chapbook contest is very successful and continues to grow at a rapid rate. We invite artists to submit at community readings and literary functions. We also donate copies to those readers who cannot afford them. We carry mailing lists with us to sign people up as much as possible. Moreover, we will be lowering the price of terminus to make it more affordable to the readers. In the near future, with the help of National Public Radio, terminus plans to include a CD-ROM with each print issue that showcases writers reading their work, recording artists, and provides a link to our website for online interaction. We plan this in an effort to provide a stage for all art media and reach broader audiences. Finally, we currently offer free advertising space for local NPO’s that focus on improving education in the local communities.

We plan to expand our contests into the local communities and include youth and themed contests for local artists. terminus will develop a poets reading and discussion series curated by poets that will foster a greater appreciation for poetry. We will provide a community-based arts assistance program by the end of 2005. And, terminus will sponsor national poets and readings in the community.

Independent and Chain Bookstores — terminus sends out mailings, hands out postcards in local shops, attends local bookstore showcases, and distributes copies of terminus to owners and managers. The campaign will eventually include in-store displays, cooperative advertising in the print media and in-house sales organs, and author readings and signings.

Library Market — terminus has engaged the services of a library consultant to research libraries and systems, public and academic that have major or growing holdings in art and literature available to develop new collections. The consultant will also help develop a marketing strategy targeted to the library sector. And, we have tentative plans to send out a mailing to academic libraries to solicit subscriptions. Our consultant has placed terminus on the EBSCO subscription division list of offered magazines.

Academic and Professional Conference Market — terminus will test the viability of exhibiting at various conferences. We will exhibit at regional and national conferences with the goal of increasing our sales and circulation rate 300% over the next three years.

World Wide Web — terminus will develop our current website into a multimedia art experience. This includes making current and back issues available for download. Additionally, terminus plans to work closely with on-line bookstores to develop an expanded presence of our magazine.

terminus has the right people in the right place

To better position the staff to handle the growing demands for terminus magazine, we implemented a reorganization plan. Our focus has turned to growing terminus rather than just surviving;, therefore we recognize it is vital to have a qualified and capable staff.

Currently we have no paid staff; however, the managing editor position will become a full-time, salaried position thereby allowing terminus to qualify for a broader range of grants.

We have added three new positions to the magazine’s staff — Publication Editor, Organizational Consultant, and Grant Writer. Our new Managing Editor, Katie Chaple, comes to us with 6 years of experience as Managing Editor at the successful Georgia State University Review — a respected literary publication. The Publication Manager is now Travis Denton. We created his position to target specific design and layout issues that will increase terminus’ readership and overall aesthetic appeal. The Organizational Consultant is Brian Elliott Clifford. Creating this position allows us to bring an objective, experienced, business-oriented eye to the organization. Brian brings over 10 years of corporate management, sales, and organizational restructuring experience to terminus. Mr. Clifford is also our grant writer.

Meeting our organizational and marketing goals allows us to continue to offer the high quality, highly accessible arts forum we are marked by sustainable growth and increased community involvement.

terminus is self-evaluating

The most effective and accurate measure of success is evidenced in the growth of the magazine. The primary evaluation mechanism, however, will be a reader’s survey sent out annually. The Board will review financial and production data annually to ensure the staff is accomplishing its objectives. Additionally, we will seek editorial feedback from the contributors. The Board and the staff will review all data and incorporate it into the subsequent year’s strategic plan.

terminus is qualified to lead the Atlanta art community

In gathering feedback from the community, we have realized there is a consensus that most art and literature magazines, specifically the larger national publications are a bit snobby and self-contained, certainly very clique-ish.terminus is different. As an open-friendly forum for art and literature, we pride ourselves on being highly accessible.

Since we began just over two years ago, response from the community has been overwhelming. In addition to our increases in sales and subscriptions, each time we bring terminus into the community of local artists they are increasingly excited to see us. The word has spread. Often they know who we are before we present ourselves. There is a race to get their artwork into the pages of terminus.

Our national support is a gathering too. Having fans like the internationally know poet Thomas Lux and Edward Hirsh, columnist for the Washington Post and director of the Guggenheim Foundation has been invaluable. Stellasue Lee of the wildly popular literary magazine Rattle has said about terminus, “Wow! That's what I said after reading through the first issue. It looks completely fabulous!” and Miller Williams – an accomplished and well-known poet said, “A marvelous job. It's a joy to be aboard!”

The terminus staff is very familiar with the Atlanta art scene. We attend local art events regularly and have a strong network of contacts in the art community. In addition, we are all artists who read and show in venues around town. Finally, because we are artists, we are able to identify with the needs of other artists and the community.

terminusis experienced and committed

The Board of Directors at terminus, Travis Denton, Chad Prevost and Katie Chaple, is widely published nationally. We have the experience and talent to drive terminus toward accomplishing its goals.Currently we have a new Managing Editor, Katie Chaple, who comes to us from the Georgia State University Review — a respected literary publication. Under Ms. Chaple’s leadership, the GSU Review expanded its contest submission rate by 40% and significantly raised the quality of contributors during her tenure. She has organized several reading events — bringing in nationally recognized poets such as Philip Levine, Anthony Hecht, Kim Addonizio, C. K. Williams, and fiction writers such as Melanie Rae Thon, Geoffrey Becker, and David Jauss.

Ms. Chaple has an M.A. from EmoryUniversity in English and a MFA in poetry and is currently in the final throes of a PhD in poetry. She has been invited to the Breadloaf Writers' Conference 2002, received the Agnes Scott Writers' Festival Award in Poetry 2002, and had published poems in the Antioch Review and 32 other journals. She was the editor of GSU Review for 6 years from the fall 1999 to the spring 2004 and the Poetry Editor of the GSU Review for 1 year from the fall 1998 to spring 1999. In addition to her successes at the GSU Review, she worked in a non-profit organization, Scholars Press,for four years, and she currently works part-time at a non-profit scholarly organization, the American Schools of Oriental Research.She has also served as an assistant editor for ASOR's publication, "Near Eastern Archaeology" Vol. 65.3 (a magazine devoted to excavations and the history surrounding those excavations.

Our Publication Manager is Travis Denton. Mr. Denton is currently teaching at GeorgiaStateUniversity. His first collection of poems, A House of Bones, appeared in 1998 from Chestnut Street Press. Some of his most recent work has appeared or is forthcoming in journals such as Rattle, Tar River Poetry, Cimarron Review, The Southeast Review, and Blue Mesa Review. He is also a nominee for a 2003 Ruth Lilly Fellowship as well as the recipient of a 2002 Tulane Review Poetry Award.

Chad Prevost, a recent PhD recipient, is a Consulting Editor for the magazine. He is also responsible for layout and design. Mr. Prevost teaches creative writing and composition at GeorgiaPerimeterCollege and GeorgiaStateUniversity. He is a faculty editor at the Chattahoochee Review and Co-Founding/Managing Editor of Terminus. He has a collection of poetry currently in print in Blackbox Recorder, and a collection of poetry, a work of fiction and non-fiction, forthcoming in Abbeywood Press Anthologies 1 and 2. His other work currently in print appears in Cimarron Review, Confluence, Connecticut Review, Controlled Burn, Louisiana Literature, Pearl, Pinyon Poetry, The Seattle Review, The Tulane Review, West Wind Review, Westview, and Wisconsin Review.
As a valued member of the staff, Mike Dockins, terminus’ Poetry Editor, holds a B.S. from SUNY Brockport and an MFA from UMASS Amerst, where he worked at The Massachusetts Review, taught writing, and received honorable mention for an Academy of American Poets prize. His poems have appeared in numerous journals, including Crazyhorse, Washington Square, and The Cream City Review. Poems and prose are forthcoming in The Gettysburg Review, 5 AM, Nimrod, Faultline, The Massachusetts Review, and other journals. A multiple Pushcart prize nominee, Mr. Dockins is co-founder and co-editor of Redactions, a journal of poetry and poetics.

terminus’ new Organizational Consultant is Brian Elliott Clifford. Mr. Clifford works to help us achieve our financial goals. He is a goal-oriented, flexible, and creative writer. He brings his strong team leadership and project management skills to terminus. His proven work history of organizational restructuring demonstrates he is adept at assessing and meeting client needs and developing and implementing creative solutions. Mr. Clifford has a background in writing grants for the LubbockLakeLandmarkStateArchaeologicalPark. Moreover, through his professional experience as a writer of training materials, organizational documents, and sales literature for the Metro-media Restaurant Group, Omni Hotels, and various other organizations, he has developed a strong sense of salesmanship – a much-needed skill in grant writing. His educational background in creative writing and rhetoric and composition only fortifies his place as a valuable member of terminus’ staff. [BG9]

Georgia Power and the community will reap the benefits

Since our launch in 2001, terminus has undertaken an ambitious effort to create a unique and culturally valuable art magazine. By providing the requested funds, Georgia Power will allow terminus to cover the shortfall in production costs and mitigate cash flow shortages; thereby, freeing our editors and staff members to seek consistent funding and maintain steady growth. We will have more time to deepen our community involvement. If terminus realizes its artistic and public service goals Georgia Power will help:

Provide local and national artists an open forum to present their work[BG10]

Through our programs like “Groundbreakers”, we allow emerging artists a unique forum to show their work. By including such artists in our publication, we intend to draw more emerging voices out of the community and into the spotlight. By increasing our profile with local artists it follows that we will be able to attract more nationally know artists to our community, thereby automatically increasing the value of the Atlanta art scene.