Audited financial statements for 2024 will not be published until May, but we can confirm Chautauqua ended 2024 with $8.4M in cash reserves with an additional $4.7M in state and federal reimbursements pending. Chautauqua has met or improved upon seven of the past eight budgets under the leadership of President Michael E. Hill. The Institution did not meet its budget in 2022, which was a year when attendance was still significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and in which the organization took on unbudgeted expenses due to the tragedy of August 12, 2022.

Giving to Chautauqua during our 150th anniversary year in 2024 set a new record for giving in a single year, exceeding $37 million. This was an improvement on 2023’s record-breaking philanthropy to Chautauqua, bringing our campaign within $7 million of its goal, with $143 million raised as of the close of 2024. (Note: The Campaign will conclude June 30, 2026.) Gifts to the endowment from the campaign have reached nearly $50 million, representing the largest contribution to the endowment by any campaign in Chautauqua’s history. The Chautauqua Foundation’s net assets increased by $16 million in 2024 to $152 million.

With all of this being true, the risk of our business model, largely dependent on one quarter of operations annually, is the reason the strategic plan has called for a new business model since its inception in 2019. We are attempting to generate more revenue outside of the Summer Assembly through Chautauqua Travels and other initiatives. To date, those initiatives do not completely solve for the business sustainability problem. This is why we were seeking outside advisors to help us re-imagine our financial and operating models before we start the 2026 budget process.

Chautauqua publishes its financial statements annually online at https://www.chq.org/about/board-of-trustees/

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