Donations from corporations and individuals are on the decline. And both the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, a prominent source of funding, and the State Council on the Arts recently distributed grants that reflect their own substantial reductions in resources.

From theaters to dance companies and summer camps, groups are cutting staffs, reducing programs, and looking for ways to boost revenue while maintaining their integrity and cultural vibrance.

"We're hitting bone, and it's pretty scary," said Alan Willoughby, executive director of the Perkins Center for the Arts, which offers classes, exhibits, and performances in Moorestown and Collingswood.

The center will have an 18 percent reduction in funds from the state council in the new fiscal year. Its grant from the Dodge Foundation, in Morristown, N.J., was cut by a third, to $40,000.

The council - which allocates state and federal funds from the National Endowment for the Arts and this year from the federal stimulus package - allocated 25 percent less money than it did last year. Eight groups lost funding and many of the remaining 800-plus recipients had their grants cut. None received more money. Only four groups were added.

"Our state government is faced with enormous fiscal challenges," said Carol Herbert, a member and former chair of the council. "The council's highest priority right now is to help New Jersey's arts community maintain stability."

The Dodge Foundation reduced its overall grant awards to $10 million from $15.3 million.

To help in the economic meltdown, the foundation distributed its most recent round of grants early, between March and June, instead of the usual July. That gave organizations flexibility to use the money in fiscal 2009 or 2010, said David Grant, president and chief executive officer of the Dodge Foundation. He hopes that next year, the foundation will do the same.

"It's not a cure-all, but for some of the groups, that flexibility at this time of crisis was appreciated," he said. "We were trying to do whatever we could to help all the groups that were suffering."

One such group is the nonprofit South Jersey Cultural Alliance (SJCA), which promotes art and culture in eight counties.

The Dodge Foundation cut its SJCA grant to $40,000 - $20,000 less than last year. On top of that, the state council's operating grant went from $43,940 to $35,152.

The state's reduction was greater than the organization expected, said Cynthia Lambert, executive director.

SJCA - which includes more than 130 arts and culture groups, such as the Lenape Regional Performing Arts Center, the Rowan University Performing Arts Center, Mainstage Center for the Arts in Blackwood, Symphony in C, and the Battleship New Jersey Museum and Memorial - is looking for "creative solutions," Lambert said.

"We're just basically trying to be as lean as we can be," she said. In this economy, "the foundations are affected, corporations are affected, and government is equally as affected."

At Perkins, Willoughby said, officials plan to expand programs that are sources of revenue, such as music and art classes, and curtail others. The center is funded equally from earned revenue and donations from corporations, individuals, and grants.

"We're really looking at what our core programs are," he said. Rather than eliminating them, the focus is on "reducing the size and the scale of the programs," he said.

Its eight-week Summer Arts Camp, with brings together inner-city and suburban children ages 6 to 13, had expanded to include the Collingswood location in recent years. Many campers are on scholarship. This year, the program accepted fewer students and has operated exclusively in Moorestown.

"We'd like to have the program take place at both sites," Willoughby said, but "we pulled back."

Some projects, such as painting murals in Camden community gardens, were trimmed. The center used to work on several gardens simultaneously, Willoughby said. Now it does one garden at a time.

Perkins administrators hope that enrollment in art and music classes remains a solid source of revenue in a time of reduced household incomes.

"This fall will be a test," Willoughby said. "We're anticipating a decent level of enrollment in those programs. If that starts to get hit, then we're going to be in big trouble."

The Rutgers-Camden Center for the Arts expects its next budget to be reduced by 37 percent, said Mike Sepanic, director of communications.

Having endured past state cuts, the center was somewhat prepared, Sepanic said. In the spring, the staff was reduced by four positions.

"We're trying to work on a strategic plan" to determine "what sort of arts programming we should be doing," he said. Officials are considering ways to generate revenue, such as renting out the stage at the center's Gordon Theater.

SJCA's Lambert said that despite the fiscal difficulties the arts community faces, her organization is grateful for the support it has received from private and government sources.

"We really appreciate their support, what they do to provide these resources to the communities," she said. "They're impacted the same way all of us are."