As Detroit Struggles, Foundations Shift Mission

At the same time, Mr. Campbell and others are pressing cultural organizations to overhaul their operations.

“One of them,” Mr. Stewart said, “has been running an operating deficit of $20 million for two years, which suggests the problem goes beyond the crisis in fund-raising.”

“People won’t come back to Detroit without these organizations, so we have to support them,” Mr. Stewart added. “But they also have to make some hard choices to make our support worthwhile.”