You may well have missed this, but buried on p. 24 of the special “Giving” section in today’s NY Times (not linked on the “Arts” web page) is Robin Pogrebin‘s article, The Nonprofit’s Guide to Surviving a Downturn, which draws attention to two timely new books by long-time masters of cultural fundraising. From her description (and considering the prestige and experience of the authors), these appear to be must-haves for nonprofits (including museums) trying to weather these troubled financial times.
They are: Yours for the Asking: An Indispensable Guide to Fund-Raising and Management by Reynold Levy, president of Lincoln Center in New York; and The Art of the Turnaround: Creating and Maintaining Healthy Arts Organizations by Michael Kaiser, president of Kennedy Center in Washington. I’ve never met Kaiser, but I’ve heard Levy speak and was greatly impressed with his vision and ability to realize it. (He spearheaded Lincoln Center’s drive to raise more than $1 billion in five years.)
I have not yet seen these books. Although I assume they are performing-arts oriented, they set forth strategies that can be applied across the cultural spectrum. Maybe we need a master museum fundraiser to author the visual-arts equivalent.
Speaking of fundraising challenges, Alexandra Peers recently detailed in the Wall Street Journal how art museums are trying to grapple with such issues.