by Zannie Voss Director, National Center for Arts Research This post is part of a series in conjunction with TRG Arts on developing relationships with both new communities and existing stakeholders through artistic programming, marketing and fundraising, community engagement and public policy. (Cross-post can be found at Analysis from TRG Arts.) In the National Center for Arts Research’s Edition 3 report on the health of the U.S. arts and … [Read more...]
Making Friends
It has been over a year since I found an excuse to write about Nala (our dog). (Art and Puppies) The time to do so again has come. Recently I was walking her and saw a woman eye us and back away. As we passed she said, almost apologetically, "I'm afraid of dogs." I could have explained to her that Nala is a sweetheart who just wants to be loved and to love everybody, but as we passed I simply said, "I understand." This raised two thoughts that … [Read more...]
Cultural Equity
On May 23 Americans for the Arts released its new Statement on Cultural Equity. Before going any further, let me acknowledge that I'm a white guy of a certain age and have no expertise to comment on it. Nevertheless, I'm vitally interested in this. My interest is based on 1) a deep personal conviction about the issue and 2) an awareness that without embracing substantive steps toward equity and making real changes as a result the nonprofit arts … [Read more...]
Artists and Relationship Building
by Laura Zabel This post is part of a series in conjunction with TRG Arts on developing relationships with both new communities and existing stakeholders through artistic programming, marketing and fundraising, community engagement and public policy. (Cross-post can be found at Analysis from TRG Arts.) There is a lot of work right now on building demand, value and interest in the contributions of art and artists to places, social change, … [Read more...]
New vs. Existing: A Time for Every Patron
by Chad Bauman This post is part of a series in conjunction with TRG Arts on developing relationships with both new communities and existing stakeholders through artistic programming, marketing and fundraising, community engagement and public policy. (Cross-post can be found at Analysis from TRG Arts.) As a chief marketing officer, consultant and now managing director, I’ve participated in my fair share of marketing committee meetings. One of … [Read more...]
“The Work Will Do the Work” ??
by Chris McLeod This post is part of a series in conjunction with TRG Arts on developing relationships with both new communities and existing stakeholders through artistic programming, marketing and fundraising, community engagement, and public policy. (Cross-post can be found at Analysis from TRG Arts.) “The work will do the work.” Wait. Not so fast. As a strategic arts marketing consultant I spend a lot of time speaking with (and … [Read more...]
Relationships and Public Policy
by Karen Gahl-Mills This post is part of a series in conjunction with TRG Arts on developing relationships with both new communities and existing stakeholders through artistic programming, marketing and fundraising, community engagement, and public policy. (Cross-post can be found at Analysis from TRG Arts.) I had an interesting conversation with a smart colleague today, on the topic of the role of cultural organizations in civic affairs. We … [Read more...]
Client, Customer, Collaborator: A Roadmap
by Amelia Northrup-Simpson This post is part of a series in conjunction with TRG Arts on developing relationships with both new communities and existing stakeholders through artistic programming, marketing and fundraising, community engagement, and public policy. (Cross-post can be found at Analysis from TRG Arts.) Do you treat arts patrons like customers, clients, or collaborators? In the first post in this series, Doug Borwick laid out … [Read more...]
Customer, Client, Collaborator?
In January, Doug McLennan published a post Is Earning Making Money The New Audience-Building Strategy? In a comparison of for-profit and not-for-profit enterprise, he began to intrigue me when, addressing the former, he said "More than ever consumers are about relationships – the kinds of relationships that non-profits have worked on for years." He then went on to consider whether crowd-funding, which began as simply a way to raise money might be … [Read more...]
Relationship Maintenance
The arts industry is event-oriented, if not event-obsessed. Our principal contribution to public life is in the presentation of events. On the very deepest level we are “do-ers.” There is an inbred impatience with anything that delays doing. This is why, when discussing the process of building relationships with communities, a common question is how to “exit” the relationship when the event is over. (Insert my scream of pain here.) To be clear, … [Read more...]