The Mellon Foundation almost got it right for nonprofit arts leadership in the 2020s. Why aren’t nonprofit arts subscribers renewing their subscriptions? Because you can’t get good seats in a coffin. You may not have heard about this, mostly because the news has not been reported as much as it should have been, but the Mellon Foundation, the meat of whose mission … [Read more...] about Art Doesn’t Need to Be Served. People Do.
Arts and Culture
Useful Idiots, Harmless Kitsch, and Nonprofit Arts Organizations Doing the Right Thing, No Matter What (Part Two)
A two-part column about you, your nonprofit arts company, and the power of your choices (Continued from last week) Last week, we talked about people-pleasing. I urge you to read that piece before this one. Among the two choices we utilize as humans in unconscious reaction to dissonance, attack, or unreasonable pressure is the idea of “fight.” If you’re on the job, … [Read more...] about Useful Idiots, Harmless Kitsch, and Nonprofit Arts Organizations Doing the Right Thing, No Matter What (Part Two)
Useful Idiots, Harmless Kitsch, and Nonprofit Arts Organizations Doing the Right Thing, No Matter What (Part One)
A two-part column about you, your nonprofit arts company, and the power of your choices In these heady days where the mere act of watching RuPaul’s Drag Race self-qualifies you as an expert on the LGBT community (it doesn’t), where putting a “We support the Black Community” manifesto on your arts organization’s website self-qualifies you as an equity activist (it doesn’t), … [Read more...] about Useful Idiots, Harmless Kitsch, and Nonprofit Arts Organizations Doing the Right Thing, No Matter What (Part One)
The Con Is On – Raising Emergency Money at the Expense of Everyone Else Is Not a Heroic Act
Especially when you leave the premises just before the devastation and claim victory I can’t believe that this is not only still happening, but that you’re allowing it to happen. The San Francisco Bay area is geographically and demographically large. Stretching across nine counties (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and … [Read more...] about The Con Is On – Raising Emergency Money at the Expense of Everyone Else Is Not a Heroic Act
Nonprofit Arts Marketing – Drive for Image First; The Road to Revenue Follows
Or, Drive for Money First; The Road to Oblivion Follows Over the last couple of columns, we’ve talked about the coming war. I need a break from that, and I’m sure you do, too. Let’s head back over to the land of the living, at least for the moment, and help them support your work. In your nonprofit arts organization, the person leading that effort is the marketing … [Read more...] about Nonprofit Arts Marketing – Drive for Image First; The Road to Revenue Follows