Lost amid a string of inside-baseball phrases and ideologies, officials have little idea as to why they would possibly fund institutions that serve themselves first. Hey guys? You forgot something. Yes, I know we’re supposed to write, call, and send emails to our congresspeople. Yes, I know we’re supposed to learn all the economic impact reports. Yes, I know … [Read more...] about Advocacy for the Nonprofit Arts Sector is Currently Meaningless
Development and Fundraising
A Case for Support: Forklift Danceworks Uses the Art of Dance to Tell the Stories of Real, Essential Workers
Studs Terkel would have been proud of this remarkably impactful nonprofit arts organization. My favorite book about America is Working by Studs Terkel. In it, Terkel takes months to interview regular working people (and unemployed and retired people) in hundreds of jobs. They discuss what they do and what they get out of it. Their stories are familiar, unfamiliar, … [Read more...] about A Case for Support: Forklift Danceworks Uses the Art of Dance to Tell the Stories of Real, Essential Workers
Nonprofit Arts Success in a Changing Environment, Tip 6 — Don’t Talk About It; Do It.
Doing the right thing is always the right thing to do. It’s right there in the phrase. In the new/old world order of Trumpian policy, your arts organization faces the real possibility that, in the face of anti-arts, anti-education, and anti-truth political muckraking euphemistically calling itself “populism,” it will be shut down. The most intelligent thing your nonprofit … [Read more...] about Nonprofit Arts Success in a Changing Environment, Tip 6 — Don’t Talk About It; Do It.
Nonprofit Arts Success in a Changing Environment, Tip 5 — You Can’t Do It Alone
The work to deprogram cultish minds is dangerous. Get help. Lots of it. In the new/old world order of Trumpian policy, your arts organization faces the real possibility that, in the face of anti-arts, anti-education, and anti-truth political muckraking euphemistically calling itself “populism,” it will be shut down. To combat that, we’ve talked about: The most … [Read more...] about Nonprofit Arts Success in a Changing Environment, Tip 5 — You Can’t Do It Alone
Nonprofit Arts Success in a Changing Environment, Tip 3: Symbolism Is Cute and Clever and Performative and Futile
You can change the minds of the armies of pseudo-populists, but only one at a charitable time. Simple satire won’t cut it. Over the next few years, your nonprofit arts organization will be tasked with trying to succeed in a local and national environment powered by zero-sum, anti-art, anti-intellectual, pseudo-populists that now hold sway. It is with that in mind that we … [Read more...] about Nonprofit Arts Success in a Changing Environment, Tip 3: Symbolism Is Cute and Clever and Performative and Futile