You need to find a way to justify your worth to your community — and at the same time, prepare for bad news, too. The buzz inside your nonprofit arts organization is louder than outside the walls. Much louder. As in, if someone is not completely tuned in to what’s going on at your particular arts organization — either your performances or your impact — they’re just … [Read more...] about “Hope for the Best. Expect the Worst.”
Nonprofit
Nonprofit Arts Organizations: Beware “A Little Knowledge”
Forcing data to reach a conclusion causes nonprofit arts organizations to issue pronouncements that just aren’t so. Conclusion I had a friend who had a Ph.D. in Psychobiology. She spent her post-doc work in a lab where, among other experiments, they tested a hypothesis about access to the brain via the olfactory nerve. That particular nerve, one of the key elements of … [Read more...] about Nonprofit Arts Organizations: Beware “A Little Knowledge”
Advocacy for the Nonprofit Arts Sector is Currently Meaningless
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
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.