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August 8, 2006

Designed to dissolve

We've been chatting a lot lately about the lifecycle of the nonprofit arts organization, and whether that cycle is as open as it could be to evolution, dissolution, or dramatic change. Thanks for the many thoughtful comments on the matter (here and here, for starters). But there's another wrinkle in the conversation worthy of note: nonprofit organizations that are designed to dissolve when their mission is complete.

One such wonderful case-in-point is Cultural Initiatives Silicon Valley. Formed in 1997 with a ten-year mission to improve arts education throughout Silicon Valley public schools, the organization is now winding down, spinning off its successful initiatives and handing out its assets to other organizations. Says Executive Director John Kreidler in a press release on the web site:

''Cultural Initiatives was intentionally established to operate for a finite period of time. The last ten years have involved very deliberate efforts to integrate the arts into various sectors of the community and to give that knowledge base to key partners so the programs would continue to thrive long after our organization was gone.''

Come December, Cultural Initiatives Silicon Valley will be gone. One of its major initiatives, the Creative Education Program, was handed off last month to the Santa Clara County Office of Education, along with a large grant, and the promise of more money from the coffers when the founding organization dissolves.

Clearly, the temporary arts organization model isn't for every initiative or purpose, but it's a model that could have real power in certain situations. When the goal is to gather forces, focus energy to change a specific part of the world, and then get out of the way, an advanced promise to dissolve can be yet one more catalyst for positive action.

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