A community engagement mindset can yield immediate results if the selected "community" is people not too unlike current patrons. You can reach thirty-year-old accountants by crafting marketing materials that are focused on them rather than on the organization. That should be a simple and effective switch as Aubrey Bergauer demonstrated at the California Symphony has demonstrated. (Although experience shows that arts organizations have a tough … [Read more...]
Response to Listen vs. Tell
In Listen vs. Tell I spoke of the necessary switch from telling people about our work to listening to them as a pre-requisite for effective communication. As happens not infrequently, Carter Gilles responded thoughtfully and at length. He has given me permission to share his expansion on my thoughts here. Carter Gilles This particular phrasing [Listen vs. Tell] reminded me of the work that the philosopher Carol Gilligan did I … [Read more...]
Listen vs. Tell
Over a year ago I began presented a somewhat tongue-in-cheek means of differentiating among two vastly different styles of approaching sales, audience development, audience engagement, and community engagement–the means by which we connect with the public. It was rooted in the difference between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0, the "tell" and "interact" versions of the internet. In sharing the concept with people I realized that basing it on Web 1.0 and Web … [Read more...]
Funding Engagement
In the relatively near future I will be facilitating a Community Engagement Network conversation addressing the topic of "Funding Engagement." (To join the network, click here. If you are not Facebook friendly, email us at CEN@artsengaged.com) I get questions on this topic frequently and always have to gird myself before responding. So here is what I try to bear in mind in answering the questions: If you have to have funding before you can begin … [Read more...]
Targets and Timeframes
I have recently found myself concerned with issues related to measuring community engagement, particularly its benefits to arts organizations. (Two-Phase Engagement; Reach and Frequency) There is a tendency among some to know that community engagement is a good thing and, therefore, to resist attempts to measure it's impact. If I'm honest, I may sometimes find myself in that group. There are others who assume that community engagement is at best … [Read more...]
Engagement at the Core
This is the last of a series, introduced in Baby Steps, about arts organizations’ initial efforts in community engagement. For details about the premises upon which these posts are based, see below. The essence is that simple, inexpensive initial steps offer the best way to embark upon community engagement. Engagement at the Core: Early Efforts As I said in Baby Steps, the key to successful engagement “is as simple, inexpensive, and … [Read more...]
Share What You Have
This is part of a series, introduced in Baby Steps, about arts organizations’ initial efforts in community engagement. For details about the premises upon which these posts are based, see below. The essence is that simple, inexpensive initial steps offer the best way to embark upon community engagement. Share What You Have: Connecting as Community Citizens Beyond what was discussed in Be What You Are, a means of connecting with communities that … [Read more...]
External Connections
Fundraising, sales, education, and engagement. All are concerned with making connections between an arts organization and individuals (and groups) outside the organization. The first two have long been focused most on people who have historically been supportive of arts of the European aristocratic cultural tradition. The latter two have spent somewhat more time dealing with those who have not. Fundraising and sales are further related in that … [Read more...]
Zero Sum Funding?
The pursuit of grants, sponsorships, and donations is a central focus of all nonprofits–the arts no less than any other type of tax exempt entity. It keeps us up at night, permeates our dreams (and nightmares), and occupies many, if not most, of our working hours. Over the years I've come to observe that this work is often rooted in an assumption so deep we don't even realize we assume it. That is, the universe of funds from which we may … [Read more...]
Development Terminology
Fools rush in . . . . I may just be a glutton for punishment. However, over the (many) years I taught arts management and the many more in which I have engaged with colleagues in discussions of marketing, sales, development, fundraising–you know, the fun part of the arts (!?)–I've been troubled by what has seemed to me to be a fuzziness about the way we use all the terms. While all of this is not directly related to community engagement, the … [Read more...]