![\"Gold\"](\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Gold-e1427122302387.jpg\")
Title got your attention, didn’t it?<\/p>\nTitle got your attention, didn’t it?<\/p>\n
Recently Doug McLennan wrote about ArtsJournal’s survey of readers about issues in the field: We Asked: What\u2019s the Biggest Challenge Facing the Arts?<\/a> By far the most cited was funding, beating out relevance, diversity, and leadership by a wide margin. In one way this is surprising in that the most talked about issues in the field of late have been diversity, equity, relevance, and leadership. On the other hand, in any gathering of leaders in the nonprofit field, funding is cited as the most important concern. It’s what’s on everyone’s mind. We never have enough money to do what needs to be done.<\/p>\n But that is not an issue<\/em>; it’s the reason 501(c)(3)’s exist. There are things that society deems important that can’t “pass” the market test\u2013can’t generate sufficient income on a fee-for-service basis\u2013and that don’t have sufficient political support to be funded by the government. For this work, not-for-profit corporations were created. When I ask boards to identify challenges as part of a planning process, I say:<\/p>\n \u201cFunding\u201d by itself is not a challenge. It is a symptom. The exception may be when a long-time revenue source is suddenly drying up or becoming less available.<\/em><\/p>\n Of course there are situations in which funding does become an issue in itself, as highlighted above. (It also can be a symptom of inequity in funding patterns, but that’s a structural issue over which individual organizations have little control.) More often, though, lack of funding may be an opportunity for strategic review of programming priorities,\u00a0 revenue raising efforts, and relationships with the community. Insufficiency of funds will never go away. It’s a state of being in the nonprofit sector. Overfocus on this as an issue can get in the way of addressing the causes that might be contributing to it.<\/strong><\/p>\n Engage!<\/p>\n Doug<\/p>\n Photo: Insufficiency of funds will never go away. It’s a state of being in the nonprofit sector. Overfocus on it can get in the way of addressing potential causes of the insufficiency.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Funding Is Not an \"Issue\"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[12,13,45,22],"class_list":{"0":"post-4415","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-overview","7":"tag-arts","8":"tag-community-engagement","9":"tag-fundraising","10":"tag-public-good","11":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1G6h9-19d","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3679,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2014\/07\/afta-thoughts-2014\/","url_meta":{"origin":4415,"position":0},"title":"AftA Thoughts (2014)","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"July 9, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Americans for the Arts held its annual conference in Nashville last month. As always, it was a chance to catch up with long-time colleagues, make new friends, and delve into the issues facing what I call the \"arts establishment.\" I had the pleasure of helping facilitate a gathering of researchers\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Overview"","block_context":{"text":"Overview","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/overview\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Nashville","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Nashville.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3922,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2014\/12\/lessons\/","url_meta":{"origin":4415,"position":1},"title":"Lessons","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"December 3, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"A few personal and professional life lessons.","rel":"","context":"In "Principles"","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Homework","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Homework-e1415025995293.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4225,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2015\/07\/afta-thoughts-2015-self-perpetuating-boards\/","url_meta":{"origin":4415,"position":2},"title":"AftA Thoughts 2015: Self-Perpetuating Boards","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"July 29, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Lack of board diversity reflects \"who they (don't) know.\"","rel":"","context":"In "The Practice of Engagement"","block_context":{"text":"The Practice of Engagement","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/the-practice-of-engagement\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"DWEM_Board","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/DWEM_Board-e1435324376845.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4890,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2017\/03\/the-nea-and-other-things\/","url_meta":{"origin":4415,"position":3},"title":"The NEA (and Other Things)","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"March 22, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"My hat is off to Michael Rohd: We must not shout- save the arts! We must sing - we stand together working towards equity, inclusion and resources for those most vulnerable among us.","rel":"","context":"In "Overview"","block_context":{"text":"Overview","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/overview\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/NEA_Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/NEA_Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/NEA_Logo.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/NEA_Logo.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3756,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2014\/08\/making-meaningful-connections\/","url_meta":{"origin":4415,"position":4},"title":"Making Meaningful Connections","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"August 6, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The Helicon Collaborative and Irvine Foundation's report on engaging with diverse communities.","rel":"","context":"In "Principles"","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Helicon-IrvineConnectionsReport-e1406298763696.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6491,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2021\/10\/cruise-ships-turning\/","url_meta":{"origin":4415,"position":5},"title":"Cruise Ships Turning?","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"October 27, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Changes in thinking about the importance of community engagement are happening. Are they going to be big enough and happen fast enough to save our ships?","rel":"","context":"In "The Practice of Engagement"","block_context":{"text":"The Practice of Engagement","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/the-practice-of-engagement\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/CruiseShip.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/CruiseShip.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/CruiseShip.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/CruiseShip.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4415"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4415\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4421,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4415\/revisions\/4421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/i.creativecommons.org\/l\/by\/3.0\/88x31.png\")
Some rights reserved<\/a> by digitalmoneyworld<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"