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Scene Change

Arts are essential. Your nonprofit is not.

Philanthropy and Donors

The Case for Support: Voices of Our City Choir Uses Art to Succeed Where Other Arts Organizations Fear to Tread

January 7, 2025 by Alan Harrison Leave a Comment

In San Diego, one nonprofit arts organization has taken it upon itself to provide paths to success for a community whose lives exist below the sightline of typical arts audiences: the unhoused. There is a lazy maxim about unhoused people in San Diego, California. It is the idea that if people were to choose to be homeless, they might as well be homeless in San … [Read more...] about The Case for Support: Voices of Our City Choir Uses Art to Succeed Where Other Arts Organizations Fear to Tread

Measuring the Arts is Impossible – Which Is Why Funders Should Measure Charitable Impact Instead

December 10, 2024 by Alan Harrison Leave a Comment

Imagine what would happen if foundations and corporate donors funded not by grantee promises or relationships, but by their deeds and impact instead. Ah well, a man can dream, can’t he? Imagine a world in which nonprofit arts organizations are given every tool they need to succeed. Or, in lieu of that, enough money to care for their communities, provide needed services, … [Read more...] about Measuring the Arts is Impossible – Which Is Why Funders Should Measure Charitable Impact Instead

Giving Tuesday Is Here Once Again, As Is This Popular Little Article - Just Another Gimmick?

December 3, 2024 by Alan Harrison 5 Comments

(Originally posted October 2022.) I know. The latest data shows that Giving Tuesday is responsible for about .056% of your donations this year. And while that doesn’t sound like much, if it were multiplied by 365, you find that it is 20 times the daily rate necessary to reach your contributed revenue goals. But let’s take another look at that data. Your organization … [Read more...] about Giving Tuesday Is Here Once Again, As Is This Popular Little Article - Just Another Gimmick?

The 2024 Carol for Nonprofit Arts Organizations

November 26, 2024 by Alan Harrison Leave a Comment

The holiday tradition continues because we know you won’t read it. Each year, we attempt a rather bad parody of a famous holiday poem or song to run on the Tuesday before US Thanksgiving, the least likely time you’ll read it. Let alone sing it. This year, we butchered the famous Welsh carol, “The First Noël” (complete with diaeresis). It’s pretty cringe-worthy, but no … [Read more...] about The 2024 Carol for Nonprofit Arts Organizations

So. THAT Happened. Now What?

November 12, 2024 by Alan Harrison Leave a Comment

Regardless of the elections, the issues haven’t changed for US nonprofit arts organizations. But the stakes are higher than ever. It’s been a week since election day, and rather than discussing that process, let’s take a moment to congratulate whichever ones of us survived the last couple of years. We may not last through the next four, but at least we’ve gotten this … [Read more...] about So. THAT Happened. Now What?

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About Scene Change

In early 2024, we laid out the problem and gave you a path. The result: SCENE CHANGE: WHY TODAY'S NONPROFIT ARTS ORGANIZATIONS HAVE TO STOP PRODUCING ART AND START PRODUCING IMPACT. In late 2024, we gave you discussion prompts and rules to help you figure out the answers on your own. The result: … [MORE] about About Scene Change

About Alan Harrison

Alan Harrison is a writer, father, performer, consultant, recovering artist, and the author of the industry best-seller "Scene Change: Why Today's Nonprofit Arts Organizations Have to Stop Producing Art and Start Producing Impact" and “Scene Change 2: The Five REAL Responsibilities of Nonprofit Arts … [MORE] about About Alan Harrison

Recent Posts

  • Consequences — If They Cut Funding, You Go Nuclear (or Go Home)
  • A Strategic Plan for Your Flailing Nonprofit Arts Organization Is Just a Waste of Time
  • Arts Organizations: Laughing, Yelling, Insanity, and You
  • For Nonprofit Arts Organizations, It’s August and the Fan Is Clogged with S**t
  • SUMMER RERUN: Advocacy for the Nonprofit Arts Sector is Currently Meaningless

Recent Comments

  1. Michael Chang on Arts Organizations: Laughing, Yelling, Insanity, and You
  2. Rick Stein on For Nonprofit Arts Organizations, It’s August and the Fan Is Clogged with S**t
  3. Benjamin Lemon on SUMMER RERUN: What Would a Post-NEA (Arts) America Look Like?
  4. Tom Tresser on No. Just No.
  5. Alan Harrison on Nonprofit Arts Success in a Changing Environment, Tip 6 — Don’t Talk About It; Do It.

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