Why disrespect donors with, at best, only a choice to opt-out? Aren’t donors kinda important? One year after a first-time donation, someone gets an unappealing appeal like the one pictured above. It may come as an email, as a letter in an envelope, or as a phone call. But sure as shootin’, it’s a-comin’. And you probably don’t see anything wrong with that, do you? Just … [Read more...] about Why Does Your Nonprofit Arts Organization Engage in the Myth of the Annual Fund?
Philanthropy and Donors
“But what if IRS code 501(C)(3) included producing and exhibiting arts as a qualified tax-exempt activity?”
A good question. The answer has nothing to do with the obstacle to success. It’s only a symptom. I can see why you’d ask that question. It has been a key point in this column to bring out into the open the fact that Section 501(C)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service’s tax code does not include the production or exhibition of art as a tax-exempt activity. Normally, I … [Read more...] about “But what if IRS code 501(C)(3) included producing and exhibiting arts as a qualified tax-exempt activity?”
Nonprofit Arts Closings: “Duh.”
Mark Taper Forum. Book-It Repertory. Lookingglass Theatre. Dozens of others to come. All because of what? Vision? Vanity? Vainglory? Or just money? It should make you angry, not sad. I will make this as clear as possible, because it seems to be going over the head of too many nonprofit arts leaders. When nonprofit arts organizations close down, suspend productions, or … [Read more...] about Nonprofit Arts Closings: “Duh.”
Nonprofit Arts Funding: Why Reward Bad and Punish Good … Still?
Why do funders support the same organizations because they’ve always supported the same organizations, regardless of their results? I thought this would have stopped by now. Silly me. In 2017, the AT&T Performing Arts Center in Dallas, Texas was $151 million in debt, partly due in part to escalating expenses from a capital project gone haywire. According to the … [Read more...] about Nonprofit Arts Funding: Why Reward Bad and Punish Good … Still?
“Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics” – Another Bad Research Project About the Arts Leads to Worse Conclusions
Benjamin Disraeli might have been referring to the latest irrelevant data on the economic power of the arts in 2021. [Jeez Louise. Why do they make me have to write this?] Let’s start with a basic question. What constitutes relevant data? If you’re really hungry and you find yourself in an apple orchard, which one of these points is the most relevant to you? If … [Read more...] about “Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics” – Another Bad Research Project About the Arts Leads to Worse Conclusions