The second tip: for a nonprofit organization to work, pandering is off-limits. Take it from a notorious panderer from a family of panderers. When your nonprofit arts organization’s tax exemption comes to mind, do you believe that it is a right earned by paying money to a lawyer to file the paperwork, a privilege that requires promise fulfillment to the people of your … [Read more...] about Nonprofit Arts Success in a Changing Environment, Tip 2: Don’t Even THINK About Dumbing It Down
Freedom of Speech
“Duck and Cover” — Is That Your Motto for the Next 46 Months?
Or will nonprofit arts organizations choose to fight back for their communities? Whippersnappers do not know about “Duck and Cover.” Which is why it serves as an option for your company’s future. Not a good one, mind you, but I’m sure you’re considering it. “Duck and Cover” was a thing. In fact, the Defense Department made a whole movie about it in 1951. This … [Read more...] about “Duck and Cover” — Is That Your Motto for the Next 46 Months?
The Case for Support: Mixed Blood Theatre Produces Positive, Quantifiable Impact for the People of Minneapolis
There is a theater company sitting right in the heart of America that dedicates every activity, every program, and every human interaction to the notion of radical hospitality. The idea of “radical hospitality” is not new. The Torah: “The strangers who sojourn with you shall be to you as the natives among you, and you shall love them as yourself; for you were strangers … [Read more...] about The Case for Support: Mixed Blood Theatre Produces Positive, Quantifiable Impact for the People of Minneapolis
How Does Your Nonprofit Arts Organization Use History to Tangibly Make Things Better?
Presenting art is not enough, at least if you’re running a nonprofit. Something has to be done or else the opportunity is lost forever. I was watching the 1953 version of War of the Worlds recently and it struck me that as time passes, the perspective on this particular story changes wildly. Secondly, and more importantly for the nonprofit arts industry, those perspective … [Read more...] about How Does Your Nonprofit Arts Organization Use History to Tangibly Make Things Better?
Last of the Summer Whine
The seven attributes of a successful nonprofit arts organization. You gotta do all seven to win. Before I take off for a month, I thought I’d let you in on the secret to success for nonprofit arts organizations. Note how “raising money” is not among the things on the list. That’s a business practice, not an attribute of success. Of course you’ll have to raise money! That … [Read more...] about Last of the Summer Whine