{"id":1112,"date":"2024-10-29T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-29T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/?p=1112"},"modified":"2024-10-27T09:20:58","modified_gmt":"2024-10-27T09:20:58","slug":"talking-to-or-talking-at-or-even-talking-at-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/2024\/10\/29\/talking-to-or-talking-at-or-even-talking-at-all\/","title":{"rendered":"Talking To or Talking At? Or Even Talking at All?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Nonprofit Arts Leaders: Don’t tell them about your mission, show them how you are fulfilling it. Don’t just present, discuss. Do you talk about what\u2019s happening to other folks in your community? Or are you \u201ctoo busy?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Photo by Mizuno K from Pexels<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This is an exchange that happened during a recent \u201cTown Hall\u201d with Vice President Kamala Harris taking questions from \u201cundecided\u201d voters in Pennsylvania, courtesy of CNN<\/a>, and hosted by Anderson Cooper. It has been edited for length.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

PAM THISTLE, REALTOR FROM WYNDMOOR, PENNSYLVANIA: When you talk about rich people paying their fair share, can you be more specific? Income taxes are already on a graduated scale where the more you make, the higher percentage you pay in taxes. So the rich are paying a disproportionate amount in taxes as it is. Over 40 percent of Americans don’t pay any income taxes. Also, the really high-earners may move their money offshore if there are disincentives in the U.S. This could impact the economy. I would like to hear more nuts and bolts about your economic plans.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 
KAMALA HARRIS: Sadly, Donald Trump, when he was president, gave tax cuts to the richest, to billionaires in big corporations, which added trillions of dollars to our deficit. Now, in terms of what we need to do to bring down taxes, I have pledged and have a plan for a middle-class tax cut that would affect 100 million Americans, including, for example, what we will do around small businesses, in terms of tax deductions, in terms of what small businesses are now being mired in terms of a bureaucracy around they have to fill out and do their taxes in a way that actually holds them back. Part of my plan includes extending a middle-class tax cut that would include a $6,000 tax cut, essentially a child tax credit, for parents, and young parents, in particular, knowing that the vast majority of our parents have a natural desire to parent their children well, but not always the resources. We cannot and I will not raise taxes on anyone making less than $400,000 a year.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Harris and Thistle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But we do need to take seriously the system that benefits the richest and does not help out working middle-class Americans. I come from the middle class, and I believe that the middle class needs tax breaks to be able to actually not just get by, but get ahead.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a good answer to a question that Pam Thistle didn\u2019t ask. But I\u2019ll give Vice President Harris a pass. Why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given fatigue, the unending question peppering, and the view from the moral tightrope that Democrats are required to walk (it\u2019s the width of fishing line and as sharp as a Ginsu knife) in comparison to the GOPhers, where outrageous moral, unethical, and illegal behavior seems to be acceptable to even the most hypocr\u2014 I mean, evangelical<\/em> Christians, I can understand why the Vice President figuratively loaded up the \u201clower taxes for the middle class\u201d cartridge and pressed play. It\u2019s what a tired mind does. It has little bearing on her intelligence, her willingness to go the extra mile for the people of this country, or her ability to serve, all of which are at a level thousands of times higher than her opponent (as I see it).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pam Thistle didn\u2019t want to talk about tax cuts to the middle class. She had stated, in her preamble, that she was a widow (for about ten years), raising kids on her own, and had built her business to a relatively high income. Not billions of dollars per year, but certainly top 10%. She wanted to know why she was responsible for paying more of her earned income in taxes than others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The answer, of course, is that Pam Thistle is Pam Thistle and everyone else is everyone else. Had the Vice President taken that moment to walk up to Ms. Thistle and ask what her real frustration was, got into the weeds with her \u2014 yes, on national television \u2014 and found a way to be constructively honest (something like \u201cPam, other people are not loyal, law-abiding taxpayers like you are. It is those<\/em> people who my plan will target to pay their fair share. Let\u2019s talk about how we can make your life more livable and less stressful. Regardless of what happens next month, I want to help you.\u201d), the world would have seen a thoughtful, compassionate, direct response. Pam Thistle would have felt heard because the candidate would have been talking to her, not at her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That kind of intimacy is what your community is seeking from your arts organization. If you are one of the top executives or the board chair, that\u2019s what they\u2019re seeking from you. They don\u2019t want to be talked at with platitudes about the arts, complaints about your struggles, and the unfairness of the pandemic toward the industry. When they ask you what you\u2019re doing to help the community, they don\u2019t want to hear about your attendance, your calculations on the purported positive economic impact of your work, or how test scores are increasing nationally from after-school arts programs in general. They want to know what you <\/em>are doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Years ago, I used to leave my office in West Seattle with a mug of coffee and walk the three-block commercial area surrounding the theater organization and gallery I was running. I\u2019d stop in every store, and if they weren\u2019t particularly busy, I\u2019d chat and ask them what they needed. What issues were bothering them? How could the theater help? Did they live nearby? Have they ever attended an event? Why or why not?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regardless of the fact that I was running a theater and gallery, I wanted their lives to be more livable and less stressful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If your<\/em> arts organization is part of a neighborhood as that one was, when was the last time you, your artistic director, your managing director, your executive director, your development director, your marketing director, your board chair, or other board members actually stopped in someone else\u2019s place of business just to ask how they\u2019re doing? Showing compassion for others is part of the DNA of a successful charitable organization. Do you do that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or do you just ask for support and expect them to give you stuff?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we near the election and the inevitable end-of-year campaign that includes Giving Tuesday, remember the story of The Little Red Hen<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After you read it, disabuse yourself of the notion that you are the Little Red Hen in this analogy. You are not. You\u2019re merely one of the farm animals. The Hen represents the whole community you say you serve. Are you having a two-way relationship with her at all? Do you talk? And when you do, do you talk to<\/em> her, or at<\/em> her? You\u2019ll be surprised at the long-term relationship you can build when you show compassion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And no, you\u2019re not too busy. Get a mug of java and take a walk, at least twice a month. It\u2019s part of the gig.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do you talk about what\u2019s happening to other folks in your community? Or are you \u201ctoo busy?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1113,"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_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,20,100,40,32,23,26,19,18,17,27,99],"tags":[85],"class_list":{"0":"post-1112","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-culture","8":"category-board-of-directors","9":"category-book-recommendation","10":"category-change","11":"category-charity","12":"category-executive-director","13":"category-giving-tuesday","14":"category-leadership","15":"category-nonprofit","16":"category-nonprofit-arts-organizations","17":"category-philanthropy-and-donors","18":"category-scene-change","19":"tag-community","20":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Walking-with-coffee.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1640,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/2026\/01\/06\/its-2026-oy-is-the-nonprofit-arts-sector-in-america-any-healthier\/","url_meta":{"origin":1112,"position":0},"title":"It\u2019s 2026. 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