{"id":1281,"date":"2025-02-18T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-18T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/?p=1281"},"modified":"2025-02-09T05:35:24","modified_gmt":"2025-02-09T05:35:24","slug":"nonprofit-arts-success-in-a-changing-environment-tip-1-stop-terrorizing-your-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/2025\/02\/18\/nonprofit-arts-success-in-a-changing-environment-tip-1-stop-terrorizing-your-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Nonprofit Arts Success in a Changing Environment, Tip 1: Stop Terrorizing Your People"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The first tip: for a nonprofit organization to work, everyone has to care about why they\u2019re there; otherwise, there\u2019s no need for them to stay.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Despite what despots say, terrorizing your employees is not a great motivator when you run a charity, especially an arts organization.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Over the next few years, your nonprofit arts organization will be tasked with trying to succeed in a local and national environment not terribly interested in your work. Certainly not your art. It is with that in mind that we start the discussion of how to become the most successful your organization can be. This is not to say that your US-based organization will be successful, but it may give you some comfort to know that your failure will not be because of the change in administration, but because your leadership continued to concern itself with the wrong things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are no miracles. Your organization can only maximize success, not ensure it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Which leads us to Tip #1. Don\u2019t terrify your employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1999, Jeff Bezos, the near-trillionaire owner of Amazon, a company that has put way too many small businesses into bankruptcy (and he\u2019s coming for you, too, unless you give him a piece of the action \u2014 straight out of every bad 1940s gangster movie), revealed his motivating message to his employees. Bezos told Wendy Walsh of CNET, \u201cI asked everyone around here to wake up terrified every morning, their sheets drenched in sweat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a company where, purportedly (and from a lot of ex-employee reports), warehouse workers feel compelled to pee in a bottle so that they don\u2019t leave the production line. It is not apparent why they\u2019re peeing in bottles. Likely, it\u2019s just the terror of being seen not at their station. The jobs pay pretty well, but no compensation can make up for being terrorized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I, too, worked in an office environment like that once. Owned by a billionaire. Tight security to the point of Severance<\/em>-like subjugation. The pay was great. Rampant paranoia from all quarters, especially the executive floor. Full gym on site. Arbitrary hirings and firings. One of the company\u2019s two emperors would feel no remorse for firing people just because they walked by their office. Expectations were ridiculous. The environment was enough to drive one employee to say, as we all descended down a staircase during a fire drill, \u201cLet it burn. Please let it burn.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That person was not joking. Nor did anyone laugh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve heard it said numerous times: \u201cIt\u2019s not paranoia if they are, in fact, out to get you.\u201d This was that kind of place. Which leads to the obvious question about your own nonprofit arts organization \u2014 how toxic is your work environment? Moreover, whatever the answer is, how do you know?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Is this what’s going on at your arts organization when you’re not looking?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n


On January 22, the Seattle Times<\/em> reported that the CEO of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra (SSO) had resigned. He\u2019d been on sabbatical since December and decided to just not come back. And while we\u2019ll never know the real reason for his departure, the environment at SSO has been reported as back-stabbingly toxic for years. Not only did the CEO resign, but so did the CFO\/COO and the Chief Diversity Officer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further down the ladder rungs of the organizational chart, there have been numerous discussions on LinkedIn and other websites from people who felt betrayed by the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CEO was no angel, it would seem. According to one first-hand report from a former long-term hire, \u201cI lost faith in him and the SSO leadership team after several former SSO musicians and administrators were fired silently and unjustly or pushed out by politics and VP\/managerial power trips.\u201d There were reports of the over-monitoring of social media accounts as a symptom of the organization\u2019s insecurity over its own activities. Micromanaging is\/was evidently rampant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A good investigative reporter would probably not only discard those reports as hearsay, but at the same time, they\u2019d look into the company\u2019s tax-exempt activities as detailed in IRS returns, grant requests, grant reports, and other publicly available information over the years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three years ago, the music director abruptly resigned by email, saying, \u201cI felt personally not safe. I felt threatened.\u201d<\/a> The board has repeatedly denied that there was a hostile work environment, which leads to a discussion of perception vis-\u00e0-vis<\/em> reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is at this point that I should mention that I have no first-hand knowledge of any wrongdoing or bad management at the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. I should also mention that I have no first-hand knowledge of any rightdoing or good management at the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. Nor is this a way to impugn the reputation of the leadership there. All of this alleged activity is exactly that, alleged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet, other former employees have chimed in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had a horrific experience at SSO as well, under a different CEO. All VPs also left within 1-2 years after I left. Bullying and power trips are pervasive in the industry. It needs to stop.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Within the community, this kind of toxic behavior at the SSO seems to be a not-terribly-well-kept secret. Sometimes, when a nonprofit arts organization morphs into an institution, the sinister and corrupt side of the corporate management textbook holds sway. Did that happen here? I don\u2019t know. All I know is that there are myriad former employees of the SSO that claim they were treated poorly, enough to make their feelings public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once that becomes public, of course, the company should go ahead and change its official moniker to \u201cThe Terrifying Seattle Symphony Orchestra,\u201d or simply \u201cTSSO.\u201d When it comes to depending on toxicity for funding, other orchestras across the country have figured out that the community depends on them, not the other way around. But not the TSSO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to their official 990 tax return, \u201cThe Seattle Symphony unleashes the power of music, brings people together, and lifts the human spirit.\u201d All these are lovely phrases that are harmless and ornamental. Without any proof that their intent is to do those things<\/em> (let alone any progress toward making those things happen for the communities of Seattle<\/em>), it\u2019s spurious gobbledygook. At no time, even among the several pages of their website, do they answer the key question, \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
2022 form 990 submitted for the Seattle Symphony. Ain\u2019t those pretty words? Did 343 employees agree? Are they still there? Are ANY still there? (Public information, courtesy of the IRS)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n


Without knowing why they see as their ultimate mission to \u201cunleash the power of music\u201d (something that can be done effectively with a Led Zeppelin album and a 20-foot speaker), how would community-minded employees know why they work there? Where is the charity? Except for the money and the credit on the r\u00e9sum\u00e9 for a potential employee, it appears to be a charitable wasteland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, if the TSSO exists just to make sure that the TSSO exists, that\u2019s the kind of toxic workplace reality that leads to its best people leaving, running like hell to the next job. Take it as a lesson: don\u2019t terrorize your employees. It makes you look bad (and not worthy of funding), not them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

The first of an I-don’t-know-how-many-parts series about maximizing success in a right-wing, anti-arts America.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1282,"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":[21,20,22,100,40,32,29,23,19,18,17,99],"tags":[137,138,47,50],"class_list":{"0":"post-1281","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-board-of-trustees","10":"category-book-recommendation","11":"category-change","12":"category-charity","13":"category-dei","14":"category-executive-director","15":"category-leadership","16":"category-nonprofit","17":"category-nonprofit-arts-organizations","18":"category-scene-change","19":"tag-employees","20":"tag-hr","21":"tag-mission-statement","22":"tag-nonprofit-management","23":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Nataliya-Vaitkevich.jpg?fit=1400%2C542&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1517,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/2025\/10\/07\/a-punchy-outspoken-argument-for-how-nonprofit-arts-organizations-should-be-run\/","url_meta":{"origin":1281,"position":0},"title":"“A PUNCHY, OUTSPOKEN ARGUMENT FOR HOW NONPROFIT ARTS ORGANIZATIONS SHOULD BE RUN.”","author":"Alan Harrison","date":"October 7, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"\"An example-driven new map to success in the realm of nonprofit theater.\" \u2014 Kirkus Reviews.","rel":"","context":"In "Arts and Culture"","block_context":{"text":"Arts and Culture","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/category\/arts-and-culture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Scene Change, Scene Change 2, and Scene Change 3 - 3 books to improve your arts organization","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/3-book-titles.jpg?fit=1200%2C606&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/3-book-titles.jpg?fit=1200%2C606&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/3-book-titles.jpg?fit=1200%2C606&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/3-book-titles.jpg?fit=1200%2C606&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/3-book-titles.jpg?fit=1200%2C606&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1683,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/2025\/12\/30\/scene-change-3-just-named-to-kirkus-reviews-25-best-indies-of-2025\/","url_meta":{"origin":1281,"position":1},"title":"“SCENE CHANGE 3” Just Named to Kirkus Reviews’ “25 Best Indies of 2025!”","author":"Alan Harrison","date":"December 30, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"If you're serious about succeeding as a nonprofit arts organization, you're going to want to pick up the trilogy at your favorite bookstore.","rel":"","context":"In "Arts and Culture"","block_context":{"text":"Arts and Culture","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/category\/arts-and-culture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Scene-change-3-with-sky.jpg?fit=1200%2C640&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Scene-change-3-with-sky.jpg?fit=1200%2C640&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Scene-change-3-with-sky.jpg?fit=1200%2C640&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Scene-change-3-with-sky.jpg?fit=1200%2C640&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Scene-change-3-with-sky.jpg?fit=1200%2C640&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1647,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/2026\/02\/26\/short-and-sweet-teachers-that-teach-teachers-that-educate-arts-nonprofits-that-produce-arts-nonprofits-that-are-worth-a-donation\/","url_meta":{"origin":1281,"position":2},"title":"Short and Sweet: Teachers : Educators :: Arts Organizations : Nonprofit Arts Organizations That Deserve Donations","author":"Alan Harrison","date":"February 26, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Back to the basics, because the message is only going so far. 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