{"id":1756,"date":"2026-03-26T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/?p=1756"},"modified":"2026-02-10T06:30:40","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T06:30:40","slug":"dog-on-a-cold-stone-floor-or-when-nonprofit-arts-organizations-obsess-about-the-art-more-than-the-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/2026\/03\/26\/dog-on-a-cold-stone-floor-or-when-nonprofit-arts-organizations-obsess-about-the-art-more-than-the-people\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cDog on a Cold Stone Floor,\u201d or When Nonprofit Arts Organizations Obsess About the Art More Than the People"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Art is a universal good. No argument. Nonprofit arts organizations are not art, and therefore are not a universal good. No argument there, either.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Don’t be this guy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cBut Alan,\u201d said the guy, \u201cwhat do you have against art? It\u2019s a public good. Hell, it\u2019s a universal good. It requires funding. It deserves to be funded. Why do you tell all these arts leaders that they aren\u2019t worth funding, when art is \u2014 by all accounts \u2014 completely worthy of funding?\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Search all you want. I have never, ever, ever, ever, ever <\/em>written (or said or even implied) that art is not a universal good. It is. Art is essential, as we discussed in my second book, Scene Change: The Five Real <\/strong>Responsibilities of Nonprofit Arts Boards<\/a>. <\/em>Artists are magical. It\u2019s arts organizations<\/em> that are inessential.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There is no lack of art in your community. Look around you. From the shape of your chair to the design of a white, Styrofoam cup, art exists. All are artful things. All have been designed. The artistry of design attracted you to them. Art is essential<\/strong>. Like air, art is everywhere, whether you like it or not. In the literal sense, art is essential, because art is inescapable. Without it, well \u2026 there is no \u201cwithout it.\u201d It\u2019s everywhere. Like air. The only place art does not exist is in a void.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Happily, and I think I speak for everyone, we don\u2019t live in a void.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Art and artists are two different things. Artists create art. Artists designed your chair. Designers constructed that white, Styrofoam cup. If there is magic in the world, it is that artists create art.<\/strong> An artist takes an idea or a set of seemingly random objects and thoughts, uses skills (either innate or taught) and creates a thing. Sculpture. Tap dancing. Jazz. A play. A performer\u2019s interpretation of another artist\u2019s work \u2014 art upon art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then there are nonprofit arts organizations, which are neither \u201cart\u201d nor \u201cartists.\u201d Nonprofit arts organizations don\u2019t create art at all.<\/strong> Theater companies, dance companies, symphony orchestras \u2014 none of them create art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saying that arts organizations create art is a lot like saying that restaurants cook food. People who cook food cook food. People who create art create art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Solving or mitigating your community\u2019s needs is not essential. After all, billions of people don\u2019t help billions of people every day. But as a nonprofit, a charity whose purpose is to measurably provide a positive impact on your particular community, your duty is to solve or mitigate, not to produce or entertain.<\/strong> Don\u2019t get me wrong: the art you produce can be entertaining. But only when you use art to solve and mitigate will you have achieved your nonprofit\u2019s objective.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Art. (images from various sources, all licensed under CC BY 4.0 or in the public domain.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cBut Alan,\u201d said the guy, \u201casking an arts organization not to produce art is silly. It\u2019s ridiculous. I mean, we\u2019re a non-commercial venture, not a charity. It\u2019s a legal status, nothing more than that. How are we supposed to cure cancer? That\u2019s not what we do.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I don\u2019t exactly know where the usage of \u201cnon-commercial\u201d came from, but there\u2019s no attachment to a 501(C)(3) organization. Every 501(C)(3) organization is a \u201ccharity\u201d or a \u201cnonprofit.\u201d Those are your two choices; they mean the same thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNon-commercial\u201d describes a usage for a piece of intellectual property, such as this column. It is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0, a Creative Commons license that allows you to pull from it as long as you follow the legal edicts put forth by Creative Commons. Just click here<\/a> to read those rules that shows how you can use this work, when to credit the author, and all that legal stuff. For the full text, just click here instead.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNon-commercial\u201d also means \u201cnot conducted for profit, cost-recovery, or re-sale.\u201d<\/a> That definition is not limited to 501(C)(3) organizations. Many \u201cB\u201d Corporations<\/a> have that kind of setup, where the revenues pay for the costs and no more, but it does not make them a 501(C)(3).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those organizations that have made the decision to become a 501(C)(3) have a legal responsibility to follow the IRS code, unless there has been some subsequent court case, as there was in Plumstead<\/a>, where the court ruled that \u201ca nonprofit [arts] organization can qualify for tax-exempt status under section 501(c)(3) if it operates exclusively for charitable or educational purposes, even if it engages in activities such as selling tickets or forming partnerships, as long as these activities further its exempt purpose and do not serve substantial commercial interests.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does your 501(C)(3) arts organization operate \u201cexclusively for charitable or educational purposes?<\/a> <\/strong>(click on the link to see what the IRS means by \u201ccharitable\u201d)<\/em>\u201d<\/strong> Do all 501(C)(3) organizations deserve funding? Why does yours?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThe exempt purposes set forth in section 501(c)(3) are charitable, religious, educational, scientific, literary, testing for public safety, fostering national or international amateur sports competition, and preventing cruelty to children or animals,\u201d<\/strong> after all.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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

And that\u2019s the most important question: why does your 501(C)(3) deserve funding? The presentation of art is not a charitable activity, so the only organizations that are thriving in 2026 and beyond are those that do engage in charity using art as a tool. These are the ones that consider the community\u2019s needs (not its wants) first before planning any activities at all. The excellence of the art is the baseline, not the goal; who chooses not to be excellent? Hence, excellence is not only overrated, it\u2019s irrelevant to the conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There has been no time that I asked nonprofit arts organizations to cure cancer. But what if one produced a thoughtful art piece to scientists and science foundations that offered creative ways to think about certain cures for cancer and worked with those science minds collaboratively with that as a goal? What if those new thought processes that were developed by artists gave scientists the freedom to think outside the equations and discover that one particular kind of cancer was, in fact, curable? Wouldn\u2019t that be something?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t let your nonprofit arts organization fall into the trap of producing art and leaving it at that. That\u2019s irresponsible and breaking a covenant that your organization signed with the state in which you do business. Your organization has a responsibility to make your community a better place to live in specific charitable ways. Otherwise, why do you deserve contributed money at all, let alone provide (and be provided) a tax break? In many ways, vacuuming money from the public coffers without providing charitable impact is stealing. It takes money away from those nonprofits \u2014 arts or otherwise \u2014 that do. They deserve that funding. An arts organization that steals money by refusing to do anything with art other than present it is as woeful as a dog on a cold stone floor. And what is the victory of a dog on a cold stone floor? I wish I knew\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If you want your nonprofit arts organization to thrive, just pick up this inexpensive trilogy. If not, I can let you know how to throw “Going Out Of Business” sales.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Thank you so much for reading all the way to the bottom. That takes a lot of patience. If you like what you read, would you please consider contributing to the coffee fund by clicking on the cup above these words? Or better, if you’re in Seattle, let’s have a cup together. My treat.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Art is a universal good. No argument. Nonprofit arts organizations are not art, and therefore are not a universal good. No argument there, either.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1757,"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":[21,20,22,100,40,32,25,23,24,19,18,17,99],"tags":[85,41,10,50],"class_list":{"0":"post-1756","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-development-and-fundraising","14":"category-executive-director","15":"category-freedom-of-speech","16":"category-leadership","17":"category-nonprofit","18":"category-nonprofit-arts-organizations","19":"category-scene-change","20":"tag-community","21":"tag-fundraising","22":"tag-impact","23":"tag-nonprofit-management","24":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Dog-on-a-Cold-Stone-Floor.jpg?fit=950%2C634&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":1756,"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":1756,"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":543,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/2023\/09\/19\/if-your-nonprofit-arts-organizations-audience-is-comprised-solely-of-ticket-buyers-you-missed-the-point-the-boat-and-your-chance\/","url_meta":{"origin":1756,"position":2},"title":"If Your Nonprofit Arts Organization\u2019s Audience Is Comprised Solely of Ticket Buyers, You Missed the Point, the Boat, and Your Chance","author":"Alan Harrison","date":"September 19, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Have you stuck by your audience? 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