{"id":30,"date":"2022-09-28T19:15:56","date_gmt":"2022-09-28T19:15:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/?p=30"},"modified":"2022-09-28T19:16:00","modified_gmt":"2022-09-28T19:16:00","slug":"whats-the-worst-that-could-happen-to-your-nonprofit-arts-organization-whats-the-best","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/2022\/09\/28\/whats-the-worst-that-could-happen-to-your-nonprofit-arts-organization-whats-the-best\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s The Worst That Could Happen to Your Nonprofit Arts Organization? What\u2019s the Best?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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In the day-to-day panic that engulfs the average nonprofit arts organization leader, especially those in the United States, sometimes the goal is to make it to tomorrow. That\u2019s a fine goal for a person in panic, but is it the right goal for the whole organization?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s look at it another way, from a completely different issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suppose you have a child. We\u2019ll call him Max. Regardless of your socioeconomic standing, marital status, or any environmental factors, Max loves you. You love Max.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Max turned 15. On his birthday, he announced to you that he is not comfortable in his gender. This does not surprise you, on some level, because you\u2019ve noticed that for the last couple of years, Max has gravitated toward nontraditional interests for a boy. You\u2019re progressive, or at least you say you are, so you were prepared to hear that Max might be gay. You knew the issues surrounding that moment\u2014the announcement, not the orientation\u2014and you wanted to support him in any way you could.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After you\u2019ve congratulated yourself on your own progressiveness, Max nervously offered a corollary to the first announcement. Max told you that he would be more comfortable as a female. Your child has picked out a new name, Minnie, and he would like you to use the pronouns she\/her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before you jump to the height of irrational panic with your own value system, take a moment. Rather than dismissing this as a \u201cfad\u201d (there are plenty of folks who believe that) or as a \u201cphase\u201d (also popular, if unsupported) and deny your child, ask yourself this question: \u201cWhat is the worst thing that could happen if I completely support Minnie\u2019s decision?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, ask yourself, \u201cWhat is the worst thing that could happen if I deny Max\u2019s request, or at the very least, try to placate him in some other way?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the parent of a transgender child, I can relate. For me, the answer was easy. Choose to continue to love and support your child, no matter what. If she wants to be Minnie, let her be Minnie. Encourage Minnie. Love Minnie. Let Minnie decide where she is in the process and just support her in every possible way. It\u2019s her life, not yours. Let go. Because if your love or respect is conditional on a gender decision, Minnie will remember that lack of support for the rest of her life. And she may completely cut you out because of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that would be the worst thing that could happen, right?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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For others who are experiencing this issue\u2014even among the liberal folks in my circles\u2014we can have a long talk about this at a later date. But transgender issues are not what this column is about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your nonprofit arts organization, which for years (like most nonprofit arts organizations) has directed its impact toward its own \u201cexcellence,\u201d whatever that means. You\u2019ve asked for ticket and contribution money to pay for it. You haven\u2019t really done anything except produce your art, which, while noble, is secondary to your community\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They\u2019ve noticed. And they\u2019re acting accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pandemic put the word \u201cessential\u201d in everyone\u2019s vocabulary. And while art might be considered indispensable for a civil society, your arts organization is not. Art existed before its founding and will continue to exist after its closure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your nonprofit arts organization, which for years (like most nonprofit arts organizations) has directed its impact toward its own \u201cexcellence,\u201d whatever that means. You\u2019ve asked for ticket and contribution money to pay for it. You haven\u2019t really done anything except produce your art, which, while noble, is secondary to your community\u2019s needs.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Put another way, art as a tool is <\/em>essential for your employees, your board members, local artists, and some of your donors. But as a community impact-producer, not so much. You don\u2019t solve hunger, homelessness, or social justice issues. You might talk about them, but you don\u2019t solve them. Or even mitigate them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You weren\u2019t there on the front lines when hospitals and other health-care centers were full. You didn\u2019t serve food or even put your health in danger at the local supermarket or green grocer. Once art was taken off the table, you just stopped and flailed like a turtle on its back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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That\u2019s the textbook definition of \u201cnon-essential.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So now, nonprofit arts organizations such as yours face a monstrous dilemma. The public has seen your quintessential non-essentialness. They know. They may even love art, but that\u2019s less important to them now. They can watch art online, streaming, or on regular ol\u2019 television. In this next normal, they want to know why they should donate money to you if all you care about is putting on art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your funding is kaput, having lived off of federal and local special pandemic-based grants for the last two years. Your staff is exhausted, what\u2019s left of them. You have new leadership. You have old leadership. You\u2019ve drained that emergency fund which you mistakenly called an \u201cendowment\u201d and have had to apologize to donors for using the corpus when you said you never would. You\u2019re looking for work and your staff knows it because, hell, they\u2019re looking for work, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the worst thing that could happen if you decide to stop everything for a minute and make one of the following choices?<\/p>\n\n\n\n