{"id":620,"date":"2023-11-21T13:02:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-21T13:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/?p=620"},"modified":"2023-11-06T06:20:49","modified_gmt":"2023-11-06T06:20:49","slug":"the-cure-all-for-nonprofit-arts-organizations-doesnt-exist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/2023\/11\/21\/the-cure-all-for-nonprofit-arts-organizations-doesnt-exist\/","title":{"rendered":"The Cure-All for Nonprofit Arts Organizations Doesn\u2019t Exist"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Too many variables cause irrational solutions, especially where impact is involved. Analyze and know your company\u2019s place in your ecosystem, but then stop analyzing and just do.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A lot of chaos arises when you\u2019re looking for a grail.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I have many friends in the nonprofit arts business who are searching for a replicable set of actions that predict success. Much like the flocks of flaks that worshiped Danny Newman\u2019s Subscribe Now!<\/em><\/a> (exclamation point and all) as the only, best, and fundamental grail\u2026 oops, I mean guidebook\u2026<\/em> for reaping lots of ticket money all the time forever and ever, most of the great thinkers in the industry seek for a new guidebook that answers all the millions of equations, in a repeatable way, that face any arts organization. Stick to that guide, the prevailing thinking goes, and you\u2019ll never go wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Except that there is no such guide. There are too many variables in the equation to get you to predictably replicable success. With technology moving faster than ethics (which has always been the case, mind you, but now technology moves far more swiftly than fifty years ago), it is a fool\u2019s errand to look for a system that can reliably work. I fear for some of those friends who believe their work depends on such a system to be developed, or worse, for them to develop it themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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(Chalkboard image by StockSnap from Pixabay)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There are no easy answers to the problems facing nonprofit arts organizations in America. As it turns out, there never were. Only recommendations, tenuous claims on \u201cbest practices,\u201d and, every now and then, a success story, albeit temporary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What, then, connotes success in this industry?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pitiable executive directors and board members will tell you that success is financial. Financial well-being, they\u2019ll insist, is the benchmark for success. Survival and sustainability conquer all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, money is not the coin of the realm for any nonprofit organization, even an arts nonprofit. If your community is measurably better off by your charitable activities, that\u2019s called \u201cimpact.\u201d Impact, then, is the main thing. And, as Jim Barksdale once said<\/a>, \u201cThe main thing is to make damn sure that the main thing is the main thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But we need money to have impact, don\u2019t we?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You do. However, you need to ask your company, \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why do you need money? Why do you need more money? Why will money aid your impact?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do you know?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps this is the problem. In most, if not all business school programs, undergraduate or graduate, Michael Porter\u2019s revolutionary 5 Forces diagram is taught.<\/a> It\u2019s a basic understanding of where your company is in the market. It applies to nonprofit organizations as well, with the understanding that buying and selling usually refers to underserved or unserved people in the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s a great tool for anyone opening a business. The (short and completely imperfect) descriptions of the forces are these, if you\u2019re an independent coffee house in Kirkland, Washington:<\/p>\n\n\n\n