{"id":887,"date":"2024-05-14T07:05:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-14T07:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/?p=887"},"modified":"2024-05-14T03:23:43","modified_gmt":"2024-05-14T03:23:43","slug":"nonprofit-arts-organizations-water-is-wet-and-cultural-crossover-doesnt-work-unless-you-center-your-full-time-intent-elsewhere","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/2024\/05\/14\/nonprofit-arts-organizations-water-is-wet-and-cultural-crossover-doesnt-work-unless-you-center-your-full-time-intent-elsewhere\/","title":{"rendered":"Nonprofit Arts Organizations: Water Is Wet. And Cultural Crossover Doesn\u2019t Work Unless You Center Your Full-Time Intent Downstage of the Footlights."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Incidentally, it\u2019s my birthday today. So, hey \u2013 I have the perfect gift all figured out. Just click on any image you see\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Click on any image in this post to help me on my birthday.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You had a nifty idea. Combine hip-hop with one show this season. Then they\u2019ll subscribe to\u00a0your theater, symphony, or ballet forever more. Neato.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nifty ideas that come from a place of desperation and vainglory never turn out very well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know. People aren\u2019t coming back. Or, to be fair, they\u2019re not coming back to your large, we-do-everything, nonprofit arts institution in that great big building where, at the groundbreaking, Governor Whatshisname and Big Donor Whoozi Whatztit, lined up with the then-artistic director, the then-managing director, the then-board chair, and a few other then-leaders who smiled awkwardly toward the then-photographer as they dug their then-silver shovels into a patch of then-ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Remember, click on any image to help on my birthday. (Photo: Metropolitan Transportation Authority \/ Patrick Cashin)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

They\u2019re not coming back to your we-do-performance, art-for-art\u2019s-sake, and we-have-a-groovy-education-and-outreach-program-on-the-side company. You\u2019re not devoid of an audience, but the ones who are there are clamoring for the wheelchair seats and the earphones. Maybe, if you\u2019re producing the Nutcracker Ballet, A Christmas Carol, <\/em>or Handel\u2019s Messiah, <\/em>there are families in the house. Why? Because these are the audiences who see the Nutcracker Ballet, A Christmas Carol, <\/em>or Handel\u2019s Messiah<\/em> every year and nothing else you offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you spend more than a buck and a half trying to turn Christmas attendees into first-time season ticket holders, you\u2019re wasting time, money, energy, and everyone\u2019s patience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Remember, click on any image to help you for my birthday. (Photo by RDNE Stock project on Pexels)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But how, you ask, are you going to gain more season ticket holders out of whole cloth to see your \u201cregular\u201d offerings? Your new version of Dial M for Murder, <\/em>Dvo\u0159\u00e1k\u2019s New World Symphony, <\/em>or Wagner\u2019s Lohengrin.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you haven\u2019t figured it out by now, the reason people may not be coming to your big ol\u2019 honkin\u2019 venue to see your big ol\u2019 honkin\u2019 art is because your organization believes that the center of the arts universe is located upstage of the footlights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not. It never was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ask folks in your arts community whether they\u2019re having the same troubles you are. Not the other ones who are producing great art and hoping for the best, but the ones whose art is being used to establish connections and grow the success of the communities they serve. Black companies. LGBT companies. Latinx companies. Those companies depend on the connections they make in their respective communities for everything, but it\u2019s a symbiotic relationship. They provide services and art to people who have been traditionally left out of the discussion; in turn, those people support the work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike the wealthy elitist zombies on whom you\u2019ve chosen to depend for your company\u2019s\u2026 survival? (no, that\u2019s over-the-top) … devotion to your artistic vision? (no, they don\u2019t like when you produce work that doesn\u2019t make them laugh) … payroll (ah, that\u2019s it), those other companies depend on those who depend on them. And if they\u2019re not as successful as they could be, it might be because there are too many larger companies hoovering cash out of the arts-mosphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Remember, click on any image to help your community thrive for my birthday.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is with that frame of mind that I studied the February 2024 report, \u201cIn Search of the Magic Bullet: Results from the Building Audiences for Sustainability Initiative<\/a>,\u201d a relatively predictable, but confirming report published by the Wallace Foundation (Read it yourself; don\u2019t take my word for it.). \u201cPredictable\u201d because the crux of the findings had to do the idea that purposeful programming for the members of the community <\/em>lay at the heart of sustainability, not the subjective nature of \u201cexcellence\u201d or the mistaken notion of \u201cleading the audience.\u201d In short, if you believe that your company\u2019s future lies with the current audience, you\u2019ll be bankrupt in just a few short years. And if you believe that continuously programming work that interests you without regard for that audience, you\u2019re crazier than you look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most compelling argument (so much so that the Wallace Foundation used it as a pull-quote):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf organizations want to change audience engagement with them, then organizations need to be open to changing themselves.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There was a secondary finding in the report, also predictable. If your large arts-first company is trying to woo people into your customer base by incorporating a contemporary, popular artist; by doing a production that speaks to people currently not in your customer base (that Black play from that White theater, for example); or by co-presenting\/producing with a small, nimble company that does draw that audience you never see, that will result in one-time interest. Do not expect them to come to your joint when you put up the sign, \u201cWe now return to our regularly-scheduled programming.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did you really believe otherwise? Why? What\u2019s the difference between that type of effort and pulling in the Christmas crowd to see Strindberg? (Editorial note: No one really wants to see Strindberg. Leave it to the colleges.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Remember, click on any image to help you help the world thrive for my birthday.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If you want to expand your audience, all you need to do is eschew your current crowd. If you go fishing in a pond that has no more fish in it, you move to a different body of water. And if the bait you\u2019re using isn\u2019t working in that new body of water, you change the bait. Why? Because you can\u2019t change the fish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I seem exasperated on my birthday, it\u2019s not because of you and your company, if you have chosen not to change \u2014 change is difficult, risky, and not changing may be comfortable, but it\u2019s a predictable failure scenario. It\u2019s not because of your company\u2019s devotion to toxic stakeholders \u2014 that\u2019s a predictable outcome from uninspired, unexceptional leadership, and the United States is full of all kinds of companies that suffer from that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I seem exasperated on my birthday, it\u2019s the silence from those who know better. You know who you are \u2013 you\u2019re the ones not commenting on this very post. Your nonprofit arts organization is a gift from your community. Why spit on them for giving it to you by ignoring what they want?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Happy birthday to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

You had a nifty idea. Combine hip-hop with one show this season. Then they\u2019ll subscribe to your theater, symphony, or ballet forever more. Neato.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":893,"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":[21,100,40,32,29,25,23,19,18,17,99],"tags":[7,10,50],"class_list":{"0":"post-887","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-culture","8":"category-book-recommendation","9":"category-change","10":"category-charity","11":"category-dei","12":"category-development-and-fundraising","13":"category-executive-director","14":"category-leadership","15":"category-nonprofit","16":"category-nonprofit-arts-organizations","17":"category-scene-change","18":"tag-arts-organizations","19":"tag-impact","20":"tag-nonprofit-management","21":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/pexels-lumn-406014.jpg?fit=1280%2C853&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":887,"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":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":887,"position":1},"title":"It\u2019s 2026. 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Is the Nonprofit Arts Sector in America Any Healthier?","author":"Alan Harrison","date":"January 6, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Now that it\u2019s 2026, the public expects its charities to be charitable \u2014 including your theater, opera, ballet, museum, and symphony.","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\/11\/image-10.jpeg?fit=612%2C377&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image-10.jpeg?fit=612%2C377&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image-10.jpeg?fit=612%2C377&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":643,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/2023\/10\/10\/500000000-a-year-for-five-years-for-nonprofit-theaters-wow-is-that-ever-a-bad-idea\/","url_meta":{"origin":887,"position":2},"title":"$500,000,000 a Year for Five Years for Nonprofit Theaters? Wow, Is That Ever a Bad Idea.","author":"Alan Harrison","date":"October 10, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Desperation can cause bad and even damaging ideas. And then there\u2019s this.","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\/2023\/10\/Bad-Ideas.jpg?fit=1111%2C610&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Bad-Ideas.jpg?fit=1111%2C610&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Bad-Ideas.jpg?fit=1111%2C610&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Bad-Ideas.jpg?fit=1111%2C610&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Bad-Ideas.jpg?fit=1111%2C610&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":896,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/2024\/04\/12\/special-post-rewarding-bad-nonprofit-theater-behavior-by-using-trickle-down-just-say-no\/","url_meta":{"origin":887,"position":3},"title":"SPECIAL POST: Rewarding Bad Nonprofit Theater Behavior By Using Trickle-Down? Just Say No.","author":"Alan Harrison","date":"April 12, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The S.T.A.G,E. Act is right now on in committees at the House and Senate. It's a bad bill and really should not pass.","rel":"","context":"In "Book Recommendation"","block_context":{"text":"Book Recommendation","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/category\/book-recommendation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Money-down-the-toilet.jpg?fit=1000%2C667&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Money-down-the-toilet.jpg?fit=1000%2C667&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Money-down-the-toilet.jpg?fit=1000%2C667&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/scenechange\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Money-down-the-toilet.jpg?fit=1000%2C667&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 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