ARTSblog

Adam Huttler

[During last week’s Private Sector Blog Salon], fellow guest blogger Diane Ragsdale got me thinking after she posed the question: what would have happened if the nonprofit regional theatre movement had embraced (and had the opportunity to embrace) the L3C instead of the 501(c)(3) corporation?

This is an interesting and subtly radical thought experiment. Diane is effectively proposing that we rewind history and build what we now think of as the nonprofit arts sector as a socially-conscious for-profit arts sector instead. Has the horse left the barn or is it really possible to reinvent ourselves at such a fundamental level?

In truth, I’ve always believed that the alleged conflict between artistic purity and commercial success was largely overblown. If anything it’s a healthy tension, not an insurmountable chasm. Certainly there are arts organizations whose missions are to push aesthetic envelopes and operate at the leading edge of craft and artistry. They will always need philanthropic subsidy to survive, and so they should probably be 501(c)(3)s regardless. But these brave, unpopular pioneers are the exception, not the rule. Most of us operate in the vast middle ground between Broadway and The Wooster Group.  Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 15%

Helena Fruscio

In The Arts & New Philanthropy, James Underclofer’s states that “philanthropy/investor sites such as Kickstarter are revolutionizing giving.”

Delegation of an individual’s dollars is less tethered to incorporation status, and more to the donor/investor/client’s “personal motivations” – as Underclofer noted in his students.

So how do both for-profit and nonprofits adjust to this new climate?

They must change the way they communicate their message and engage potential donor/investor/clients.

So what is that change that equals success in this shifting environment?  Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 11%

Paul Miller

Circus as an industry has been incredibly exploitative.

When I joined the circus as a college drop-out in the late 1990s, the Soviet Union fell and with it, went their highest art form—the circus. Their amazing artists had no support from the government, so American circuses enticed these talented individuals to come to the United States. They were paid thousands of rubles which seemed like a lot of money but was, in fact, only about $50 per week. This is not unusual.

I’ve worked with many Russian and Asian circus teachers who can barely read or write. In 2000, I had a six-month gig in Japan with a fellow performer who could speak seven languages but his agent stole half his fee because he could not read the contract.  Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 8%

James Undercofler

Perhaps the most significant and radical departure from the traditional 501(c)(3) (NFP) are the direct to consumer internet businesses, such as artistShare , Etsy, etc. In addition, philanthropy/investor sites such as Kickstarter are revolutionizing giving.

The direct to consumer businesses are organized either as limited liability corporations (LLCs) or individually-organized entities (individuals file IRS, Section C, 1040). Assessment of risk determines whether to form an LLC or not. What’s particularly interesting about these sites is their range: from those that involve “audience” in the artistic process, to those that aggregate artistic products in an almost social network sort of way. From my limited knowledge of their net revenue, I do know that some of these sites are producing significant profits to their owners/creators.

Some assert that the “new investors/donors” resulted from Hurricane Katrina and the massive earthquake in Haiti, that technology that made it easy to give small amounts through one’s cell phone.  Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 8%

Emily Peck

In 2008, if you were to talk about the auto industry, you’d probably talk about the emergency bailout from the federal government that impacted auto companies around the world.

The auto industry was struggling and as a result drastically pulling back their funding from the Detroit arts organizations that depended on this support.

These companies began looking for new ideas and they seemed to have found solutions through the arts. The new language coming out of the auto industry includes words like “creativity”, “innovation”, “design” and even “arts”…words that I’m sure most of us can get behind.

Here is just a sampling of ways the auto industry is showcasing the arts and being creative. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 11%

Welcome to the Green Paper discussion on Private Sector Support for the Arts. We encourage you to read the full Green Paper available in the tab above and make general comments at this time. Be sure to keep your comments brief—Keely Saye, the Ambassador for this Green Paper will soon begin deeper, threaded conversations around specific paragraphs, sections or themes that appear in this Green Paper. Follow this conversation thoroughly by adding the Private Sector Support for the Arts feed to your RSS reader!

Popularity: 16%

Podcast: Download (Duration: 4:48 — 4.4MB)

Bob Lynch, President & CEO of Americans for the Arts, discusses the recent BCA TEN Awards which were held in New York City in November. He focuses on how these awardees–both large and small–all support the arts in unique ways in their own communities. While the economy in the United States has proven financially challenging for the arts, many partners across the country in the private sector are continuing, and stepping up, their support of the arts and arts education.

Find more information on The BCA TEN.

Popularity: 7%

The coming months do not just bring cooler temperatures, scarves, and cocoa, they’ll also bring us a boost in stirring arts events. Here at Americans for the Arts, we’ve been working hard to create proper arts celebrations for National Arts and Humanities Month which starts in a few short days, rounding out in the end of October.

But don’t worry, the celebration will carry through November as the Business Committee for the Arts celebrates the work of ten remarkable companies at The BCA TEN: Best Companies Supporting the Arts in America. Spotlights will shine on Thomas A. James, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Raymond James, the recipient of the BCA Leadership Award, and Movado, Inc., which being inducted into the BCA Hall of Fame. Art and business partnerships will be celebrated in proper fashion on November 19 at one of my favorite museums—The Museum of Natural History in New York City. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 5%

Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:22 — 3.1MB)

In this podcast Bob Lynch, President & CEO of Americans for the Arts, discusses a recent Americans for the Arts convening of leaders in the arts and philanthropy at the Aspen Institute. The topic of this second annual convening, a partnership with the Aspen Institute’s Harman-Eisner Arts Program, was the state of private sector giving to the arts.

Join us here every Friday, where you’ll find a new ArtCast audio blog featuring the leaders of Americans for the Arts as they focus on important and timely topics that affect you and your arts community.

Popularity: 1%

Earlier I wrote about some of the discouraging news coming out of the latest philanthropic research, but there are some glimmers of hope as well, and significant fundraising accomplishments are being achieved every day. Several United Arts Funds across the country are coming out with encouraging news about their annual campaigns, and today we learned that Oregon Ballet Theater in Portland, which three weeks ago announced a critical need to raise $750,000 by June 30 or else close its doors, has not only met its goal but significantly exceeded it. They’ve raised $853,000 and the donations are still coming in — which is good because the company still has a $1 million deficit that it needs to fix.  You can read about how they did it, along with all of the back story, here.

Many arts groups in trouble have debated whether to go public with an urgent request, and the pros and cons of doing so, and if so, when?  Here’s one example where the timing — and the community’s response — seems to have been just right. Are there other stellar examples to share?

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The Metropolitan Atlanta Arts Fund has just announced a two-year Arts Recovery initiative–a $2.5 million dollar program designed to help stabilize small and mid-sized arts organizations as they face unprecedented financial challenges. The effort is an expansion of the Arts Fund’s current grantmaking programs, but will come to fruition through dedicated fundraising and support from large corporate institutions in the region.

Do you know of other new programs that show strong ties between businesses and arts organizations in your community?

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Hello KAIPS Members,

KAIPS is a Cause on Facebook – Keep the Arts In Public Schools (click to join)

I want to thank those of you who’ve been stepping up and offering to make our success a little simpler. Many have offered to participate as leaders in the community which is great, because its working.

I believe that Causes is the best reason to be on Facebook and lately, in the press and blogosphere there’s been a bit of controversy stirring over the value of this as a platform.

Here’s a link ( http://bit.ly/WP-response ) in response to the Washington Post who recycled some outdated information essentially bagging on social networks and their inability to effect change for non-profits and public policy. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 2%

Is it true that business could fix the problems that social profit professionals haven’t? This guy thinks so. But is there any good argument for us?

http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/newsmakers/nwsmkr.jhtml?id=237200013

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