On June 13-14, I had the pleasure of visiting Columbia, South Carolina. My host was Andy Witt, who runs the Cultural Council of Richland and Lexington Counties. Andy got things off to a good start by making sure I had the regional food specialty of shrimp and grits! Then it was down to work with a presentation of the economic impact data ($56 million in industry expenditures that support 2,206 jobs) to the Cultural Council’s board of directors’ an impressive group of business and community leaders.
The next morning was the press conference which included a high-profile slate of speakers. Margie Gilbert, whose Central Carolina Community Foundation funded local participation in the study, described this as one of the best investments they’ve made. Not only is the AEP3 study good for the arts, but it is also good for the Foundation in their estate giving work. The Foundation will use the study to provide tangible evidence to potential donors of how their contribution will have a lasting impact on the community. Other speakers at the Columbia press conference included: Ted Speth, Chair Elect, Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce; Rep. Jim Harrison, SC Arts Caucus Co-Chair; Representatives from U.S. House of Rep’s James Clyburn and Joe Wilson’s Offices; Ken May, Deputy Director of the South Carolina Arts Commission; and Greg Pearce from the Richland County Council.
More soon as I take the AEP3 show to the Golden State!
Tagged with: EventsFundraisingResearch
June 26th, 2007 at 08:30am
Randy Cohen
I spent the first part of last week in Wisconsin, promoting both their statewide economic impact results and several regions within. It was an action-packed trip with great press from the communities about AEP3.
Sunday night I arrived in Hudson, WI, a beautiful river community on the Wisconsin/Minnesota border. It’s the kind of place that makes me want to stop traveling and stay. The arts community came out in full force for three events on Monday, including a special preview session of the research, plus and advocacy briefing by Anne Katz of Arts Wisconsin and George Tzougros, director of the Wisconsin Arts Board. Jill Shannon of the St. Croix Valley COMMUNITY Foundation did a spectacular job coordinating the event. With 200+ attendees, 7 newspapers, and many state and local electeds from both WI and MN, it was a huge success!
Monday afternoon I drove across Wisconsin to Milwaukee. We started the day on Tuesday with a great editorial board meeting at the Milwaukee Sentinel with Lt. Governor Barbara Lawton and George Tzougros. The people of Wisconsin are fortunate to have a great arts champion in their Lt. Gov. She really gets the value of the arts and its connection to the new economy. The editorial board was followed by a presentation of the local data at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. Then we raced across the state to Madison for another editorial board meeting and a presentation of the Dane County local findings at the Overture Center. The day ended with Lt. Governor Lawton and I doing a “Live at 5″ interview on WISC-TV, the local CBS affiliate.
Phew! What a whirlwind trip. Overall, it seems like there are lots of people talking about the study and the arts in Wisconsin. It was great to see their excitement firsthand and help them share their good news about the arts statewide. Next up: Columbia, SC, and California!
Tagged with: Research
June 18th, 2007 at 11:47am
Randy Cohen
I have been serving on the Communications and Marketing Advisory Task Force for Independent Sector, which met today and I thought would be a good opportunity to share some thoughts on our Blog about their efforts to change public perceptions of the sector. First off, the Task Force is really a response to the recent serious of major news stories that present a negative picture of nonprofits - from the Aramony/United Way scandal of a few years ago to the most recent stories about the Smithsonian and Larry Small. Independent Sector has been doing some really interesting work on researching attitudes toward nonprofit groups. We in the arts need to be following and taking advantage of this new research and the findings. What they found is that approximately 82% of American adults volunteer, donate or advocate with a philanthropic organization. This group is what they consider the “engaged public.” Among this group, those who think nonprofits are “on the wrong track” has steadily declined over the past year, from 32% to 24%. Most interestingly, the percentage who are “not sure” is consistently extremely high - now at 41%. The folks at Harris Interactive, who do the research, feel this is an extremely high “no opinion” response, and basically means millions of Americans are easily swayed by whatever negative story happens to be in the news. The other interesting finding: There are five qualities that the public rates as highly important in a nonprofit that are also rated as relatively poorly delivered - Selfless, Efficient, Accountable, Effective, Results-Oriented. The public already gets that we are committed, caring and passionate about what we do, so we don’t have to work as hard change any hearts and minds on that front, though we certainly should take opportunities to reinforce our existing strengths in those areas. Independent Sector recommends that all nonprofits adapt their communications to especially emphasize these qualities. Here are some other important aspects of the “message framework” they are developing:
- the phrase “nonprofit community” seems to resonate best when describing the larger sector (not words like charities, philanthropies - or sector)
- find ways to illustrate the key values listed above
- use plan language - nothing lofty, avoid jargon
- don’t denigrate business or government - emphasize that all three sectors are needed
- Offer collaboration and solutions to problems, not complaints
- emphasize people, not organizations
- tell our stories, and move from describing what you do to what impact it has on people
While this research does not separate out the arts, as IS begins to roll out this messaging campaign (which is targeting not just the general public, but Congress as well), arts groups would do well to think about how their messaging can reinforce this effort. These findings also reinforce what we learned in our National Arts Policy Roundtable about how the arts are perceived - that we need to be telling our stories better, and emphasizing the impact we have on the people we serve. Among all segments of the nonprofit community we especially have a tendency, I would posit, to use lofty and potentially alienating language in describing our work. Independent Sector’s annual conference, where a lot of this messaging work will be shared, takes place October 21-23 in Los Angeles. I’ll be there, and it would be nice to have some more arts folks participating. [Also, see the article about Arts & Economic Prosperity III on their Web site!]
Tagged with: AdvocacyBusinessPartnershipsPolicyResearch
June 14th, 2007 at 10:57am
Gary Steuer
While I am in Wisconsin and South Carolina this week, several partners are unveiling their local reports across the US. One such example is the Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington’s press conference in DC on Monday afternoon. The Cultural Alliance sponsored the AEP3 report for Greater Washington, including: the District of Columbia; Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties in Maryland; Arlington and Fairfax Counties in Virginia; and the city of Alexandria, VA.
Jennifer Cover Payne, President of the Cultural Alliance, and her staff did a great job of putting together Monday’s event. They began with a performance from a local viola student at the Levine School of Music in DC, then welcomed my colleague, Chief Counsel of Government and Public Affairs Nina Ozlu to the stage to speak about the study findings. Nina did a great job detailing the national and local findings for Greater Washington, including presenting a wealth of comparative data for similarly sized study regions. An impressive panel of local leaders followed Nina, including: Kwasi Holman, President and CEO of the Prince George’s County Economic Development Corporation; Victoria Isley, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications for the DC Convention and Tourism Corporation; and David Robertson, Executive Director of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. Each contributed valuable insight on how to use the study findings in building cultural tourism, forging alliances with legislators, and their own community development efforts.
The event was attended by over 80 people-what a success! Congratulations to Jennifer and her staff for a great launch!
Tagged with: BusinessEventsResearch
June 14th, 2007 at 09:01am
Randy Cohen
June 6 marked the release of the local study findings of Arts & Economic Prosperity III. We were able to partner with the Illinois Arts Alliance, the Arts & Business Council of Chicago, the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to announce the Chicago data as well as signal the release of local data for the 156 local partners.
The announcement event took place at the Chicago Cultural Center, a building that is itself a work of art and across the street from the great Millennium Park. The morning began with Ra Joy, Executive Director of the Illinois Arts Alliance, and I briefing 100 members of the arts community with a special preview of the Chicago data and a call to action about how to apply them.
This was followed by a national press conference to announce the findings. The press conference featured compelling remarks from: Robert Lynch, President & CEO, Americans for the Arts; Jonathan Fanton, President of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, (read his remarks here); Lois Weisberg, Commissioner of Cultural Affairs for the City of Chicago; and Diane Swonk, Senior Managing Director and Chief Economist for Mesirow Financial. All passionately conveyed the cultural and economic value of the arts, both in Chicago and nationally.
Following the press conference, a panel of local leaders talked about how the arts drive tourism, business development, and strengthen the community fabric. The impressive group, moderated by Bob Lynch, included: Dorothy Coyle, Director of the Chicago Office of Tourism; Ra Joy, Executive Director of the Illinois Arts Alliance; Paul O’Connor, Executive Director of World Business Chicago; and Arthur Sussman, Vice President of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
In addition to Chicago’s data, June 6 was the national release date for all of the local study partners. More than 100 stories appeared in newspapers across the county including numerous editorials. Visit our website for a sampling. And keep checking back with ArtsBlog for more updates On the Road to Prosperity!
Tagged with: BusinessEventsResearch
June 13th, 2007 at 10:48am
Randy Cohen
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