Too Big NOT to Fail: Nonprofit Arts Behemoths Pre-Post-Pandemic
Alan Harrison FRSA
Nonprofits a career, writing a specialty || Cogito, ergo sum, ergo scribo.
Don’t confuse “dreams” with “plans” or “impact” with “dominance.” Hope is not a strategy.
If we can just hold on…
If we can just get that grant…
If we can just convince that angel…
If we can just present that show…
If we can just turn back the clock…
If we can just get people to leave their homes again…
If we can just send out enough emails…
If we can just manufacture a convincing DEI manifesto for foundation support…
If we can just keep our shows front and center in the community, no matter what…
If we can just have a huge gala again…
If we can just be the only ones producing right now…
If we can just get the press to know how important we are to the community…
If we can just get the press to report how much trouble we are in…
If we can just wait for COVID to go away…
If we can just do a huge production of escapist entertainment to show how fan-friendly we are…
If we can just bring back a full marketing, development, production, and administrative staff…
If we can just bring on new board members so that more checks roll in…
If we can just convince everyone that our whole community isn’t viable without us…
If we can just keep the same staff at half pay…at 2/3 pay…as volunteers…
If we can just keep the same board officers past their term limits…
If we can just get rid of term limits altogether…
If we can just keep current board members from leaving…
If we can just send a high volume of solicitation letters to our donors…
If we can just make sure there’s an “ask” in every communication…
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If we can just get “our audience” back…
If we can just hide the fact that our HVAC is no better than it was…
If we can just report to everyone how much we spent on our new HVAC system…
If we can just keep our building intact and viable…
If we can just outbid those small, unimportant arts organizations for plays…
If we can just go back to paying artists no more than union scale – or paying them not at all…
If we can just spread the word about how many artists would suffer if we were to close down…
If we can just put our fingers in our ears and sing “There’s No Business Like Show Business” …
?
Then maybe we’ll be relevant.
?
If relevance is your high bar, please just close the doors now and save the arts community in your region. Straining for relevance is the epitome of falling into irrelevance.
Seems kinda silly, doesn’t it? (Photo by Clyde RS on Unsplash)
The new cycle will require new leaders; new, flexible, and more vibrant arts…
a thousand small- to medium-sized arts organizations instead of one large theatre, one large opera, one large symphony, one large ballet, and one large art museum…
experienced leaders to break off from their current jobs and pair up with a panoply of different people to make sure that the arts in your community never, ever, ever becomes a quest for survival.
Survival is not a strategy, either.
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With any luck, you will make the changes necessary to become impactful in your community. I want to help you. Contact me and we’ll talk.
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Based in Kirkland, Washington, Alan Harrison is a writer and speaker specializing in nonprofit organizations, strategy, and life politics. His columns appear regularly in major publications. Contact him directly at [email protected].
Alan is always looking for good opportunities to write and consult for nonprofits that need a hand. And, of course, that elusive Perfect Opportunity?.