Two Challenges for Arts Organizations
Challenge One – Self-aggrandizement
Symphony orchestras and serious music in general have many challenges today almost all of which relate to money. The public at large, and many patrons of serious music, are under the impression that if an orchestra fills up the hall every night their financial problems will be over. And the same goes for many orchestra executive directors who think their job is to present the highest level of music performances possible and pay for them by selling seats and writing grants. In today’s economy, orchestras will still face a deficit. In the last two years it has become more and more obvious that orchestras need to cultivate a group of patrons that are sincerely devoted to the arts. This raises several issues which should not be a surprise to anyone. Ever since the French composer, Guillaume de Machaut’s well known dinner with Charles V in 1361, musicians have had to have patrons. However, in today’s economy we need to start cultivating a new generation of patrons by changing music education in schools. I have mentioned this several times in past articles so I will not go into great detail here. But suffice to say we need to stop teaching music as an activity and begin teaching it as an art. If we do this, we will raise a new generation of donors that, 50 years from now, will give money to music and the arts. But, of course, that will not solve today’s problems. Based on my own fundraising experience, the donors that most readily give money to music and the arts, and by that I mean substantial gifts of $20,000 or more, have a net worth of at least $50 million and above. In every large city in the United States there are donors such as these. Detroit (yes, I know it is in financially troubled Michigan), Philadelphia, Cleveland, Chicago, and Los Angeles have all cultivated a very solid list of donors, and while their orchestras are not rolling in money, neither are they destitute. In Denver, many of the patrons who have been so generous in giving money to all of the orchestras (yes, there are more than one), museums, theater groups, ballet, and galleries, have seen their “financial cushion” diminish, and therefore seem to be unable to donate as generously, if at all. Witness the fact that Colorado Symphony Orchestra has had to cut salaries and give some of its musicians furloughs. While noticing that the multitude of sports organizations of all kinds in the City and County of Denver, and indeed the whole metro area, do not seem to be suffering unduly, I would not presume to tell arts donors how to spend their money. But it would be most helpful to the arts if these much appreciated and caring donors to the above mentioned arts organizations would attend at least some of the performances and openings given by the arts organizations which they fund. Lip service for the arts can do wonders. And one would hope that they would realize that these organizations, who have less income from their patrons, find it harder to win foundation grants because some foundations sometimes perceive the falloff in donations as a problem with the organization. And who wants to fund an arts organization that has trouble raising money from former donors?
Who wants to re-visit the problems of the former Denver Symphony Orchestra or the former Colorado Ballet?
Challenge Two – The Board Collector’s Club
In my experience with many arts organizations as a board member, a consultant, or as an executive director, I have run across many types of boards and board members. I have come in contact with boards whose members are board collectors. In other words they are board members because that is a way of acquiring status. It has often appeared that they may not be terribly concerned with the organization itself except for its prestige it affords them. Therefore, it behooves any arts organization to set requirements for its board members in order to avoid the board collector.
For example:
1. Have each potential board member go through a process similar to a job interview
2. Continually recruit board members so that there is a pool of potential board members
3. Assess board members annually
4. Develop and assemble a board orientation manual
5. Recruit board members who understand the board function
6. Recruit board members based on a specific need for their qualifications
7. Recruit board members who have the acumen and good judgment to form committees of outside personnel to carry out assigned tasks.
8. Have each board member sign an agreement stating how much they will donate every year or how much money they will raise every year.
9. The organization must have a specific business plan written by someone who is competent.
10. Make sure that at least one board member has hands-on artistic experience in the discipline of the organization.
In other words, if the organization is an orchestra, then at least one board member should be a professional musician with university degrees in music in order to advise the board on artistic matters, not just someone who had piano lessons, violin lessons, or trumpet lessons when they were in their youth. There are a surprising number of boards whose members may be well-intentioned and well-interested, but know nothing about the discipline itself. They may go to art exhibits because they like art, but don’t know the difference between dada-ism and surrealism. They may go to piano recitals, but don’t know the difference between tuning and voicing. In short, there must be someone on the board who understands and can speak the language and has the necessary passion.
If these ten items are adhered to, then the organization will be able to present itself professionally. If these ten items are adhered to, it will be easier to avoid the old cliché: “The board is full of willing people; some are willing to work; the others are willing to let them.” Progress will follow. In these difficult times, it may not seem to be possible, and some board members always seem to make excuses for other board members. But the only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible.
Filed under: Commentary
Challenge One – Self-aggrandizement
Symphony orchestras and serious music in general have many challenges today almost all of which relate to money. The public at large, and many patrons of serious music, are under the impression that if an orchestra fills up the hall every night their financial problems will be over. And the same goes for many orchestra executive directors who think their job is to present the highest level of music performances possible and pay for them by selling seats and writing grants. In today’s economy, orchestras will still face a deficit. In the last two years it has become more and more obvious that orchestras need to cultivate a group of patrons that are sincerely devoted to the arts. This raises several issues which should not be a surprise to anyone. Ever since the French composer, Guillaume de Machaut’s well known dinner with Charles V in 1361, musicians have had to have patrons. However, in today’s economy we need to start cultivating a new generation of patrons by changing music education in schools. I have mentioned this several times in past articles so I will not go into great detail here. But suffice to say we need to stop teaching music as an activity and begin teaching it as an art. If we do this, we will raise a new generation of donors that, 50 years from now, will give money to music and the arts. But, of course, that will not solve today’s problems. Based on my own fundraising experience, the donors that most readily give money to music and the arts, and by that I mean substantial gifts of $20,000 or more, have a net worth of at least $50 million and above. In every large city in the United States there are donors such as these. Detroit (yes, I know it is in financially troubled Michigan), Philadelphia, Cleveland, Chicago, and Los Angeles have all cultivated a very solid list of donors, and while their orchestras are not rolling in money, neither are they destitute. In Denver, many of the patrons who have been so generous in giving money to all of the orchestras (yes, there are more than one), museums, theater groups, ballet, and galleries, have seen their “financial cushion” diminish, and therefore seem to be unable to donate as generously, if at all. Witness the fact that Colorado Symphony Orchestra has had to cut salaries and give some of its musicians furloughs. While noticing that the multitude of sports organizations of all kinds in the City and County of Denver, and indeed the whole metro area, do not seem to be suffering unduly, I would not presume to tell arts donors how to spend their money. But it would be most helpful to the arts if these much appreciated and caring donors to the above mentioned arts organizations would attend at least some of the performances and openings given by the arts organizations which they fund. Lip service for the arts can do wonders. And one would hope that they would realize that these organizations, who have less income from their patrons, find it harder to win foundation grants because some foundations sometimes perceive the falloff in donations as a problem with the organization. And who wants to fund an arts organization that has trouble raising money from former donors?
Who wants to re-visit the problems of the former Denver Symphony Orchestra or the former Colorado Ballet?
Challenge Two – The Board Collector’s Club
In my experience with many arts organizations as a board member, a consultant, or as an executive director, I have run across many types of boards and board members. I have come in contact with boards whose members are board collectors. In other words they are board members because that is a way of acquiring status. It has often appeared that they may not be terribly concerned with the organization itself except for its prestige it affords them. Therefore, it behooves any arts organization to set requirements for its board members in order to avoid the board collector.
For example:
1. Have each potential board member go through a process similar to a job interview
2. Continually recruit board members so that there is a pool of potential board members
3. Assess board members annually
4. Develop and assemble a board orientation manual
5. Recruit board members who understand the board function
6. Recruit board members based on a specific need for their qualifications
7. Recruit board members who have the acumen and good judgment to form committees of outside personnel to carry out assigned tasks.
8. Have each board member sign an agreement stating how much they will donate every year or how much money they will raise every year.
9. The organization must have a specific business plan written by someone who is competent.
10. Make sure that at least one board member has hands-on artistic experience in the discipline of the organization.
In other words, if the organization is an orchestra, then at least one board member should be a professional musician with university degrees in music in order to advise the board on artistic matters, not just someone who had piano lessons, violin lessons, or trumpet lessons when they were in their youth. There are a surprising number of boards whose members may be well-intentioned and well-interested, but know nothing about the discipline itself. They may go to art exhibits because they like art, but don’t know the difference between dada-ism and surrealism. They may go to piano recitals, but don’t know the difference between tuning and voicing. In short, there must be someone on the board who understands and can speak the language and has the necessary passion.
If these ten items are adhered to, then the organization will be able to present itself professionally. If these ten items are adhered to, it will be easier to avoid the old cliché: “The board is full of willing people; some are willing to work; the others are willing to let them.” Progress will follow. In these difficult times, it may not seem to be possible, and some board members always seem to make excuses for other board members. But the only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible.