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Showing posts from June, 2014

What Philanthropy Trends Do Arts Leaders Need To Be Aware Of?

Gary Steuer leading a roundtable at the Americans for the Arts Convention in Nashville, 2014 (c) Americans for the Arts At this year's Americans for the Arts convention in Nashville, which ended on Sunday, I had the pleasure of hosting two roundtable conversations on trends in philanthropy. As often happens with such occasions it provided the impetus for me to give some thought to what was I seeing in the philanthropic field that arts groups need to be aware of. This is of particular interest to me because I think all too often arts leaders are not watching closely enough overall philanthropic trends and thinking, and therefore are taken by surprise when a funder shifts course in a way that affects prospects for support. Yet these course shifts are often predictable if you are watching the winds, and if you understand where they are coming from, you may have an opportunity to make a persuasive case that your arts program can help get them where they want to go (rather than bei