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 being left in the wake, to stretch the nautical metaphor further).

To help guide the conversation I prepared a list of recent articles on philanthropic trends/strategies that I felt would be helpful: Strategic Philanthropy, Effective Altruism, Collective Impact, Mission Investing, Giving While Living, and Emergent Philanthropy. I am sure there other "buzz-words" or trends I could have included - feel free to share your own in the comments. I was also informed by a recent talk by Sterling Speirn, former head of the Kellogg Foundation, who spoke at a luncheon for the Colorado Association of Funders - very informative and thought-provoking! (Here is a link to a TedX talk he gave on mission investing.) Here is my reading list:

Strategic Philanthropy (Outcome-Oriented Philanthropy) -

https://nonprofitquarterly.org/philanthropy/24337-strategic-philanthropy-so-yesterday.html

http://www.ssireview.org/blog/entry/strategic_philanthropy_and_the_risk_of_certainty

http://www.ssireview.org/articles/entry/a_decade_of_outcome_oriented_philanthropy

Effective Altruism -

http://milehighculture.blogspot.com/2013/11/what-does-effective-altruism-mean-for.html

http://www.ssireview.org/blog/entry/the_elitist_philanthropy_of_so_called_effective_altruism

Collective Impact –

http://www.ssireview.org/articles/entry/collective_impact

http://philanthropy.com/article/Collective-Impact-to-Solve/145441/

Impact Investing/Mission-related Investing -

http://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/our-work/current-work/impact-investing

Giving While Living – Limited Life Foundations –

http://www.guidestar.org/rxa/news/articles/2014/high-speed-trends-in-philanthropy.aspx

Emergent Philanthropy –

http://www.ssireview.org/up_for_debate/article/strategic_philanthropy

The Greatest Sacrifice Arts Workers Make for the Arts

With all the financial challenges arts workers are facing these days - struggling to balance the budgets of their organizations, or dealing with salary and benefit cuts on compensation that was modest to begin with - it is easy to view the sacrifices people make to work in this field as being entirely financial. Not to minimize the financial sacrifices - they ARE significant - but I would argue they are probably no more significant than a wide array of professions where people choose to devote themselves to the pursuit of "making the world a better place". This includes early childhood workers, teachers, social workers, the whole world of NGOs working in challenged communities, both domestically and abroad. And the sacrifices all these workers make are also not just financial. We all work long hours, and often under trying and unglamorous circumstances (though to outsiders arts work can seem glamorous). No, I think the more significant - and unique - sacrifice arts worke...

Is it a problem when an arts group is too dependent on a single donor?

Dancer Jin Young Woon of Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet source: Cedar Lake Facebook page, photographer not credited The recent case of Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet in New York City shuttering as a result of the withdrawal of support from their major benefactor, Nancy Laurie, an heiress to the Wal-Mart fortune, has sparked a dialogue around the pitfalls of over-reliance on a single donor. The New York Times wrote about the dance company's closure here , and Michael Kaiser addressed the larger issue in a blog post here . Clearly, significant dependence on a single donor by an arts group poses serious challenges, and adds to institutional risk. On the other hand there has been a significant growth of arts institutions, largely in the visual arts, that are the creation of single donors/collectors. Would the excellent Neue Galerie in New York be able to survive without the support of Ronald Lauder and his family wealth? Unlikely. And many of our now-great institutions with d...

Inside/Outside - Art by Prison Inmates and Ex-Offenders

Leon Jesse James, "Space Modulator", acrylic on board. SCI Graterford The Art in City Hall program of the City of Philadelphia has just opened a new exhibition, INSIDE/OUTSIDE - Art by Prison Inmates and Ex-Offenders . This is a wonderful, powerful, and thought-provoking new show and I encourage everyone to see it. It is open until October 29th, on the secod and fourth floors of City Hall. More information is available here . The show involves participating artists from SCI Graterford, The Philadelphia Prison System, Art for Justice , Snyderman-Works Galleries , Connection Training Services , and the Mural Arts Program 's Youth Violence Reduction Partnership Guild Program, as well as local ex-offenders. Thomas Schilk, "Beetle", melted plastic spoons, paint. When I came to my position in 2008 as Chief Cultural Officer, one of the appeals of the position was the fact that the administration of Mayor Michael Nutter viewed the arts as being integral to virt...

Chrissy DealJune 18, 2014 at 9:13 PM
Another area of growth - giving circles in communities of color - such as those supported by the Community Investment Network (www.thecommunityinvestment.org). Everyday folks redefining philanthropy on their own terms and making in impact in the process.
Gary SteuerJune 19, 2014 at 3:43 PM
Thanks Chrissy! Great point. And I think giving circles in general are an impprtant trend. Donors - especially those with smaller giving capacity - love the idea of pooling resources for greater impact, and to meet and work with other like-minded donors. The Arts Affinity Group at the Denver Foundation is a great local example of this.

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