Monday, June 30, 2014
Send a clear, concise well-formatted email that focuses on highlights from the season, including some photographs, to donors (and key prospects), volunteers, board members, subscribers and k…
SOURCE: Huffington Post at 08:53AMMonday, June 23, 2014
While many arts institutions may have the same general goals (sell more tickets, raise more money, etc.) the path to achieving these goals will differ markedly from one organization to anoth…
SOURCE: Huffington Post at 08:41AMMonday, June 16, 2014
Like most people in the arts, I believe that the boards of arts organizations must give their artistic leaders the freedom to...
SOURCE: Huffington Post at 08:22AMMonday, June 9, 2014
I have written frequently about the dangers of erecting a new building before an arts institution is really ready for...
SOURCE: Huffington Post at 08:28AMMonday, June 2, 2014
Too many arts managers are not comfortable with financial concepts and data. They can create an operational budget that adds up correctly, but have little knowledge of the workings of the st…
SOURCE: Huffington Post at 08:47AMTuesday, May 27, 2014
I have learned that we cannot simply impress donors and audience members by showing them the great level of accomplishment of our artistic and educational endeavors.
SOURCE: Huffington Post at 08:48AMMonday, May 19, 2014
Without a clear picture of the art and other programs that will be mounted in the future, the organization cannot achieve its mission, cannot build an audience or donor base and, frankly, is…
SOURCE: Huffington Post at 09:08AMMonday, May 12, 2014
A serious effort must be made to engage people in their 20s and 30s today, to make the case for the importance of our arts institutions, to make it fun and rewarding to participate as a dono…
SOURCE: Huffington Post at 08:56AMMonday, May 5, 2014
While board members bring their knowledge and experience from other ventures to the board room, this experience is not always transferable. Knowing how to market banks, soap or computers doe…
SOURCE: Huffington Post at 08:55AMMonday, April 28, 2014
These are people who are fighting on the front lines of arts education: teachers, administrators, arts managers who are united in the belief that a solid arts education is a crucial componen…
SOURCE: Huffington Post at 08:42AMMonday, April 21, 2014
I have to admit it: in my 30 year arts management career I have been ambivalent about the value of international touring. While many of my peers disagree strenuously with me, for every bene…
SOURCE: Huffington Post at 08:05AMMonday, April 14, 2014
Last week I wrote in my blog of my special history with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. I mentioned that to celebrate...
SOURCE: Huffington Post at 08:28AMMonday, April 7, 2014
As I count down the number of days left until I leave the Kennedy Center, I am getting nostalgic about my entire career. ...
SOURCE: Huffington Post at 08:32AMMonday, March 31, 2014
Arts journalists keep those of us who run arts organizations honest. They question us when they believe our offerings are too timid, too easy, too glib.
SOURCE: Huffington Post at 08:34AMMonday, March 24, 2014
There is one reason that a subset of arts organizations are facing difficulties that can and must be avoided at all cost: the loss of one, incredibly important donor whose gifts were so larg…
SOURCE: Huffington Post at 08:28AMMonday, March 17, 2014
The Kennedy Center recently announced that Deborah Rutter will become its new president in September. It is with great ambivalence that I leave my job to Deborah.
SOURCE: Huffington Post at 08:24AMMonday, March 10, 2014
As virtually every arts organization tries to improve their fundraising results, the pressure to get help from board members becomes a priority. And yet, try as they might, I find that many…
SOURCE: Huffington Post at 08:50AMMonday, March 3, 2014
There are numerous skills and qualities an executive director of an arts organization should possess, but my experience over the past 28 years suggests the most important quality is the abil…
SOURCE: Huffington Post at 09:41AMMonday, February 24, 2014
At a time when financial health has become so precarious for too many arts organizations, it is a cause of concern that a great many arts organizations do not take one important precaution: …
SOURCE: Huffington Post at 09:33AMTuesday, February 18, 2014
The fact that people once came to a gala, made a modest contribution or attended a performance -- and happen to have a great deal of discretionary funds -- does not make them strong prospect…
SOURCE: Huffington Post at 09:01AMMonday, February 10, 2014
I have written often about the problems that emerge when silos develop within arts organizations; when artists, marketers...
SOURCE: Huffington Post at 08:31AMMonday, February 3, 2014
I have grown increasingly nervous about the future of diverse arts institutions in the United States. So many have disappeared, others are facing huge cash problems and most are watching as…
SOURCE: Huffington Post at 10:01AMMonday, January 27, 2014
Yes, some will say, the Symphony was 'lucky' to attract a major endowment gift. And luck is always part of the equation. But I prefer to view this as an instance where an organization does s…
SOURCE: Huffington Post at 09:12AMTuesday, January 21, 2014
The board of the Minnesota Orchestra is not the first, and will not be the last, to attempt to cut costs dramatically by cutting artists' salaries. There have already been attempts in a numb…
SOURCE: Huffington Post at 08:43AMMonday, January 13, 2014
We hear so much about a few, high profile arts bankruptcies that the conventional wisdom has it that every arts organization is in trouble. This has repercussions for all of us who manage, …
SOURCE: Huffington Post at 08:34AMMonday, January 6, 2014
Anyone who cares about the health of the arts sector in New York City must be grateful to Mayor Bloomberg for selecting such a grand champion and empowering her for all of these years.
SOURCE: Huffington Post at 08:29AMMonday, December 16, 2013
The ideal board is a zero-based approach to designing a board. It starts with the assumption that the board has no members and we describe the salient characteristics of the board members w…
SOURCE: Huffington Post at 08:23AMMonday, December 9, 2013
There will be so much written about Nelson Mandela in the wake of his passing -- about his personal history, the struggle for equality in South Africa, his political contributions -- but, I …
SOURCE: Huffington Post at 08:49AMMonday, December 2, 2013
Here is troubled organization which has a thin staff and a modestly involved board with an ambitious plan for survival and growth. Can this group really afford to grab at every opportunity?
SOURCE: Huffington Post at 08:29AMMonday, November 25, 2013
I think there is a great deal of confusion about the meaning of 'cultivation event.' Every arts organization I know mounts...
SOURCE: Huffington Post at 08:16AMMonday, November 18, 2013
One of the tell-tale signs that a troubled arts organization is off course is when one or several board members announce they are revising the bylaws of the organization.
SOURCE: Huffington Post at 08:31AM 
