206 stories by "Michael Kaiser"
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.
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…
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…
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: …
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…
I have written often about the problems that emerge when silos develop within arts organizations; when artists, marketers...
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…
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…
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…
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, …
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.
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…
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 …
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?
I think there is a great deal of confusion about the meaning of 'cultivation event.' Every arts organization I know mounts...
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.
I am not a fan of having numerous standing board committees for arts organizations. But there is one committee that is crucial, and that is carelessly assembled all too often: the governance…
As governments worldwide cut their level of subsidy to arts organizations, these same organizations are increasingly turning to the American model of private arts funding. And a substantial …
Especially for those arts organizations that are reducing staff, board members must be willing to prioritize their requests, be willing to forego the occasional set or committee minutes or p…
Are we witnessing a major transition in the arts from regional organizations to fewer mega-organizations with the sophistication to mount large scale productions, to market them well and to …
When a founder retires, the transition can be especially challenging. The organization was created specifically to support the vision of the founder. How does it support the new leader, and …
Having spent most of my arts management career working to erase deficits of arts organizations, I must suggest that most organizations that face deficits do not face structural deficits.
While I never want to dissuade board members from serving as ambassadors for their organizations in their communities, I truly dislike the notion of a set elevator speech. I do not like the…
When money concerns affect creativity, one is always likely to be more conventional, more easily accessible, more conservative, more boring.
I have written a great deal about the requirements for a successful turnaround of an arts organization....
