206 stories by "Michael Kaiser"
Some believe that donor fatigue is an inevitable consequence of long-term involvement with an arts organization, or other not-for-profit venture, and that these organizations must be prepare…
It is time to come out of the closet and admit my most private guilty pleasure: I love fundraising.
While so many arts...
Three arts organizations in Dayton, Ohio, recently made history by merging together. The Dayton Ballet, Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra and Dayton Opera are now going to be one organization n…
When I left the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in December 2000, fundraising was still considered something rather distasteful by many in England. Fast forward 12 years.
Perhaps instead of making speeches about the value of the arts we simply need to get more fathers dancing.
The departure of a successful executive can wreak havoc on the support base of an organization if it is not handled well (or if the new leader simply does not have the skill to pull it off).
If board members are not helping to raise money from their friends and associates, they are not performing one of the central responsibilities of board membership. But for many arts organiza…
We hoped that giving our international students the opportunity to learn basic concepts, return home, get frustrated and return to us for another 'dose' three years in a row may help them ha…
Fundraising is a new concept in Spain; like most European countries, the government has been, by far, the major underwriter of arts programming. But major fiscal challenges facing the nation…
It is astonishing to me that this summer marks the 75th Anniversary of Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra...
With the gap between the haves and the have nots changing, with too few arts organizations building the size of their funding families, with the advent of new technologies that can help us b…
Yes, the world is changing -- it has always been changing. Tastes change, needs change. We must adapt to new technologies, new art forms, new ways of communicating.
If I hear one more pundit or read one more blog suggesting that 'old models' of arts organizations are dying and that 'new...
Barbara Cook is coming back to sing at the Kennedy Center. This is her first time back with us since she received the...
Many writers, myself included, have focused on the benefits that internet technology offer to arts institutions:...
Every time you read about or visit the new Signature Theater, think of Edward Norton and one of his most powerful performances -- as a family member of staggering importance.
I know asking for money can be uncomfortable; I know looking for board members or planning an institutional marketing effort can be time-consuming and challenging. But unless one acts on a b…
Spending two days with these students in classes and lecture was exciting and enlightening. They know far more about arts management than I could have dreamed of at that age.
It was exciting to read that Gregory Doran will become the new Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Greg is a...
It has struck me recently that people who ascend to high government positions -- as mayors, governors or even presidents -- could do worse than to learn from arts leaders and other not-for-p…
The Metropolitan Opera recently announced a new ticket pricing policy for the coming year that, among many other things,...
It is difficult to read much about the arts these days without running into a discussion about engaging audiences...
Today is the birthday of one of my personal heroes - Harvey Lichtenstein. Harvey, of course, was best known as...
There are so many sad stories these days about arts organizations that are closing or cutting back, artists who...
I recently went to a performance of Mozart's Così fan tutte that was inspiring for several reasons. The most obvious was...
