Big challenges and big opportunities for the arts community
The arts have never been more important than they are today. They bring joy, act as a healing force, and educate the young and old. The arts are a key component of the economy and an important community partner as we recover and reinvent our world after the pandemic.
On May 22, Capacity Partners Founder and President Mary Robinson was honored to join Anne Corbett of Building Creative and Linda Sullivan, President & CEO of ARTSFairfax for an ARTSFairfax webinar focused on planning for what’s next in the Fairfax County arts community in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The challenges that organizations have faced over the last two months are extreme. Arts organizations, and really most nonprofits, are losing revenue, facing staff layoffs, and shifting strategies in how work gets done. However, with every challenge comes an opportunity.
As Mary Robinson noted during the webinar, to maintain organizational viability over the long term, organizations should use Dynamic Planning to create three, six, and twelve-month plans. Starting with the formation of a Dynamic Planning committee, organizations would then use the iterative Dynamic Planning process to reaffirm their mission, asses their strengths and weaknesses, and conduct scenario planning, identifying multiple scenarios and solutions.
For example, Capacity Partners client Arts for the Aging was committed to keeping their teaching artists on salary during the pandemic, despite cancelling all in-person workshops. The team of teaching artists has now activated multiple distance and virtual programs to continue serving their audience of older adults and their caregivers. Although the method of program delivery has changed, Arts for the Aging’s mission remains front and center.
Anne Corbett stressed arts organizations have a unique opportunity to be leaders in community resiliency and reinvention, utilizing multiple partnerships, audience engagement, and advocacy opportunities.
Some of the ideas discussed on the webinar include:
- Partnering with a food bank to include art kits in food boxes
- Partnering with real estate developers to bring outdoor art or performances in a socially distant and safe manner
- Producing virtual theatre or art shows and partnering with a restaurant or catering company to deliver a meal to patrons participating at home. (This would also work for virtual fundraising events.)
Webinar participant Lisa LaCamera, Senior Director, Communications & Marketing at Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts, said, “People are realizing the healing nature of the arts in times of crisis. People all over the world appreciate the need for the arts to get through this.”
Capacity Partners encourages arts organizations – and all nonprofits – to embrace the opportunities, confront the fear, create the plan, and move ahead to our next normal. The canvas of opportunity lies in front of all of us, and Capacity Partners stands ready to support you if you need a jump start.
Nonprofit Success Starts with a Clear, Compelling Vision
Recently, a development director for a community-based nonprofit approached me for help. Her boss was pressuring her to come up with a clever, cutting-edge way to raise money – some trick they hadn’t tried. She asked me for a “new” idea.
My first question was this: “Does your nonprofit have a clear vision of what your community will look like when you achieve your goals?”
Her answer was no. They know their mission. They have great activities. They offer innovative programs. They have a dynamic team that can talk eloquently about what their organization does.
However, they cannot describe to others – at least not those beyond their passionate inner circle – how their nonprofit is making a difference for everyone in the community. They aren’t effectively communicating to potential donors why the organization’s work really matters and thus merits support.
I suggested that they start by creating a clear and compelling vision of a better future for the community that their nonprofit supports – a vision that is easy to explain and that immediately resonates with those outside the organization.
At Capacity Partners, we specialize in helping nonprofit leaders move their organizations from vision to action. For us, vision is at the very heart of effective strategic planning and fundraising. In our experience, it’s nearly impossible for nonprofits to achieve sustained success without a vision for the future that motivates and inspires.
Yes, I also ran through some basic development strategies with the development director. For instance, her nonprofit might benefit from a leadership club or a membership program.
However, fundraising tactics like these will fall flat unless they are linked to vision that makes people say, “Yes! – this is the kind of world I want, I believe in your capacity to make it happen, and I want to invest in you.”
People invest in people – and in their vision.
