I attended the Americans for the Arts Summit in Baltimore this past June. One of the most interesting panel discussions was at the Future of Leadership session. They discussed the young arts administrator, trends in employment (in the past, people would start a job and stay there for years; young leaders today stay for three max) and the need for arts administrators to be a jack/jill of all trades. As they were discussing the various topics, a little nagging thought came up in my mind. Near the end of the session, I asked “I’ve noticed that in today’s world there is a lot of high turnover in arts organizations. Why do you think this is and what do you suggest the organizations do to keep their future leaders, and what do the future leaders do to keep from burning out?” The panelists discussed how arts organizations need to keep their future leaders inspired, constantly reminding them of the good they are bringing to the community. At the same time, they were realistic about the economy and the fact that working in a nonprofit arts organization means having to make sacrifices in terms of salary. One of the panelists, Edward P. Clapp, Editor/Project Director of 20UNDER40, gave an example of one of his friends who worked at an arts nonprofit and was thinking of taking a second job at a fast food restaurant to make ends meet. At that point, Clapp said, it was probably time to look for another job.
While there was discussion on the topic, I felt like it really just touched the surface. What are the challenges that the nonprofit organization faces to keep its future leaders? And what are the challenges that the future leader faces that keep them from actually becoming that leader in the arts? To answer these questions, I took both what I knew as a nonprofit administrator and also surveyed fellow nonprofit administrators. The interesting part was that we all had the same answers.
Lack of FundingA nonprofit arts organization in today’s economy faces a multitude of challenges. Funding is probably the primary challenge, with a decrease in the number of donors and the amount donated, and deep cuts in funding from the city. These financial problems lead to layoffs, smaller budgets, and a heavy reliance on the sole sources of revenue, such as admission, ticketing and membership.
People who go into the nonprofit job field are prepared for limited funding. They are even prepared to take a lower salary than they may get at working for a corporation, because they simply love working for the organization and are passionate about the services the organization provides to the community. But in this economy, slashes in funding are cutting deeper, as meager marketing budgets turn into nonexistent marketing budgets and organizations are forced to let go some of their employees. So the nonprofit administrator is left with no budget and in fear of losing their job.
What’s the Point?In addition, there is nothing the media loves more than a negative story about a nonprofit arts organization. It doesn’t matter if it is blogger who hates the arts organization and littered their blog post with so many incorrect facts that the only semblance of truth is the name of the organization, the media will still pick it up and promote the hell out of it. Anything negative is immediately pounced upon as “good news”, opening up the forum for uneducated articles and comments that simply lead to a sea of misconceptions. And in a small organization where there are just a handful of employees, once you start reading how your organization is doing a terrible job with it's marketing and there is only one employee doing marketing, it's hard for that one employee not to take that personally. You really start to think, "What's the point in working eighty hours a week to provide a service to the community if no one actually seems to appreciate it?"
Stretched Too ThinWith a lean staff, arts organizations are forced to ask their employees to fill in the spaces and go above and beyond their job title. Many jobs evolve way past a job description. A single person in an organization could be a marketing manager, membership coordinator, graphic designer, tour guide, event coordinator, and website programmer. And that’s just the page one of their three-page job description. You get to the point where the only resource you actually have is your time, so you have to become a workaholic for both the sake of your job security and your organization's well being.
"Supporting" Nonprofit OrganizationsNonprofit organizations are sometimes what makes a city great. Whether a city is known for a vibrant downtown, innovative art programming or historic museums, nonprofit organizations are economic drivers that few recognize for their true contributions. One of my favorite arts statistics, from the 2002 Ray Perryman economic impact study of the arts in North Texas, is that for each dollar invested in the arts, $298 is reinvested in the community. And that was in 2002. That's the hotel rooms booked to see a rare exhibit, the restaurants visited before attending the theater, the workers and supplies for creating opera sets, etc. Yet, despite the apparent economic impact of the arts, they are still seen as a "luxury" and the first thing to get cut when times are bad.
We can brag about the accomplishments of our nonprofit organizations to attract tourists and business, but without providing financial support, we doom those organizations to failure. And in an economy such as this, people start to feel entitled to certain things. I have seen several postings complaining about the fact that you have to pay to attend museums, for example. We're talking about $10 here. But the complaining party feels that the arts should be free to everyone and that they are entitled to the enjoyment of the arts without having to pay a dime. What people don't understand is that the admission price is a vital part of the museum's funding. In an age where nonprofits should be run like a business, I have two questions for people with that "entitlement" mindset: 1) Do you expect a for-profit business to provide free services? If not, why would you expect a nonprofit to do so? and 2) Which would you rather, to pay admission to a museum or to have no museum to attend in the first place?
At the end of the day when you complain about a nonprofit organization either in a blog or in the media, what are you actually accomplishing? You've exercised your right to free speech. You've discovered that there are some people who agree and disagree with your assessment. And.... that's it. So in essence, you have accomplished nothing. Instead of complaining about an organization, offer your volunteer services to that organization. Help them revisit their marketing strategy, evaluate urban planning, raise funds, etc. Now, you have helped create change, as opposed to just talking about creating change.
An Uphill BattleI read a tweet once from someone (one of those who just
talks about creating change) which stated "The people working for the Arts District are fighting the good fight, but it's like pushing a rock up a hill". I remember thinking "Wow. Thanks for the vote of confidence," upon reading that tweet for the first time. But then after awhile I realized that what he said was true for all nonprofits. We are continually fighting an uphill battle, one which we will never win. Nonprofit organizations struggle against funding cuts, media bashing and a lack of community support all for a cause in which they passionately believe. And it is that passion that will keep the emerging leaders in nonprofit organizations from leaving. The challenge that nonprofit organizations face is how to keep their future leaders from losing that passion and burning out too soon.
