Perpetually Curious

I've recently noticed that a lot of performing arts organizations like to throw around the adjectives "small" and "intimate" when describing themselves, their facility capacity, or their organization structure. The words always make me stop for a second and ponder whether folks are using them because they are accurate descriptions or because they just currently carry a certain cache within the nonprofit industry. When we're competing against a 600-seat for-profit presenting arts organization for our audiences money/time/attention/hearts, it sounds lovely to say "an intimate theater experience", as if the audience will be on stage with the performers. But any house over about 200 seats is not going to be intimate, unless there are only two rows around an arena-style stage. The same goes for "small" staffing structures: a nonprofit arts organization operating in a small town may feel like they have no staff compared to the city's univ...

I don't consider myself a marketer, but I will admit that my love of deepening relationships with patrons does fall firmly within the aspects of marketing. Seth Godin says in  When Should We Add Marketing? : " Build virality and connection and remarkability into your product or service from the start and then the end gets a lot easier." That connection is what I'm interested in. How can an arts organization build connections from the start? It's not enough any more to assume the connection with the art itself will be enough to bring patrons back. We have to give them more: relationships with staff, with actors, with designers or directors, musicians, composers, writers, dancers, painters, sculptors, etc etc etc. Once we can open up and share the artists--not just the art--will we start to be remarkable.

http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a01053597f309970c016761301468970b I'm not certain how this "trackback" thing works, but hopefully if you click on that link, you can read about how Reddit users donated to a Kenyan orphanage. Really powerful stuff.  I don't have much time but I wanted to throw out this question: when it comes to fundraising for arts organizations, how can we be authentic? How can we strip down our ask to the most basic form, tell the most compelling story, and really connect emotionally with our donors?  Too often, we ask in a polished, guilt-laden way, because we feel we have to "keep up with the [nonprofit] Jones'". We do our donors, and ourselves, a disservice by trying to be something we're not.  We're artists, after all. We do things differently, artistically, every day. Why do we approach fundraising by trying to be like everyone else?

I have a mini post-it on my computer that asks "Have you written today? 5 mins", and has a little picture of a clock. I write a lot over the course of a normal day: emails, fb posts, homework assignments, discussion board questions, texts, and the millions of constant scribbles on every available surface.* Most of this writing is reactionary; that is, it's in response to someone else's writing. The post-it is really to remind me that I need to write new content, pieces that spur my own action, be that a blog post, a journal entry (it's been almost a year; I have got to update that thing!), or even an email to someone I may have lost contact with. There are so many things on my to-do list that will benefit from daily writing and committing words to paper will serve to spur the Universe to action quicker on all the goals I have. Writing to fans and friends should be something done on a regular basis, as well. How can you develop the relationship if you don't...

I so wanted to go to the National Arts Marketing Project Conference this year. Okay, truth is I want to go to any  arts-related conference but they have this nasty habit of 1) falling on show weekends (thus I have to be at work) and 2) having a hefty registration fee (which I can't afford currently). Hence, I am very  grateful that the NAMP folks recorded some of their speeches, including the opening keynote by UnMarketing guru Scott Stratten. You can listen to the whole speech here . Today, I just want to share with you what I jotted down while listening. there is no such thing as a neutral  brand interaction. Seth Godin's Purple Cow . Unawesome is unaccetable .  We share experiences. Marketing is actions. Re-marry your current audience. What can you STOP ? What can you START ? What can you CONTINUE ? You can't ignore what you hate. Don't have a presence [in social media] but not be present. Get 'em in the door any way you can. Everyday awesome doesn...

(Full disclosure: I usually have about one per week.) I received as a Christmas present Burnett's pithy classic The Zen of Fundraising: 89 Timeless Ideas to Strengthen and Develop Your Donor Relationships (Jossey-Bass, 2006). Burnett has written some of the most revered relationship fundraising books in the field and this one is a nice overview of how relationship fundraising should work. Every one of those 89 ideas would work as a standalone blog post, but I wanted to write about two of the over-arching ideas he puts forward, because the first is something I want to do every day and the second is, well, my whole raison d'etre. The first idea is salient, smart communication . I add the adjectives because this is not broadcast communication, trying to reach the widest possible audience at any possible cost. This communication is targeted, well-written, inspires, educates, and deepens the relationship between the nonprofit and the donor. These extend from everything to...

New Year’s Resolutions: Checklists versus Commitments Great stuff over on Artsblog. I've tried to pare back my to-do list (by making master lists and then culling the daily tasks from there) to the three main focus areas in my life: home/myself, school, and work.