Growing visibility for the California Community Foundation

For more than 20 years, California Community Foundation has been an agent for the arts in multiple dimensions across Los Angeles County. This spring, staff realized the time had come to pull the strands of activity together and allow a holistic look at the leadership this organization is bringing to one of the nation’s most vibrant arts sectors.

It’s an impressive picture, beautifully presented.

Between 2005 and 2010, this community foundation has given more than $72.4 million to artists, art projects, art institutions and art education. Annual grantmaking has doubled over this period, and the number of arts-related funds has increased from nine to 21.

Putting it all in the donor’s hands

“L.A. MAKES ART” is the community foundation’s first telling of the full scope of its art reach. This mini-brochure was created for initial use in studio tours hosted for donors. Through this piece, givers can see the power of L.A. arts, and learn how California Community Foundation helps them fuel the local arts ecosystem through support for organizations, artists and arts education. Content describes how the community foundation helps make L.A. arts:

• Innovative through investment in small and midsize community-based arts organizations
• Memorable through support for the major cultural institutions in the area
• Bold through the CCF Fellowship for Visual Artists providing funds and business skills to individuals
• Transformative through scholarships for arts students

The brochure is sized to be easily held, and designed as a physically and visually engaging piece. Its pages fold out to reveal moving images of artwork created with community foundation support, and a punchy notebook and pencil pouch let donors jot down their own points of inspiration.

This tool illustrates how the combination of donors and community foundation programs helps make L.A. arts soar. It encourages potential new donors to sponsor an artist or a project, and motivates current sponsors to think about starting a fund or leaving a legacy.

The cumulative effect is striking. And the success of this Los Angeles arts leader is breeding more success: This year, the community foundation has already raised more than 70 percent of its $100,000 goal for the 2011 CCF Fellowship for Visual Artists program.

California Community Foundation is a participant in Communities Advancing the Arts, a major funding initiative of The James Irvine Foundation.

House concerts raise money and build relationships in Mendocino County.

Supporting arts in schools is a hot topic in communities everywhere, especially as economic woes continue to affect school budgets. The Community Foundation of Mendocino County took on this issue in a high-touch way, organizing a series of intimate concerts hosted in the homes of board members or arts boosters.

This approach brought in needed new money for arts education, as well as new donor contacts for the community foundation.

100 Artists in 100 Classrooms

The house concerts were part of a multi-faceted campaign to grow the community foundation’s Arts in the Schools Endowment. The goal of the campaign was to raise $100,000. There was a big incentive to hit this mark. Dollars donors gave to the arts endowment were matched by the community foundation with dollars used to immediately put more artists in local classrooms. The community foundation chose to make this match using regranting funds provided by The James Irvine Foundation.

The community foundation marketed the campaign by promoting its end result: 100 Artists in 100 Classrooms. Irvine matching funds would be used to bring the county’s public school students in direct contact with artists—providing personal experiences and fueling appreciation for art as a mode of expression as well as a lifelong source of inspiration and joy.

The full campaign involved a series of solicitation mailings to individuals, outreach to businesses and to area grantmakers, and special events—including house concerts.

Varied venues, and performances

Nearly 20 area musicians donated their talent and time to the cause, playing in seaside living rooms, on lovely meadows and even in the caves at a family-owned vineyard.

Their works span many genres. The series included Paul McCandless, an Emmy-award-winning woodwind musician, Elena Casanova, a Cuban-born pianist who performs both classical and Latin music, Hawaiian music from the group Hui Arago, classical music pieces performed by a duet of retired teachers and current high school students, and sophisticated vocals and arrangements of nightclub standards by Paula Samonte and T.J. Elton.

House concerts took place in the fall and early winter, and raised about $15,000 through attendee contributions. Suggested donation amounts ranged from $25 to $50 per event.

Concert hosts provided the venue, hors d’oeuvres and samplings of the region’s wonderful wines. Hosts often took an active role in the invitation process, encouraging their friends and colleagues to join in these unique artistic opportunities.

Immediate and ongoing benefits

The overall campaign met its goal, and house concerts provided more than 10 percent of the total $110,000 raised.

However, dollars generated may not be the true measure of the value of house concerts. The more significant metric probably involves the number of new relationships initiated between community members and their community foundation. “Many of the 264 people attending the concerts were people we had not met and wanted to know,” reports Susanne Norgard, Executive Director at The Community Foundation of Mendocino County. “This format was perfect for making an introduction. We were in a relaxed setting, we shared an arts experience, and we were endorsed by people who have high credibility in the community and know us well.”

House concerts are good for youth in schools today, and community gain forever, in Mendocino County.

The Community Foundation of Mendocino County receives technical assistance through Communities Advancing the Arts, a major funding initiative of  The James Irvine Foundation.

Placer Community Foundation receives $1 million for arts

Two things might be essential for younger or smaller community foundations that seek to attract the attention—and the resources—of major arts donors. One is a visible commitment to arts and culture. The other is the courage to dream big.

These are the takeaways from a homegrown arts story in Placer County.

The artist at the center of the story is Susan Cooley-Gilliom, who was well known for her award-winning pastels and watercolors, as well as her work as an environmental activist. The art she created blended her love of the local natural environment and her concern for its protection. “Susan had essentially learned her art here, in this community,” said husband Bob Gilliom.

Susan passed away in 2003, and last year her mother, Sue D. Cooley, turned to the Placer Community Foundation to honor the memory of her daughter through the arts.

A permanent contribution to local arts

Mrs. Cooley’s endowed gift of $1 million is believed to be the largest donation ever in support of the arts in Placer County. It will fund the Susan Cooley-Gilliom Artist Residence and Teaching (ART) Program, which is designed to provide bi-annual residencies to renowned artists working throughout the West Coast. These visiting artists will conduct public workshops and lectures through events hosted by two community foundation partners: PlacerArts and Roseville Arts!.

“The ART Program is a unique and special way that we can honor and remember Susan, while providing permanent support of art education for the region and fellow artists that she cherished,” said Sue D. Cooley in announcing this program.

Growing through the arts

Mrs. Cooley’s gift will make a lasting difference for Placer County, and for its community foundation. This single gift increased the Placer Community Foundation’s assets by nearly 20 percent.

Although relatively small, and six-years young, the Placer Community Foundation is making its mark in the community in many ways, including arts. With support from individual donors and The James Irvine Foundation, the community foundation has granted over $285,000 to advance arts and culture locally; these dollars are particularly significant in light of the severe decline in California state support for the arts.

Despite poor economic conditions, the Placer Community Foundation board, volunteers and staff have chosen to showcase the value of a vibrant local arts sector. “Arts experiences are community experiences—they add richness and understanding to our lives,” said Veronica Blake, CEO at the community foundation. “We have named art as one of our areas of focus, along with priorities such as youth development and health. Art is an area where we know we can engage donors and nonprofits and make a real difference for our community.”

Standing tall

The community foundation stands for art in some very public ways, beginning with a website homepage message that blares “Support The Local Arts.” Its commitment to the sector takes tangible form through multiple program and development efforts, which come together as the Arts Initiative for Placer County. This initiative includes:

• Providing audience development grants focused on engaging residents (with particular emphasis on newcomers) and increasing public involvement in ways that support the sustainability of arts organizations.
• Supplying “Helping arts thrive” grants and workshops to improve current operations and build sustainable economic models in nonprofits.
• Supporting collaborative arts marketing—including funding a community-wide arts calendar and a registry of artists.
• Launching an endowment to build a permanent source of capital to “engage, inspire and enlighten through the arts.”
• Publishing Arts Build Community—a compilation of community foundation arts grants from 2006 through 2009, packaged for easy consumption by local arts donors.

All of the above set context and provided credibility for the next big step: launching a major arts fund development campaign.

Aiming high

The community foundation set its sights high for the arts campaign, with a goal of $1 million in giving. “We thought this community’s artists and arts organizations deserved big thinking on our part,” Veronica Blake recalled. This thinking paid off, with the gift from Mrs. Cooley providing an amazing boost to the campaign. “This gift honors Susan Cooley-Gilliom by merging her love of art and the inspiration she derived through our region’s landscapes. We are so pleased to have been chosen to carry out her legacy in such a meaningful, lasting way.”

As longtime supporters of the arts, Susan’s family saw the community foundation’s growing contribution and importance in the local arts sector. When a community foundation board member presented the opportunity to participate in the campaign and make a lasting difference for the arts, the community foundation became the natural place for Susan’s family to create her legacy.

This family’s action is proof that when a community foundation believes in the arts enough to dream big, and then pursues those dreams with visible commitment, the results can be transformative—for the community, and the community foundation.

The Placer Community Foundation receives technical assistance through Communities Advancing the Arts, a major funding initiative of  The James Irvine Foundation.

Bay area research shines a light on donor motivations

Here is an interesting question: What causes people to support artists and artist-driven projects? Behind it is an essential question for communities that seek to nurture vibrant arts sectors: How can artists, as well as the small arts organizations they lead, engage new donors?

A study by the East Bay Community Foundation and The San Francisco Foundation chronicles how artists and small- to mid-size arts groups, typically led by artists, found creative ways to involve new donors to support new work. It also uncovers these donors’ motivations to give. Its lessons can help community foundations everywhere advance strategies supporting the success of artists and artist-driven organizations.

An innovative—and successful—program

This research emanated from the Fund For Artists matching commissions, a collaborative program of these two California community foundations. This program supports the development of new works by Bay Area artists and helps small- to mid-size arts organizations attract funding through the use of relatively small matching challenge grants (up to $5,000 at The San Francisco Foundation, up to $10,000 at East Bay Community Foundation). The whole idea is to expand the pool of individual donors engaged with artists and their work.

Between 2004 and early 2010, this program has funded 116 new arts projects involving 181 artists. It has generated $729,254 in contributions by more than 3,120 individual donors, many of whom are first-time givers to artists and arts projects.

A groundbreaking study

In 2009, researchers at Helicon Collaborative and WolfBrown were contracted to study the values and motivations of donors to these matching commissions projects. They surveyed individual donors involved with the matching commissions program as well as donors to 17 mid- and large-size cultural organizations in the Bay Area. They collected data from more than 3,000 arts givers, and they interviewed more than 70 of these donors. Their report provides the first in-depth study of the psychographics of donors to artists and artist-driven projects.

Fundraisers take note: It is about them, not about you.

Connecting to the values and interests of potential donors is essential to success in any fundraising effort, and this research certainly reinforces the point when it comes to raising money for artists’ projects. The process must begin with understanding what motivates the people you seek to engage, which is where the research findings bring new depth and insight.

A set of primary values characterizes arts donors in the Bay Area

Five factors emerged from a study of 23 variables examined by researchers.

• Humanism: A concern for social justice and equal opportunity, appreciation for diverse viewpoints and perspectives, an interest in learning about different cultures, a gratitude for one’s good fortune and a desire to “give back” to others, a commitment to alleviating others’ suffering. 82% of the sample indicated strong affinity with this value.
• Distinction: An interest in “great works that have stood the test of time” and artists with national or international reputations, a concern for sustaining the long-term future of key arts institutions, a desire to see “world class artistic programming” in the Bay Area. 61% of the sample indicated strong affinity with this value.
• Localism: A concern for one’s community and for artists living in the community, an interest in awakening people’s creativity and ensuring community members’ access to cultural experiences, an interest in programs that serve children. 59% of the sample indicated strong affinity with this value.
• Bonding: An interest in civic affairs and community improvement, involvement in expanding social networks and making new friends, strong family relationships and an active spiritual life; interest in arts programs that reflect one’s heritage. 50% of the sample indicated strong affinity with this value.
• Progressivism: An interest in being “on the leading edge of art and ideas,” being an individualist with iconoclastic leanings, valuing independent thought. 29% of the sample indicated strong affinity with this value.

The level of affinity noted in each value makes it clear that some values are more prevalent than others. In addition, some values appear to correlate more closely with each other. For example, people with strong humanism values also show strong preferences for localism and bonding.

Donors to artists and small arts organizations differ from donors to larger arts institutions.

In comparison to donors to mid-size and large cultural institutions, donors to artists and artists’ projects are more likely to be:

• Artists themselves (professional or amateur)
• Young adults or mid-life (18-54), without children, and of diverse cultural backgrounds
• Interested in social justice and environmentalism
• Interested in diversity of cultures and points of view
• Giving less than $5,000 annually to all charitable causes
• Interested in supporting small projects rather than sustaining institutions

Donors to artists’ projects are moved to give by four connection points.

The things that matter to donors supporting artists and projects are:

• A personal relationship with the artist
• A passion for the art form being applied
• An emotional or intellectual interest in the subject matter of the artwork
• An involvement with the culture or community touched by the project

Connecting on any of these points can lead to a gift; connecting on more than one of these points increases the likelihood of giving.

Research with high utility

The research report suggests ways that artists and artist-driven organizations can connect more meaningfully with individual donors by appealing to their values and tapping into their interests. The report offers practical tools and tips to individual artists and small arts groups for raising funds for new artistic work. It tells the stories of six artists and small to mid-size arts groups that leveraged matching funds to generate resources for their projects. It includes information on donor demographics and values, a summary of fundraising techniques used by commissioned artists and groups, and a comparison of matching commission donors to a broader pool of Bay Area donors who contribute to larger arts organizations.

To learn more about the Fund For Artists and download the research report, visit The San Francisco Foundation website and the East Bay Community Foundation website.

East Bay Community Foundation and The San Francisco Community Foundation are part of Communities Advancing the Arts, a major funding initiative of The James Irvine Foundation.

Bay Area Fund For Artists Matching Commissions Program

Community foundations take heart: new arts donors are out there. They may just be waiting to be asked—by the artists themselves! A pilot program launched in 2004 challenged smaller arts nonprofits in and around Oakland to attract individual donors. It worked, and has been expanded to support individual artists and small- to mid-size arts groups throughout the Bay Area.

The Fund For Artists matching commissions program supports the creation of new art and expands the pool of individual donors engaged with artists and their work. It was developed and funded by East Bay Community Foundation and The San Francisco Foundation, with additional financial support from Leveraging Investments in Creativity (LINC), The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and The James Irvine Foundation.

An innovative approach born of genuine concern

Performing, visual and media artists and artist-run organizations can apply for matching grants—up to $5,000 at The San Francisco Foundation and up to $10,000 at East Bay Community Foundation—to develop and present new work. Recipients must secure matching funds from individual donors, preferably from those who have not given to these artists or their organizations before.

The program is the brainchild of Diane Sanchez at the East Bay Community Foundation and John Killacky, during his tenure at The San Francisco Foundation. In 2003, the two reviewed data from the Urban Institute’s Investing in Creativity study and Joan Jeffri’s Information on Artists III study. Killacky recalled how this research “depressed and motivated” the duo. He said, “The research showed that there are more artists in the Bay Area than in any other U.S. metropolitan area except New York City and Los Angeles. But there are far fewer grant programs for artists here than in many places with smaller artist populations. Despite high educational achievement, more than 60% of artists in this region earn less than $7,000 from their art. This number has not improved in 15 years! This data also confirmed that artists have difficulty raising funds they can use to create new work and that more grants and contributions for this are needed. And, looking at larger trends in the arts field, we could see that future growth in giving is going to come from individual donations, not foundation or corporate support. So we thought, why not try to help artists help themselves?”

Impressive results

By its fifth year, the program has awarded $658,750 in grants to support the creation of 116 new works involving 181 artists. As of March 2010, the grants have been matched by $729,254 in donations by 3,120 donors drawn from diverse populations—and many are first-time donors to the arts.

Donations range in size from $2 to $10,000. The median gift amount is $100.

On-the-ground value

The matching commissions approach is clearly a boon to artists and the smaller arts organizations they lead.

The motivation for donors is real. Research published in 2010 shows that 90% of donors reported that the match requirement was influential in their motivation to give, and 43% said it stimulated them to contribute more than they normally would have.

And the testimonials from artists and arts organizations are plentiful.

According to Patrick Dooley, artistic director and founder of the Shotgun Players in Berkeley, “Our small size is an asset, something that gives us a great advantage with donors. I’ve heard many people say that they support us, and other small companies, because they can see they are having more impact here than they would giving a similar amount to a larger organization. And they also value the personal connection they can make with the artists here because we’re small. They wouldn’t get that at a larger regional theater.”

Sherri Young, executive director of San Francisco’s African-American Shakespeare Company, reported: “This funding challenge was a wonderful opportunity for our supporters to step up and give, and a true reason for us to ask for funds. It was an eye-opener for us in challenging preconceived ideas about who has money and who did not. The challenge works and is encouraging for organizations such as ours to increase our individual donor base in a way that works for us.”

Eugene Rodriguez, executive director of Los Cenzontles Mexican Arts Center in San Pablo, wrote: “The outcomes of the donor match have been broader and deeper than we had anticipated. It enabled donors to become part of our core artistic process, thereby strengthening their understanding of the many facets of our work and deepening their connection and commitment to the organization and its mission.”

Lasting benefits

This approach will continue to have a major impact on smaller arts organizations that lack significant fundraising infrastructure. Grants go to a number of organizations that had never fundraised for artistic commissions before; many had no idea that their supporters would respond so favorably. More importantly, the success of the matching commissions helps build a donor base that these organizations can continue to connect with in support of future financial sustainability.

Plus, new research, completed in 2010, sheds bright light on the motivations of these donors—and provides practical suggestions for any individual artist or artist-driven organization that seeks to cultivate new donors.

This activity was conducted as part of Communities Advancing the Arts, a major funding initiative of The James Irvine Foundation.

An international arts venue
becomes a permanent part of
Sonoma County

Here’s an amazing example of what is possible in a community when its community foundation stands for the arts. Steve and Nancy Oliver, founders of the globally acclaimed sculpture ranch that bears their name, are donating their entire collection—and the real estate it resides on—to the community they love through their community foundation.

It’s a powerful tale with multiple storylines.
The art

The 100-acre Oliver Ranch is known for its spectacular collection of large-scale, site-specific sculpture. Over 25 years, the Olivers have commissioned 18 works that pepper the rolling hills of Geyserville, in the heart of Sonoma County. The artists are among the world’s best, and include Richard Serra, Robert Stackhouse, Judith Shea, Andy Goldsworthy, Martin Puryear, and Bruce Nauman—who created a cast-concrete staircase that graces a quarter-mile stretch of hillside to the Olivers’ home.

Disillusioned with the emphasis on valuation in the world of art

collecting, in 1985 the Olivers began to commission site-specific installations that could not be moved, and therefore, could not be bought or sold. Their focus is squarely on the art itself, not on its assessed value. The Olivers underscore this point by seeking to free artists of traditional constraints, engaging with each in a unique, long-term, personal partnership.

Over 25 years, their only direction has been to ask sculptors to “respond to the land.”

The philanthropy

The resulting sculptures and land, with worth in excess of $20 million, are transferring over time through the Oliver Ranch Foundation—which is a new supporting organization established at Community Foundation Sonoma County. The particulars of this planned gift are sophisticated, and were custom-fit to the Olivers’ interests by community foundation staff who were working closely with the tax and legal professionals who advise the couple. Given tax implications and expected future uses of the ranch, local government officials were involved as well.

Half of the sculptures and initial parcels of land have been placed in the supporting organization already; the remainder will transfer over the Olivers’ lifetimes. Plus, the Olivers have established a designated endowment to support the operating costs of the ranch in perpetuity.

The impact

Through its supporting organization, the Ranch will continue to conduct about thirty private tours each year in conjunction with nonprofit organizations. This approach was started several years ago by the Olivers: nonprofits use these intimate tours, involving a two-and-a-half-mile walk led by Steve, as fundraisers, collectively generating hundreds of thousands of dollars in direct support for their missions each year.

In addition, a select series of events takes place each year in the Ranch’s unique performance tower designed by Ann Hamilton. Meredith Monk, the Kronos Quartet, and others have portrayed their art in this remarkable venue. These performances provide additional fundraising opportunities for nonprofits.

Tours and performances at Oliver Ranch have drawn patrons from around the world. The interest is staggering. “Believe me, we never planned to have tour buses parked in our driveway 30 days a year,” remarked Nancy Oliver.

Future plans will make it possible for more people to enjoy the wonders of the Ranch, which in turn boosts recognition and participation for all local arts. “The Oliver Ranch is a priceless asset in the Sonoma County arts and culture scene that, by its singular presence and renown, lifts all other arts organizations higher,” reported Jean Schulz, an inaugural member of the Oliver Ranch Foundation board.

The decision

Steve Oliver, President of Oliver Construction and Development in the East Bay, served on the boards of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Smithsonian Institution. He told The Press Democrat that the decision about how and to whom he would entrust his legacy, was “a little awkward” given his many ties in the art world.
In the final analysis, the Olivers’ choice was simple. “I mean, what do you do with such a place? There’s really only one thing to do—you give it to the community,” said Steve. “We wanted to ensure the longevity and security of the collection, as well as keep the ranch alive with new sculptural works and original performance works inspired around the sculptures. Oliver Ranch is truly a Sonoma County asset and we very much hoped to leave the ranch in local hands. The Community Foundation was a perfect fit for us.”
And Oliver Ranch is a perfect demonstration of the Community Foundation’s value. “As a community foundation we are in unique position that enables us to take on supporting organizations such as the Oliver Ranch and help the Olivers realize their legacy,” said Barbara Hughes, CEO at Community Foundation Sonoma County.

The genesis

Community Foundation Sonoma County impressed the Olivers through its work in advancing local arts. The Community Foundation has become an innovative force for this sector, working closely with the Arts Council of Sonoma County to bring visibility and sustainability to the region’s bustling arts scene. The Community Foundation has been instrumental in establishing an arts district in downtown Santa Rosa (the county’s largest city), establishing an Artist Awards Fund and related program, and leading the charge to raise sorely needed monies for arts organizations reeling from the effects of the economic downturn.

Steve and Nancy Oliver’s engagement deepened as the Community Foundation grew its leadership in the arts arena. The relationship began with Steve being invited to participate in an arts advisory group convened by the Community Foundation. The Olivers began participating in arts events sponsored by the foundation, which led to the Olivers becoming donors, and ultimately choosing to create their legacy through a new supporting organization.

Oliver Ranch Foundation is a story more than 25 years in the making, and one with an unlimited future—thanks to the community spirit of a truly visionary couple, and the distinctive capabilities of their community foundation.

Community Foundation Sonoma County is a participant in Communities Advancing the Arts, a major funding initiative of The James Irvine Foundation.

Guest post by Margy Waller,
Cincinnati Fine Arts Fund

Many of us have spent years searching for the strongest possible message and the best case on which to build support for the arts. Yet, the messages we have used to create dialogue in communities across the country have not yielded the broad sense of shared responsibility for the arts that we seek.

In late 2008, leaders of the Fine Arts Fund, with financial support from The Greater Cincinnati Foundation and the Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr./U.S. Bank Foundation, embarked on a research initiative designed to develop a communications strategy for an inclusive community dialogue leading to broadly shared public responsibility for arts and culture. The result of that work, The Arts Ripple Effect Report, was released early in 2009.

Perceptions shape behavior toward the arts

After a year of investigation and hundreds of interviews with residents of the area and surrounding states, this research—conducted with the Topos Partnership, a national communications research organization—finds that public responsibility for the arts is undermined by deeply entrenched perceptions. Members of the public typically have positive feelings toward the arts, some quite strong, but how they think about the arts is shaped by a number of common default patterns that obscure a sense of shared responsibility in this area.

For example, it is natural and common for people who are not insiders to think of the arts in terms of entertainment. Problematically, entertainment is a matter of personal taste, not public responsibility, and is viewed as an extra—not as a necessity. People make several assumptions that work against the objective of positioning the arts as a public good.

• The arts are a private matter: Arts are about individual tastes, experiences and enrichment, and individual expression by artists.
• The arts are a good to be purchased: Therefore, most assume that the arts should succeed or fail, as any product does in the marketplace, based on what people want to purchase.
• People expect to be passive, not active: People expect to have a mostly passive, consumer relationship with the arts. The arts will be offered to them, and therefore do not need to be created or supported by them.
• The arts are a low priority: Even when people value art, it is rarely high on their list of priorities.

These points represent the “default thinking” of people in the community, and indicate that the existing landscape of public understanding is not conducive to a sense of broadly shared responsibility for the arts.

A new message to inspire public support

Of the many communications approaches explored in our testing, one stood out as having the most potential to shift thinking and conversations in a constructive direction. This approach emphasizes one key organizing idea:

A thriving arts sector creates “ripple effects” of benefits throughout our community.

This message is at the heart of a communications strategy that helps position arts and culture as a public good, and helps people see this topic in a new way. In delivering this message, we have learned that the following two ripple effects are especially helpful and compelling to enumerate:

• A vibrant, thriving economy: Neighborhoods are more lively, communities are revitalized, tourists and residents are attracted to the area, etc. Note that this goes well beyond the usual dollars-and-cents argument and emphasizes creating an environment where people want to live, work, play, and stay.
• A more connected population: Diverse groups share common experiences, hear new perspectives, and understand each other better through the arts.

By conveying this message and describing key ripple effects, we are bringing new language with the power to create a broader sense of collective responsibility for the arts. This organizing concept for our message is simple and vivid, and helps people learn and remember our main idea.

This strategy emerged from significant testing conducted with a range of messages that are often associated with building public support for arts—including messages that emphasize civic inspiration, or focus on strengthening our identity as a great city, or highlight the positive connection between arts and youth.

It is fair to assume that at least some of the default patterns of thinking, as well as responses to messages we tested, reflect patterns that would be repeated elsewhere. We believe this research initiative provides a head start for those planning to embark on similar efforts in other parts of the country and at the national level.

Read the report and reviews.

Margy Waller is Vice President of Arts & Culture Partnership for the Fine Arts Fund, based in Cincinnati, Ohio. For more information and to discuss replication of this research, please contact her at mwaller@fineartsfund.org.

Five ways CAA-funded community foundations grew arts funds in the worst year since the Depression

Most nonprofit fundraisers are glad to see the calendar turn to 2010—personal donations in 2009 declined while social needs skyrocketed. During this tumultuous time, the arts giving landscape might have been bleak, but it was far from barren.

Lessons in success

Here are five lessons in success, based on wins in 2009, that point the way to more giving in the new year.

1.  Donors value leadership—and collaboration—in the arts.

Community Foundation Sonoma County connected five arts nonprofits with new and prospective donors through An Evening of Song & Poetry. This approach featured unprecedented local cooperation: each arts organization in effect introduced its largest donors to other nonprofits celebrated at an intimate evening event. The community foundation provided plenty of incentive for everyone—offering $50,000 as a match for any event attendees who chose to contribute funds to one or more of the arts organizations feted. Donors responded enthusiastically. Nearly 60 people contributed $90,000 through this appeal, representing nearly two dollars for every one pledged by the community foundation, and generating $140,000 in immediate support for these five organizations. Read more about this remarkable fundraising event.

2.  Artists have networks of new donors at the grassroots level.

An innovative matching commissions program, started by East Bay Community Foundation and picked up by The San Francisco Foundation as well as the Marin Arts Council, continues to gain steam. The program, more fully described here, provides matching grants—typically $5,000 or $10,000—to artists. To date, the artists who received matching grants have, in turn, generated contributions from 2,588 donors. This donor giving has provided $615,000 in new support for 182 artist-run organizations and artist-driven projects in the five-county Bay Area.

3.  Many donors know that now is the time to stand for arts, and to stand with their community foundation.

The East Bay Fund for Artists, which supplies the matching grants for the commissions program above, received a total of $75,000 from four donor advised funds in 2009. Diane Sanchez, Director of Grantmaking and Donor Services, is thrilled: “I feel very good about this because in a difficult year these donor advisors could have let this community foundation program slip off their list.” Only one of the donors sustains a dedicated focus on giving in the arts; the others had many appeals to consider for use of their funds. Plus, all these donors were working with lower fund balances than normal due to the loss of investment assets. “Their commitment in these tough times is a validation of our work,” adds Diane.

4.  Giving circles invite a welcome degree of donor engagement.

Sacramento Region Community Foundation knows that many arts donors appreciate connections. This notion has special meaning in a down economy, as pooling funds helps donors do more with their individual gifts. Plus, donor circles bring a social aspect to giving, helping individual givers learn from each other and share pride in the stories created through their collective support. There’s additional appeal when these groups of donors receive special access to arts experiences and face time with artists. All this adds up to success with the recent launch of donor circles in Sacramento. One circle is forming now with a lead giver at the $25,000 level, and other donors entering with a minimum contribution of $5,000.

5.  Long-term thinking still matters—so don’t give up on endowment building!

Orange County Community Foundation received a $250,000 contribution to its Arts Endowment Fund in late 2009. It’s the largest gift to the fund to date. Listen to Keith Swayne speaking about this decision by he and his wife: “Judy and I are delighted to make this gift, not only as a reflection of our belief in the importance of the arts to a thriving community, but as a challenge to other local philanthropists to do their part in strengthening the arts and cultural sector in Orange County.”
The Swayne’s action is creating buzz. Says Todd Hanson, Vice President of Donor Relations and Programs, “This gift gives confidence to other potential donors. It helps them see how they can help the fund grow quickly and become a cornerstone of stability in our arts sector.” Read more about this community foundation’s commitment to the arts.

Toward the new year

These five success stories remind us that the case for arts remains strong in spite of (perhaps even because of!) a poor economy. As always, the task is to connect to donor motivations, offer the giving options people want, and be confident in making the ask.

A year-end bonus: One of our most popular posts of 2009 is a feature on deepening relationships and understanding motivations by conducting personal interviews with arts donors. Materials and questions created by Alan Brown, an innovator in this field, are available here.

All activities reported here were conducted as part of Communities Advancing the Arts, a major funding initiative of The James Irvine Foundation.

What makes arts donors tick? How can we connect with these givers?

These questions are top of mind for all who aim to increase donor support for community arts. Recently, a group of California community foundations turned to research guru Alan Brown to help deepen their understanding of donors. Their aim was clear: to shape more effective donor engagement strategies and accelerate local arts giving.

Alan crafted a powerful donor interview exercise that was put to remarkably good use by these community foundations—all of whom are part of Irvine’s Communities Advancing the Arts initiative. The process and its benefits are shared here, along with key documents, for use by others seeking to connect more closely with arts donors.

A meaningful experience

“I was a little apprehensive to dig as deep as the interview asked us to and was concerned we might be intruding too much into topics people considered personal, but donors had no problems with our questions, and what we learned was very helpful,” said Todd Hansen of Orange County Community Foundation. According to Melissa Kester of Community Foundation Sonoma County, “We had one long-time donor start the interview by telling us that we already knew everything about her giving and motivations… she then proceeded to tell us so many new things that we felt like we hadn’t known her at all!”

Alan, who is a consultant and principal with WolfBrown, created questions, placed them in an interview protocol and constructed a thorough briefing used to train a group of nine community foundations in all aspects of requesting, confirming and conducting the interview.

Once prepped, community foundations sent out staffers in pairs to conduct each interview.  Development, donor services, communications and program people, as well as CEOs, took part. “Everyone has interviewing skills,” suggested Alan.

Each community foundation assembled one or two interview teams. And each team conducted two or three interviews. All together, these teams conducted about 30 interviews with arts donors around the state (including some who give through their community foundation and some who do not). Team members then came together to compare results.

This process was designed to surface new insights about why donors give to the arts, and to help community foundations strengthen their relationships with specific arts donors. It did plenty of both. Hugh Ralston at Ventura County Community Foundation reported, “We had a very positive experience and rich conversation. The interview protocol worked very well. People were pleased to participate… and many valued thinking about the questions that we put forward.”

A ready-made process

Alan and Irvine have made this process and related tools available for use by any interested community foundation. Here’s how it works, in three primary steps.

Step 1. Set the stage and ask probing questions

Because multiple community foundations were involved in these interviews, they were able to introduce this exercise as a statewide study of arts donors. This framing was important—it helped donors know that this activity extended beyond their community and their community foundation. And it was made clear that this activity was about gaining information, not about asking for a new gift.

Interviews were scheduled for a maximum of 60 minutes. They were conducted using a sequence of questions organized in six core areas—each of which is stated below (along with a sample question or two), and presented in full in the attached donor interview protocol.

1. Leisure time. How are you most likely to spend your leisure time? How do you express yourself creatively?
2. Core values. When you think about all your various affiliations and causes, are there any convictions, beliefs or principles that explain why you do what you do?
3. Donor motivations. Generally, how do you decide which arts programs or projects to support? What influences your decision the most?
4. Personal involvement. How much personal involvement do you like to have with the organizations you support? How do you like to be involved?
5. Accountability. How are you assured that your contributions are well used? Do you trust arts groups to use the funds wisely, or do you like to have some proof or evidence that your contributions are well used?
6. Community foundations. Some people prefer to support arts organizations directly, while other people support arts programs through a community foundation. What are the pluses and minuses of each way of giving?

Step 2. Test the values framework

Interviewers then “tested” a values framework, constructed by Alan with content drawn from the comprehensive RAND Corporation 2005 research report Gifts of the Muse, to help donors better identify their motivations for giving to the arts. This diagram provides a visual picture of the many ways that arts programs create benefits for individuals, families and communities. These benefits are organized in five primary categories (each of which is further described in the framework document):

• Personal development
• Economic & social benefits
• Human interaction
• Imprint of the arts experience
• Communal meaning

Interview subjects were presented with the framework, and asked to describe, “Which of its benefits are most important to you? Which of the five areas or ‘spheres of benefits’ resonate with you the most?”

Step 3. Pursue qualitative learning

This interview exercise was designed as a participative learning process—yielding qualitative data and deeper insights into individual donor interests. When the community foundation interviewers gathered to debrief their experience, Alan facilitated the group toward identification of relevant themes and implications. Highlights:

• There is an explosion of creative expression in society today; it is taking multiple forms (cooking, gardening, dressing, designing attractive living spaces, etc.).
• There is a narrative to learn about most donors—understanding how they are put together provides insight into understanding their giving. (One donor attended the interview debrief session, and through an informal exchange expressed a set of core personal values readily identified by the interviewer group. This donor cared deeply about community, investment in community, access to quality education for all people, and respecting and honoring the work of previous generations of family philanthropists.)
• Format innovation is the next frontier in audience development; the range of innovation is broad, and includes experiments such as providing longer intermissions to facilitate Twitter exchanges, to providing interpretive text on personal data devices (e.g., iPhones, Blackberrys) that can accompany musical performances in real time.
• Some donors are really interested in evidence of impact, which arts organizations don’t typically capture. Related, we are seeing emphasis on accountability because of donor interests and the economy.
• Performing arts organizations often lack quality photos and visuals that help people stay connected to their experience and thereby retain evidence of impact. Symbols of the experience are important. This helps explain why rock concerts sell t-shirts and sports teams sell hats at games. Consultant Jerry Yoshitomi was referenced for his emphasis on these “memory elicitation devices.” Alan said that, “printed programs are what people hang on to because they are not yet ready to let go of their emotional connection to the arts experience.”
• People have different attitudes toward engagement and different levels of involvement; part of our diagnostic process is to find out what level of involvement people want, and find interesting ways for them to be involved at that level. On a related note, Alan commented that, “It takes people about three years to learn the cultural assets of a community once they move to it.” And that, “people often get to know their community by going to museums.”
• The ability to identify cross-cutting needs that are not owned by any single institution, and that relate to donor interests, should be a strength of community foundations. An example Alan cited here is keeping older adults involved in creative pursuits. These types of opportunities are often bigger than any individual arts organization, and play to the strengths of community foundations to identify relevant needs, help people champion these needs, and advance a community vitality agenda.
• Local dynamics between the community foundation and arts community have implications for much of this work. Arts nonprofits have their own agendas and interests, and don’t always see community foundations as their advocates. Community foundations need to sit down with arts organizations early in the work of supporting community arts; once relationships develop, the networking and collaborations that follow are phenomenal.

Big take aways

What are the major lessons for all who are dedicated to growing community arts? Recognize donors for their expertise. Gain their opinions. Invite them to describe themselves. Learn and share their stories.
In other words, keep asking questions. And listening.

This learning experience was sponsored through Communities Advancing the Arts, a major funding initiative of The James Irvine Foundation.

What can a community do when economic recession threatens local arts organizations and makes donors cautious about their giving? In Sonoma County, these scary circumstances led to a strategy for showcasing local arts—while helping donors reconnect to their passion for creativity in community.

If you’re looking for ways to make the case for arts in a community suffering hard times, you won’t want to miss the appeal of Dana Gioia. Dana is an internationally acclaimed poet and the recent Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. His 13-minute talk is powerful, moving and funny.

Dana’s remarks were a big part of an even bigger event that generated $130,000 in crucial arts funding.

Sonoma’s recipe for success

• Select five local arts nonprofits to feature, drawing from both proven and promising organizations. Make sure all are in tune with a spirit of cooperation—this event was about celebrating community arts, not competing for arts dollars!
• Recruit three world-class artists to perform in an intimate setting, accompanied by wonderful food, great local wine and beautiful scenery. The venue was an area winery with an impressive art collection and sweeping views of the Sonoma valley.
• Make it easy for each nonprofit, as well as the community foundation, to engage a set of its donors and prospective donors. The community foundation underwrote the event, so there was no cost to the participating nonprofits. These arts organizations were encouraged to position the event with their invitees in the manner they deemed best. Most asked attendees to make a donation as part of the invitation process—and received amounts ranging from $250 to $1,000. Others positioned this as a no-admission-fee event honoring invitees for their support.
• Announce that the community foundation is providing $50,000 as an incentive match for any attendees interested in contributing funds to the arts organizations feted at the event. This message was delivered as part of the invitation process, and reiterated at the event.
• Treat the audience to a profound artistic experience, featuring musical inspiration from baritone Rod Gilfry and pianist Jeffrey Kahane, plus Dana’s poetry.
• Deliver (via Dana) a passionate address connecting vibrant arts to community vitality, and issue a call for local philanthropists to step forward at this time of economic challenge.
• Combine this strong call with a soft ask. Attendees knew they were welcome to contribute and take advantage of community foundation matching funds (which applied to gifts made before, during or after the event), but no specific amounts were requested, and no “hard sell” was conducted. The tone for the evening was that of a thank you more so than a fundraiser. Donors responded positively, writing checks and making pledges for nearly $80,000 in new funds.

This video below documenting the development and presentation of the event performance provides a wonderfully produced example for community foundations interested in implementing similar programs locally.

Both videos referenced in this post have an ongoing life—each is being used in the context of small group donor parties.

Breaking new ground

The strategy for An Evening of Song & Poetry involved some first steps with lasting benefits. It brought about productive collaboration among five arts organizations—including the first-ever sharing of donor lists. It helped a key group of local arts donors gain a broader perspective on the arts community. And it placed the community foundation squarely in a leadership role, together with its partner, the Arts Council of Sonoma County.

Community Foundation Sonoma County is a participant in Communities Advancing the Arts, a major funding initiative of The James Irvine Foundation.

Here’s how one community is using video to showcase local arts—and appeal to existing and new donors.

This moving medium was a centerpiece in the 2009 Champions of the Arts Gala sponsored by the Arts Council for Monterey County. The Gala offered tribute to community arts heroes—artists, nonprofit leaders, education advocates, and donors. Each of their stories was presented through a series of professionally produced videos, all of which are available online and promoted through the Arts Council and its networks.

Gala planners enlisted another local hero—Academy Award winning director John Longenecker—who helped an arts nonprofit, Picture Monterey.org, gain equipment and training to create these videos.

Have a look

Community foundations and their partners in arts recognition programs should see these well-crafted products.

Check out the 22-minute group tribute (above), as well as a series of individual videos featuring each champion. For example, viewers get the first-hand story of cowboy Jack N. Swanson, and experience his work as an accomplished vaquero artist. It’s a colorful telling of an artist’s work shaped by the unique nature and character of his community.

Here’s the essence of the video featuring arts donors. This piece is strategically significant in encouraging more arts giving in an underfunded area of the region; it is being shared (via the web, email links and group gatherings) with current and prospective donors to the arts.

Arts matter for children in Salinas Valley. That’s the bottom line for David and Susan Gill, honored philanthropists at the Gala. The Gills support youth programs in the rural south county area because, according to Susan, “Arts are the only way to round out an education. We need to continue to inspire our children.”

Proceeds from the Champions of the Arts Gala help students in Monterey County schools receive training from professional artists.

The Community Foundation for Monterey County supports the Arts Council for Monterey County, and is a participant in Communities Advancing the Arts, a major funding initiative of The James Irvine Foundation.

John Killacky is on a quest for relevance. He fears that many grantmakers will establish new priorities and initiatives regardless of what the field of dance actually needs. He calls for foundations and arts organizations alike to hone their ability to adapt to changing times—emphasizing that being dynamic is as important as building endowment when it comes to long-term success.

These views are put forward in an article in VoiceofDance.com written by Killacky, who is program officer for arts and culture at The San Francisco Foundation.

Four trends of note

Killacky examines current trends transforming how dance is supported, accessed, engaged with, and popularized. Here are the trends, and a sample of his commentary on each:

• Race and ethnicity: “As our country continues to diversify, fairness and parity issues will demand that foundations consider future grantmaking through a racial equity lens.”
• Friendraising: “If there is any potential for growth (in arts nonprofit funding), it is in expanding individual donor bases.”
• Cyberspace: “Dancemakers can learn from media colleagues, making sure choreography is conceived for multiple platforms, the stage behind the fourth wall only being one of them.”
• Mass appeal: “Ever since the early ‘90s when ‘Got Milk?’ ads appeared, dance wondered how it could similarly capture public imagination. The reality now is that it has.”

In covering these trends, Killacky provides examples of practical responses—ways The San Francisco Foundation, other funders, and nonprofits can move into the future of dance.

The San Francisco Foundation is a participant in Communities Advancing the Arts, a major funding initiative of The James Irvine Foundation.

What’s your earliest memory of the arts?

Chances are, your recollection made you smile. That’s a testimony to the power of the personal question–and the way  it can help you engage donors in community arts.

The right question provides a window for understanding, and tapping into, the values that underlie any donor’s decision to fund arts. Experience and research tell us that helping people connect their personal values to relevant programs is the way to build ongoing commitment. For example, a donor who values youth development and equity in education may well want to support arts in school, or provide ways for students to engage with arts in a variety of venues outside the school day.

Another of my favorite questions is: Can you tell me about a personally significant or meaningful arts or cultural experience in your life? I advise all of my clients to ask this question regularly. I’ve found that after answering the question, people are more likely to tell a friend, buy another ticket, or make a donation.

Want to experiment with this idea?

You can take a simple test–and check out a survey that generates insight into donor values and practices. (Survey has been closed since this was originally posted.)

Holly Sidford, Marcy Cady, Alexis Frasz and I are involved in the Cultural Master Planning process for the City of Los Angeles. One aspect of our work is a public participation survey, where we’re attempting to learn about people’s involvement, either as spectators or direct participants in local arts. We had over 400 responses to the survey in the first 5 hours.

As a test, I’d like everyone to respond to this survey. (Again, survey has been closed since this was originally posted.)

The survey includes the question about a significant or meaningful arts experience. Over the next week, see if responding encouraged you to tell your personal story or ask this question of others.

I’d also like to hear from anyone who has already asked this question with audiences. What have been the results, if any?

Jerry Yoshitomi is Chief Knowledge Officer for MeaningMatters. He has served as a consultant to Communities Advancing the Arts, a major funding initiative of The James Irvine Foundation.

Art brings people together. So it’s natural for community foundations to place art—and artists—at the center of events intended to deepen donor engagement. The opportunities for creativity are endless. Receptions in private sculpture gardens, intimate readings by award-winning authors, road trips to major galleries, dinners celebrating up-and-coming artists, and behind-the-scenes tours are just a few ways donor events are taking place around California.

Through this experience, community arts leaders are learning that there is a big difference between a good event and a strategic event. The former is marked by smooth logistics and smiling participants. The second features both these attributes—plus a purposeful evolution in each attendee’s commitment to funding arts.

It’s about moving along

According to an event guide developed by and for community foundations, strategic events are part of a process designed to move donors along a continuum of involvement in funding local arts. Some have virtually no awareness of the need for community arts support. Others are steady arts givers. Most are somewhere in between.

The guide includes a set of tips for treating each event strategically: identifying your audience, defining a specific objective for each participant, clarifying a method for achieving the objective, and measuring results. It emphasizes the need to make sure that each event is part of a process that involves pre- and post-event action. And it features a week-by-week event planning checklist that can be adapted for local use.

This guide was developed through Communities Advancing the Arts, a major funding initiative of The James Irvine Foundation.

It’s one program with two benefits. The Sonoma County Artist Awards boost the reputations of working artists early in their careers, and raise public awareness of local arts. The awards are a collaboration of the arts community, with leadership from the county’s Arts Council and Community Foundation.

A stunning catalog showcases the 2008 visual arts award winners. They were drawn from a cadre of nearly 100 eligible artists. A panel of area curators and art professionals narrowed the list of applicants before a set of outside experts from the Bay Area chose the three winners: Julie Cavaz, Sarah Frieberg and Geirrod Van Dyke. Each received a $5,000 award—the largest available to individual artists in Sonoma County.

A public celebration of arts and artists

In Sonoma County fashion, the artists were celebrated in a creative light. The three award winners enjoyed their first museum opening on a spring Saturday evening. Earlier that day, 32 of the nominated artists were honored through an invitational exhibit sponsored by the City of Santa Rosa. It took place in Courthouse Square.

“It was accompanied by wild and wooly entertainment—stilt walkers, fire dancers, hip-hop demonstrations,” reported Melissa Kester, Arts Development Officer for Community Foundation Sonoma County. “A marching band then led the way to the Sonoma County Museum reception two blocks away, where the three winners’ work was being shown.”

The biennial Artist Awards have been so well received that, in 2009, the Community Foundation and Arts Council of Sonoma County are adding another award to encompass performing, music and literary arts.

This program was begun through Communities Advancing the Arts, a major funding initiative of The James Irvine Foundation.

It’s a communications conundrum. Community arts leaders have plenty to say about why donors should invest in this arena, but it can be challenging to find the best ways to express these messages.

There’s the question of what to state first. Some professionals say lead with instrumental benefits—the role arts play in boosting economic development or helping kids learn, for example—and establish these bottom-line societal advantages right up front. Others say it’s better to promote intrinsic benefits—the ways arts evoke an emotive response—and get started by making a more intimate human connection.

Then there’s the need to establish urgency for private donor support of arts. In California, state funding declined precipitously in recent years, reaching a low of 3 cents per person in 2005.

In 2006, a set of California community foundations and their local arts partners took this dilemma to heart, and mind. Sharing and assessing arts messages, they joined to create and test an approach that is now being used in several communities—and communications.

What makes for effective messaging?

These participants in the Irvine initiative, Communities Advancing the Arts, set out to develop messaging that was clear, consumable, and comprehensive. Specifically, they wanted to reach out to new donors in a manner that:

• Uses simple language and concepts
• Is easily remembered and presented by staff and volunteers
• Features a flexible structure—so main messages can be mixed and matched to specific communication opportunities
• Translates into a variety of looks and media

A modular messaging structure

They devised a solution that is straightforward and sophisticated. It uses three main messages to answer one core question:

Why support the arts?

• It feels good.
• It does good.
• It’s time now.

Each of these primary messages sits atop a set of secondary messages that present a complete case for the arts. And this approach is inherently modular—some community foundations prefer to lead with intrinsic benefits (it feels good), others with instrumental benefits (it does good). The third major message (it’s time now) helps establish the urgent need for individual donors to invest in arts.

Multiple media

This messaging is being applied in a number of media.

• Orange County Community Foundation, together with Arts Orange County (the area’s arts council) co-branded these messages, as shown on this print ad.
• Community Foundation Silicon Valley (since merged with the Peninsula Foundation to create Silicon Valley Community Foundation) built a comprehensive set of materials to advance the arts using these messages.
• California Community Foundation incorporates these messages to help open its brochure promoting its Arts & Culture Fund.
• Community Foundation Sonoma County features these messages in banners and a brochure supporting its Emerging Artists Endowment Fund.
• Community Foundation for Monterey County organized a public service announcement based on these messages.

These messages and communications were created through Communities Advancing the Arts, a major funding initiative of The James Irvine Foundation.

Take a moment to imagine what Los Angeles would be like without theatre, dance, music or paintings. That line, penned by Antonia Hernández, President and CEO of the California Community Foundation, opens a new brochure making the case for arts and culture as the lifeblood of a vibrant community. Everyone knows L.A.’s reputation as a hotbed of artistic innovation and diversity. Less known is the extent to which arts and culture are underfunded in this locale.

For example, the City of Los Angeles spent $.78 per person in arts grants compared with San Diego at $5.48 and San Francisco at $20.67.

Overlooked: smaller organizations and individuals

Especially vulnerable are small to midsize organizations and individual artists in the county. One study showed that more than 80% of arts funding went to groups with budgets of $2 million or more; these larger players make up less than 6% of the total nonprofit arts sector. Another study showed that only 2% of all arts funding in L.A. between 1998-2002 went to individual artists.

Funders in Los Angeles put their money in specific projects and events (78%), with far less (22%) going to general operating costs, endowment building, and capital campaigns.

Launching a community campaign

Through its Arts & Culture Fund, the California Community Foundation seeks to change this situation for the better. The foundation is calling on community to grow its endowment to $27 million by 2015. The goal is to help 150 emerging and mid-career artists rise to the next level, and 100 small and midsize organizations reach new audiences. In particular, the foundation aims to increase participation of diverse, ethnic and low-income individuals and communities in the arts.

This brochure includes more research data on the L.A. arts and culture landscape, as well as stories of the big impact that relatively small investments can make in this arena.

It was created with support from Communities Advancing the Arts, a major funding initiative of The James Irvine Foundation.

A new study helps answer the old question: What do arts bring to communities? It documents the economic impact of the nonprofit arts and culture industry, and covers 156 communities and regions representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The study was conducted by Americans for the Arts. It includes diverse communities, both rural and urban, ranging from four thousand to three million people.

The attached study focuses solely on nonprofit arts and culture organizations and their audiences and excludes spending by individual artists and the for-profit arts and entertainment sector. The two largest U.S. cities, New York and Los Angeles, each with more than $1 billion in organizational expenditures, were excluded from this study to avoid inflating the national estimates.

Arts are big business…with big benefits

America’s nonprofit arts and culture industry generates $166.2 billion in economic activity every year—$63.1 billion in spending by organizations and an additional $103.1 billion in event-related spending by audiences. The national impact of this activity is significant, supporting 5.7 million jobs and generating $29.6 billion in government revenue.

The impact of spending by nonprofit arts and culture organizations is far reaching; they pay their employees, purchase supplies, and acquire assets within the local community. Additionally, unlike most industries, nonprofit arts and culture leverage significant event-related spending by their audience. Whether serving the local community or out-of-town visitors, a vibrant arts and culture industry helps local businesses thrive.

Raising permanent funds for arts and helping local artists launch careers are two challenges faced by many communities. Both led to one solution in Sonoma County: an Emerging Artists Fund. It connects the power of endowment giving to the value of providing early support to artists. And it has real appeal for arts donors.

The fund was created by the Community Foundation Sonoma County in partnership with the Arts Council of Sonoma County.

An Emerging Artists Award was developed to bring visibility to this fund. In its first year, a panel of well-known local artists, gallery owners and curators reviewed the work of 78 artists. They narrowed the pool down to 25. A small team of respected curators from outside the area then chose three winners featured at a special awards event.

Event objective

Illustrate the benefits of, and great need for, an Emerging Artist Fund by introducing it in an inspired way.

Recipe for success

• Invite a diverse group of arts enthusiasts—both experienced and new to arts philanthropy—to a light dinner and refreshments
• Combine with emerging artists as well as leaders of local arts organizations
• Add a tour of the hosts’ sculpture-filled home, including a sneak-peek of public art prior to its debut
• Mix in intriguing speakers: Katharine DeShaw, Executive Director of United States Artists, to describe national arts funding streams; Ned Kahn, an internationally known local artist, to tell how an emerging artist grant changed his life; Steve Oliver, Board Chair of San Francisco MOMA, to share his personal commitment to supporting artists and the Emerging Artist Fund
• Award three new artists each with $5,000 to advance their work and community contributions
• Top off with stories of how relatively small levels of financial support have made a big difference in the careers of art creators

Results

New connections—between arts supporters, artists, and the fund that helps fulfill the greatest aspirations of all. And new resources—the community foundation is well on the way toward hitting its initial goal of gaining $300,000 in new community support for the Emerging Artists Fund.

This activity was conducted as part of Communities Advancing the Arts, a major funding initiative of The James Irvine Foundation.

Sometimes the first step is the hardest. Recognizing that small, community-based arts organizations often need help starting their own fundraising, two Bay Area community foundations took action. The tool they created helps these nonprofits follow a simple blueprint to build a base of donors. It’s part of the technical assistance these organizations supply to grassroots arts grantees. The tool was created by The San Francisco Foundation and the East Bay Community Foundation. The attached file overviews the simple, strategic five-part approach used to help emerging arts organizations engage with donors who value their contributions to community.

A five-part approach

The tool and its elements were introduced at a technical assistance workshop:

1. Gain conviction—develop the courage and commitment to raise funds to sustain your work.
2. Clarify identity—sharpen your image and establish a position based on your unique qualities.
3. Activate network—recruit and equip those who value your work to connect you to others who may value your work.
4. Engage prospects—make contact and provide positive artistic experiences for your potential new donors.
5. Cultivate relationships—increase and track contacts with your key prospects and donors, creating strong personal connections.

This tool was created as part of Communities Advancing the Arts, a major funding initiative of The James Irvine Foundation.