If you can raise money for the arts in hard times, you can do it any time…

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.

Just ask! Here’s how community foundations can grow arts donor relationships through effective interviewing…

Probing questions, proven techniques, and a simple process
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. [...]

Powerful message + Memorable event = New momentum

An Evening of Song & Poetry
Community Foundation Sonoma County
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.

Standing for art…

A private foundation states its case
The economy is at a 40-year low. Safety net issues are on the rise at an alarming rate. So why sustain a commitment to the arts?
Jim Canales, president and CEO of The James Irvine Foundation, answers this question in the following op-ed appearing in the San Francisco Chronicle.

When the going gets tough…

Sustaining arts in a time of economic turmoil
Arts funders and nonprofits agree: We are in an unprecedented time of financial distress, and no one knows when we will reach bottom. This new reality is causing reactions that range from caution to crisis in arts organizations.

Arts participation: What counts in your community?

Cultural Engagement in California’s Inland Regions
A middle-schooler streams YouTube videos. A family shares its heritage through a holiday skit. A baby boomer starts a garage band. Today, many forms of cultural engagement take place off the radar of traditional nonprofit arts organizations.
How can community foundations help arts organizations better support the broad range of [...]

Answering the million-dollar question…

Why Support the Arts?
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 [...]

What would L.A. be without art?

California Community Foundation Arts & Culture Fund
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. [...]

Who cares about arts? It’s surprising…

Orange County Cultural Indicators Report
Who knew? A surprising 64 percent of residents say that they or their family members create or participate in arts. It’s a fact that shows the value of research, and it came from the Orange County Cultural Indicators Report, this community’s first-ever study of arts giving and donor perceptions. The study [...]

Creative economy: What’s the plan?

Creative Monterey County
While lots of communities want to build a creative economy, too few are able to pull everyone together around a plan. Not so in Monterey County, where collaboration, research and dialogue led to a countywide blueprint for collective action. The process was led by the Community Foundation for Monterey County in tandem with [...]