The “ripple effect”: Building shared responsibility for the arts

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 [...]

Giving hope and help to arts leaders in the midst of a deep recession…

Embracing dynamic adaptability
in the Bay Area
Is there anything special arts funders can do to help nonprofits and artists deal with the continued effects of a down economy? Something beyond continued funding opportunities, capacity building, and technical support?

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. [...]

Community study finds 121 million reasons to love arts

Ventura County Research
While everyone figured the local arts scene in this Southern California area was booming, the Ventura County Community Foundation decided to get the facts. It turns out that arts are bigger news than anyone knew. The number of nonprofit arts organizations reporting more than $25,000 in revenues nearly doubled since 1996. Plus, at [...]

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 [...]

Conversing about the arts, virtually

Sacramento Arts Blog
A bigger table means room for more people. Sacramento Region Community Foundation is expanding the table—virtually—with a blog aimed at encouraging conversation about local arts. It’s at advancesacarts.blogspot.com, and it supports multiple gatherings that are taking place around a single question: What’s the best way to bring new, long-term resources to arts [...]

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 [...]

Arts = jobs, spending, healthy economy

Arts and Economic Prosperity III
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 [...]