The Mission Paradox Blog

Ownership, stewardship and the nonprofit arts

Put down that 501c3 application for a second.  

Stop putting together that book of "board member responsibilities".

We need to talk.

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Do you really know what you're doing?  

Sure, you know what you just *did*.  You filled out a few applications, got together some friends and (BAM) you became a nonprofit arts organization.  It was easy.  But so is sex.  It's the whole post sex "having a baby part" that is tricky.

So let's talk about what you now own.

You now own nothing.

You're confused.  You think this is some sort of Zen riddle.  You started this arts organization, isn't it yours?

Nope.  It isn't.  Each person you listed as "board member", yes including that person you don't really know that well, now have as much of a stake in this organization as you do.

You're not an owner.  This nonprofit isn't yours.  You are a steward.  Your job is to take care of the organization and make sure it's mission is being realized.  The goal is (or should be) to build something that will survive you.

If you are not interested in that - and you may not be, for very good reasons - then starting a nonprofit arts organization isn't a good idea.

The very nature and structure of a nonprofit arts org indicates that it is about steady progress over a long period of time.

If you're more interested in the here and now then it makes more sense to ignore the nonprofit model entirely and focus on how you can get your art produced cheaply, quickly and then finding the most efficient way to put that work into the public.

Looking for my 2012 clients

Here's the deal:

Every once in a while I work directly with a handful of individual artists and arts organizations.

For example, this year I worked with a visual artist, a theatre that focuses on highlighting artists with disabilities and a few other interesting folks.

We are headed toward a new year so I wanted to open the door to a few new clients. I'm going to do this the old fashioned way. I'm going to explain what your getting and offer you a discounted price for a limited time.

Technically what I'm offering is called marketing coaching. You are going to come to me with your marketing challenges. Challenges like these:

You need to sell more of your jewerly on Etsy.

You need to build awareness for your Kickstarter campaign.

You need to sell more tickets to your plays.

Then we are going to break your problem down into pieces and tackle the thing one week at a time. We do that through a series of phone calls.

The phone calls last about two hours. At the end of each call, you'll get some homework. DO THE HOMEWORK.

We do that for six weeks, maybe seven if we need it.

At the end of the process you should have some answers to your challenges. That's cool, but that's not the point. The point is the process. The goal is that when the next tricky marketing challenge comes up, you'll have a way of finding your own answers.

The price is normally $750.

If you sign up by Monday, Jan. 2nd, I'll knock it down to $500. I'm comfortable with taking payments in installments. If you need an installment plan, email me and let me know. Payments are done via Paypal.

Need some testimonals, click here

Got questions about the process? Email me at mission.paradox(at)yahoo.com

Ready to get to work? Email me.

Welcome to Paradox

This is the Mission Paradox Blog. I'm your friendly host, Adam Thurman

Since 2007 this has been a place where artists and those who work within artistic organizations get insight on marketing, leadership, diversity and other topics.

The main source of that insight are the blog posts that appear right below this one. Typically you'll get a new one every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. You can get the blog post directly in your web based reader (like Yahoo or Google news) by clicking here

You want more? I got more.

My e-book Authentic Arts Marketing is available as both a free download and as a cheap buy in the Kindle Store. Get details on that here.

Want to work with me directly? I do a limited amount of private coaching arts marketing coaching. Details are here. Testimonials are here.

I hope you find this place a helpful resource as you go about the hard work of connecting your art to an audience. Feel free to drop me a line at mission.paradox(at)yahoo.com.

Remember, new blog posts appear below.

 

Revisiting "An Unfair Guide"

I'm a bit like Stephen King, some of my best writing was years ago.  In that spirit I wanted to introduce (or re-introduce) you to a little e-book I wrote called An Unfair Guide to Building a Nonprofit Board of Directors.  It's yours.  It's free.

With that said, it's time for a vacation.  I'll be bringing back a few more of my "greatest hits" blog posts while I'm gone.  The first will be on Monday.

Viva Las Vegas baby.

 

More Required Reading For Artists

Get these titles on your bookshelf (digital or real world) ASAP.

1.  The War of Art and Poke The Box - The resistance.  The lizard brain.  There are many external obstacles to success but most of them can be overcome.  The biggest obstacle and the one that crushes us most often is the internal obstacles.  Steven Pressfield and Seth Godin give those obstacles a name and face.  The obstacle that can be identified can be defeated.

2.  The Art of Profitability - It's a simple formula.  Revenue - Expenses = Profit.  If you're some nonprofit hippie then just change it to Revenue - Expenses = Surplus.  This book reminds us that the road to profit/surplus is paved by a bunch of tiny decisions.  It's a bit of tricky read but stick with it and see if any of the profit models given work for you.

3.  How The Mighty Fall - You may have heard of Jim Collins "Good to Great".  I find the book equally interesting.  Organizations in decline tend to go through a similiar process.  Take the lessons in this book and apply them to your organization.  What you discover may freak you out, but at least you can do something about it.

4.  Authentic Arts Marketing - What?  You didn't think I would include my own book in this list?  Silly mortal. 

5.  The Art of Governance - If you run a nonprofit arts organization please do the following.  Buy each of your Board members a copy of this book.  Any member who doesn't read it, and embrace it, should be kicked off the Board.

6.  Evil Plans - If you need a role model, Hugh MacLeod is a damn fine one.  He's an artist that has found some brilliant ways to leverage his work and impact a lot of people.  He's also a great writer.

 

Paradox Top Seven: The Beyonce Syndrome

From January 2007, this one is about unrealistic expectations

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I have a disease, and I would wager many of you do as well.

Ask a typical nonprofit CEO what he or she is looking for in a Board Member and you always hear they need to be:

Resourceful (a nice word for rich)

Committed to your mission

Access to wealth (meaning they need to be rich AND have rich friends)

Engaged (meaning they should come to meetings, special events and be involved with the company . . . without being too intrusive)

Smart

Able to easily adapt

You get the idea.

Here's the two questions nonprofit executives have to ask themselves when it comes to these ideal Board members:

1.  Do these people even EXIST?

2.  And if they do . . . why on earth would they want to join your Board?

Here's where Beyonce comes in.  If someone asked me who my ideal woman is, she would end up looking a lot like Beyonce.

Beautiful

Wealthy

Talented

Intelligent

(Editors note:  Of course I'm married now so my ideal woman would look like my wife.  Alright, back to the post)

But here's the thing, there is only ONE Beyonce in the whole world!

And assuming she would even want a professor/lawyer/nonprofit consultant that makes in a year what she makes in a good week . . .

SHE IS ALREADY TAKEN by Shawn Carter (better known as rap star Jay-Z for those of you not informed).

What if it was possible to build a powerful nonprofit without a whole bunch of rich people on the Board?

You may think it isn't.

But what if it was?

How would that change how nonprofits are built?

Easy targets

This week, I want to switch tracks a bit and talk about the Board of Directors.

As I mentioned in a Tweet last week (@missionparadox), Board members tend to be very easy targets for artistic scorn and ridicule. 

They tend to be more financially secure then the artists they work with, which can cause tension.  They also have a significant amount of power and influence within the organization, which is another area of tension.

Managing and overcoming these tension is something that separates strong organizations from those that struggle.

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One of the best words of wisdom I ever got about Board membership came up when I was doing the typical bitchin' and moanin' about what some folks were and were not doing.

My mentor quickly shut me up by saying . . . "Remember, these people are volunteers."

I had forgotten that.  I was so caught up in what I wanted/needed from the Board that I had lost sight of a simple fact:

No one has to join your Board . . . ever.

No one has to give time or energy to your cause . . . ever.

That doesn't excuse Board members who don't live up to expectations, but it did help to put things in perspective.

People volunteer to join Boards.  Often they pay for their spot on the Board with time and money.  It's always good to remember why they do that.

They do it to be close to the art.  They don't do it to manage your accounting, or because they have some sick love of fundraising.  They do it because they want to be close to the art. 

A strong arts organization goes out of their way to make sure the Board feels close to the art.  They explain the artistic process to them.  They solicit their opinion AND actually listen to it.

I know the thought of doing that freaks out those who worry that the Board will start making artistic decisions, but it's been my experience that if you set clear boundaries for them . . . most Board members will respect their limits.  If they don't, then they need to go.

Spend a little time this week pondering how you can bring the Board closer to the art.  Your efforts will be appreciated and you'll have a stronger, more reliable Board as a result of it all.

 

Summer Break

So here's the deal, it's time for me to disconnect from the grid for a while.  Blogging will resume the first week of July.  In the meanwhile, please do some combination of the following:

1.  Buy my e-Book.  Yeah, I said it.  It's a quality read.  Need another reason?  I'm about to start working on an online course to accompany the e-Book and people who get it now will receive the course at a discounted rate.

2. Subscribe to the blog.  Yeah, I said it.  Blog subscribers make me smile.  Plus when blogging resumes you'll be the first to know.

3.  Check out previous blog posts in the archives.  Yeah, I . . . anyway.  I've been blogging for three years and I did some of my best stuff when nobody was reading.  Go figure.

In the meanwhile if you're in Chicago for the TCG Conference please try to find me.  I'd love to say hello.

To everyone else, I'll see you in a few weeks.

 

Take a look around

Today's must read is this post from the Standford Social Innovation Review:  The Heartache of the Failed Hail Mary.  It gives six signs that your nonprofit is in trouble and is a crucial thing to check out if you are in the nonprofit arts.

Read the whole thing, but I have to add a little bit to one of his six signs.  This is sign number six:

Knights of the Dysfunctional Roundtable: "When you ask most people what kind of event they would like to go to if they had a free night, most might say they would like to go to a concert, see a movie/play or go root for their favorite team.  If you can believe it, I actually love going to board meetings.  I know it is sad and I should be committed but what happens in a gathering of board members can really be interesting.  You can tell a lot about an organization by watching how a board meeting is conducted.  How are the interactions?  Who is talking and is anyone dominating?  Where do they spend their attention?  What mechanisms, if any, are they using to guide themselves? If you can step back and just watch the flow, you probably can get a really good sense of where the organization is.  Make it interesting and watch it with headphones on."

Yes.  Yes.  Yes.

I've gotten to the point where I don't even need to ask somebody what the state of their nonprofit arts organization is.  I can just go to 2-3 Board Meetings and everything becomes clear. 

Once you see who is (or isn't at the meeting) or what questions are (or are not) being asked, you can learn a great deal about whether the organization is headed in a positive direction or off a cliff.

Give the entire thing a read.  It is well worth it.

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On a different track . . . I've got an idea and I want to share it with you guys in the universe and listen for your response.

One of the things I've been hearing from the people who bought Authentic Arts Marketing is that they have a tough time going through the exercises.

So what I'm thinking about is doing a workshop in mid May that would just for people who bought the e-Book. 

Together we would go through the "mantra" and "values" exercises.  The key to pulling this off is that everybody would have to be willing to participate and help each other.  I wouldn't want to be the only one offering ideas.  We would need everyone's wisdom and perspective.

I'm thinking about doing this in Chicago around the last week of May (maybe May 29). If it works, I'm going to find a way to do it for people who have the e-Book but don't live in Chicago.  Maybe a tele-seminar or something like that.

As for price, I'm thinking $35 for people who have the e-Book and $45 for those who don't because I'm going to send them a copy of the e-Book before we all meet.

So if anybody out there thinks such a thing would be valuable, email me at mission.paradox@yahoo.com and let me know.  Obviously no one is committed at this point, but I would like to measure interest in such a thing.

Amen

Michael Kaiser, of the Kennedy Center, on diversity:

"I have been spending a great deal of time thinking about the issue of diversity in the arts, specifically, the drive to diversify the programming and constituents of all arts organizations.

The more I consider this thorny issue, the less I am convinced that the arts world has worked hard enough to dissect the true costs, benefits and implications of recent diversity efforts.

(snip)

Having spent a great deal of my career working with arts organizations of color, I am as committed as anyone to the diversity of our arts ecology. I do not believe that we can have a truly great artistic community if all segments of our society are not represented well.

But I do not think I believe anymore in forcing Eurocentric arts organizations to do diverse works or to put one minority on a board." (emphasis added)

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If I ever see Kaiser I'm going to kiss him just for saying that . . . and I don't care how he feels about said kiss . . . he deserves it.

I touched on this in my "Gravity" post but Kaiser says it better then I ever could.

Part of embracing diversity is accepting people's choice not to be diverse.

Many people, myself included, believe that for the arts to thrive now you should probably build an organization that attracts a wide range of people.

But if someone doesn't want to do that, for whatever reason, we have to be mature enough as an industry to go "that's ok."

Few things are more painful then watching an organization try to jam an African-American or Latina artist into their lineup in a transparent attempt to be diverse.

It's bad for them, bad for the artist and insulting to audiences of all colors.

They shouldn't have to engage in such measures if they don't want to.

Now let me be clear, I think refusing to embrace the diverse and interesting world we live in is just dumb.

But if they do, it's their choice and we should respect that.

Embrace the ones that want to reflect the world.  Let the other ones work things out on their own.