PhilanTopic

'The Art of Being Unreasonable' Launches in New York City

I had the pleasure Sunday evening of attending "A Conversation With Eli Broad" at the 92nd Street Y, an hour-long event marking the launch of Broad's memoir The Art of Being Unreasonable. At the event, Broad chatted with broadcast journalist Charlie Rose about his long and successful career (highlights of which are shared in the book's appendix). Broad, who turns 79 this summer, has helped build two Fortune 500 companies, KB Home and SunAmerica, and created with his wife, Edythe, the Broad Foundations, which focus on public education reform, scientific and medical research, art and culture, and civic projects in Los Angeles.

Rose began his interview by asking Broad for thoughts on the state of the economy, which Broad said will not recover until the housing market improves (in 2013?), before shifting gears to focus on the book.

While Broad doesn't consider himself to be unreasonable -- as he told the audience, "I don't think I'm unreasonable; other people think I'm unreasonable" -- he writes in his memoir that he believes "being unreasonable has been the key to my success." Throughout his career, he took chances that many said he was foolish for taking -- building homes without basements at a time when such a thing was unheard of, for example -- and succeeded because he and his partners did their homework and found a "niche where we could flourish."

During the Q&A portion of the event, one of my colleagues asked Broad -- who was instrumental in creating the first biomedical research institute in the world devoted to genomics, launching the largest urban education prize in the country, and has done much to nurture the burgeoning contemporary art scene in Los Angeles -- to share some of the ways in which his foundations assist nonprofit organizations and social causes other than through grants or philanthropic investments. "Foundations have to be innovative," said Broad, especially during tough economic times. The Broad Foundations, for example, offer their grantees lots of advice and counsel and, through the Broad Superintendents Academy program, provide business leaders with the training needed to make a successful transition to leadership positions in urban school districts.

That said, the one constant in Eli Broad's long career, which has spanned five decades and four industries, is a paperweight he received from his wife inscribed with this quotation from George Bernard Shaw:

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. The unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.

And sometimes that means asking "Why not?" instead of accepting "no" for an answer.

Were you at the event? What did you take away from the conversation? And what do you think foundations should be doing, beyond awarding grants, to address the many social, political, and economic challenges we face? Use the comments section to share your thoughts...

-- Regina Mahone

Weekend Link Roundup (May 5-6, 2012)

Our weekly roundup of new and noteworthy posts from and about the nonprofit sector....

Advocacy

On the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy's Keeping a Close Eye blog, Lisa Ranghelli offers a positive review of Learn Foundation Law, a new online training tool for foundation program officers that was developed by the Gates, Packard, Moore, and Hewlett foundations.

Arts and Culture

On the Minnesota Council on Foundation's Philanthropy Potluck blog, Anne Bauers explains why it's critical for arts organizations to focus on audience-building efforts. Writes Bauers, "The [uncertain economy] challenges arts organizations to make smart and cost-effective decisions about strategies to attract and retain audiences, sustaining practices that work, and modifying or dropping those that don't. It also challenges organizations to change themselves in ways that encourage risk-taking, innovation and learning...."

Communications/Marketing

NTEN's Holly Ross discusses how the organization improved its e-mail open rates by sending mobile-friendly versions of its newsletter to subscribers, many of whom manage their e-mail on smartphones.

Fundraising

Something of a skeptic when it comes to social media as a fundraising tool, Future Fundraising Now blogger Jeff Brooks looks at a recently published Nonprofit Social Network Report which found that the average cost of a Facebook "like" is $3.50, while the average value of a Facebook "like" over the twelve months following acquisition is $214.81. Among other things, writes Brooks, fundraisers should consider the following questions as they examine their organization's data to determine whether a robust social networking presence is worth the time and effort:

• Does giving increase after a current donor becomes a Facebook follower?
• Does donor retention improve among those who "like"?
• Is the increase in value, if any, enough to make the $3.50 cost a good investment?
• What types of Facebook engagement creates the best return?

Hosting April's Nonprofit Blog Carnival, the folks at the Rad Campaign share a selection of posts that explore the ins and outs of social fundraising.

Governance

Writing on the Huffington Post, Alice Korngold says that given the significant strategic and financial challenges and opportunities confronting nonprofits, nonprofit boards need to rethink the way they function. That process should start with a conversation about the organization's goals over the next several years, followed by a discussion about its revenue model. After that, the board should dive deeper into the expectations of individual board members and develop a system of accountability; determine the proper size and structure of the board; develop a plan for board composition based on board members' expertise, experience, background, and networks; and adopt best practices with respect to leadership succession.

International Affairs/Development

In a post on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Impatient Optimists blog, Gerry Power of InterMedia highlights a report that looks at "how we can communicate about aid in a way that people understand and are encouraged to act upon." Key takeways from the report include:

• Instill a deep understanding and appreciation for the objectives of international development when people are young and where values are nurtured;
• Do not underestimate the challenge of leveraging public opinion as a means to influence policy; and
• Facilitate more effective information and data gathering and sharing strategies for government decision makers.

Philanthropy

Writing on the Council on Foundations' blog, Michael Moody, the Frey Foundation Chair for Family Philanthropy at the Johnson Center for Philanthropy, suggests that "a theory about philanthropy as essential because of the failure of the other sectors is not so useful. What we need is a theory about philanthropy as essential to the other sectors."

On the Philanthropy 411 blog, Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy executive director Rusty Stahl announces the launch of Generating Change, a new initiative that aims to "create deep discussion about the challenges and opportunities for nonprofit talent and leadership development; illuminate new ways funders can address this critical need at all levels; and increase investment in talent and leadership development at the individual, organization, movement, and sector levels."

Social Media

Last but not least, Rosetta Thurman shares a list of things every nonprofit leader should know about social media.

That's it for now. What did we miss? Drop us a line at rnm@foundationcenter.org. And have a great week!

-- The Editors

The Art of Inclusion: New York Funders Mobilize to Make the Arts More Accessible

(Laura Cronin is a regular contributor to PhilanTopic. In her last post, she spoke with Douglas Bauer, executive director of the New York City-based Clark Foundation, about the foundation's efforts to build the capacity of its grantees.)

If a person with a serious vision, hearing, or mobility impairment came to your office on business or joined your organization as an employee, you would do whatever you needed to to accommodate that person so he or she could do his or her job. Indeed, most people would be embarrassed if their employer failed to create an accessible work space for such a guest, while failure to do so for a new employee is illegal.

But what if everyone at the office gathered around the virtual water cooler on a Monday morning to share their excitement about the latest blockbuster exhibition at the local art museum or the holiday performance at the local concert hall? Would your colleague have been there on Saturday along with everyone else? Would the museum or concert hall have been equipped to accommodate a patron who is blind or hearing impaired? Would any of their foundation grant dollars have been dedicated to figuring out how to make it possible for that potential audience member to enjoy its offerings?

Gains won as a result of the 1990 passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) are now so familiar -- curb cuts, kneeling buses, signs in Braille -- that it is tempting to assume that issues of concern to people with disabilities have been embraced by the field of philanthropy. Unfortunately, the data tell a different story. According to the Disability Funders Network (DFN), of the $45.7 billion in foundation grants awarded in 2011, only $559 million -- less than three percent -- was directed to disability issues.

Kim Hutchinson, president/CEO of the Disability Funders Network, and her DFN colleagues are mobilizing to make access to arts and culture a central focus of their education and convening efforts in 2012. In February, after a New York City funders briefing with Hutchinson and colleagues from the MetLife Foundation, the New York Community Trust, American Express, the American Foundation for the Blind, the FISA Foundation, the Kessler Foundation, and the Reader's Digest Partners for Sight Foundation, several New York-based foundations agreed to form a special task force to promote inclusive practical strategies that nonprofit cultural institutions can use to better welcome the disabled audience. To date, the group has identified and generated over $3 million in new philanthropic grant dollars to promote arts access for people with disabilities in New York City.

DFN believes too many funders are stuck thinking about people with disabilities as a group whose needs are addressed through healthcare programs rather than as individuals eager to take part in all aspects of community life. By promoting a more complete picture of people with disabilities as students, workers, athletes, theater goers, music lovers and neighbors, DFN is making the case that disability should be part of any grantmaking program concerned with education, employment, diversity, civic participation, and, especially arts and culture.

According to Nina Levent, executive director of Art Education for the Blind/Art Beyond Sight, by funding accessibility and inclusion, grantmakers not only support audiences that identify themselves as visitors with disabilities, their families, and their caregivers, they also support millions of people who have "invisible disabilities" such as gradually diminishing sight, hearing, or physical stamina. By helping to make cultural programs more accessible and promoting employment of people with disabilities at cultural institutions across the country, the philanthropic community can broaden its impact. After all, the graying of the U.S. population means that the disability community will only grow in size, with one estimate placing the total number of people in the United States living with a disability at 150 million by 2030.

People with disabilities are natural constituents for every type of grantmaking initiative. And in an era when arts and cultural organizations are looking to develop new audiences, promoting accessibility can be good for the bottom line. The new affinity group within the DFN network invites all arts and culture funders to consider whether they are paying enough attention to disability in their own funding and is eager to collaborate on projects to ensure that people with disabilities have greater access to all that our visual, literary, and performing arts have to offer.

-- Laura Cronin

Weekend Link Roundup (December 10 - 11, 2011)

Our weekly roundup of new and noteworthy posts from and about the nonprofit sector....

Arts and Culture

Back to blogging on a regular basis, the Nonprofiteer explains why "the argument for public funding [for the arts] needs to be focused...on the public benefits of art-making."

Communications/Marketing

On her About.com blog, Joanne Fritz urges nonprofit communications staff and leaders to observe and learn from the media stumbles of political candidates, CEOs, and others. Good advice, as usual, from Joanne.

International Development

David Schwartz, donor partnerships director at the International Development Research Centre, reflects on lessons learned at last month's Bellagio Initiative Summit on the future of philanthropy and development. For Schwartz, the overriding takeaway was the need for various stakeholders in both international development and philanthropy to know and understand each other better. Contrary to the consensus view at the summit, however, Schwartz believes genuine collaboration between philanthropy and development exists and points to three examples: ESSENCE (Enhancing Support for Strengthening the Effectiveness of National Capacity Efforts) in the area of health research, the International Forum of Research Donors (IFORD), and the Think Tank Initiative.

Philanthropy

On her Philanthropy 2173 blog, Lucy Bernholz says we need to "open up" philanthropic data to help innovators think differently about how we can change the world.

In a guest post on the Minnesota Council on Foundations' Philanthropy Potluck blog, Tim Penny of the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation explains how, in addition to their grantmaking activities, community foundations add value by identifying "current and emerging issues, channel[ing] resources to address their communities’ needs, and help[ing] their regions prepare for the future...."

Social Media

On the Mashable site, Zoe Fox looks at how activists around the world used social media to challenge the status quo in 2011.

Transparency

Beth Kanter recaps a San Francisco event co-hosted earlier this week by the Foundation Center and the Center for Effective Philanthropy on the topic of transparency and effectiveness. For those unable to attend, Kanter shares some takeaway tweets via Storify here.

That's it for now. What did we miss? Drop us a line at rnm@foundationcenter.org. And have a great week!

-- The Editors

Weekend Link Roundup (November 12-13, 2011)

Our weekly roundup of new and noteworthy posts from and about the nonprofit sector....

Arts

In his most recent president's letter , Jim Canales, president and CEO of the San Francisco-based James Irvine Foundation, sheds some light on the process that led to "significant changes" in the foundation's arts grantmaking strategy.

Fundraising

What are charities and nonprofits to do in an environment in which giving is flat, demand for services is growing, and competition for charitable dollars is fierce? Focus on how your organization is different, says Katya Andresen, writing on her Non-Profit Marketing Blog.

Global Health

Gapminder chair/Data visualization wiz Hans Rosling is back with a new presentation that shows that child mortality in Tanzania is rapidly declining, "thanks in part to aid programs that have improved public health and provided access to family planning." (H/t Bill Gates)

Impact/Effectiveness

GiveWell's Holden Karnofsky weighs in with a long post in which he argues that "the best currently available cost-effectiveness estimates -- despite having extremely strong teams and funding behind them -- have the problematic combination of being extremely simplified (ignoring important but difficult-to-quantify factors), extremely sensitive (small changes in assumptions can lead to huge changes in the figures), and not reality-checked (large flaws can persist unchecked -- and unnoticed -- for years)."

Philanthropy

Reporting from Haiti, Canadian-British journalist Doug Saunders, author of the book Arrival City: The Final Migration and Our Next World, finds evidence of a new philanthropic paradigm and is not all that happy with what it portends. "At the top of the pyramid," Saunders writes,

are the new private foundations, dwarfing the largest of the old and playing a dramatic political role: They remake the executive structures of the old charities, forcing many of their activities to be organized in a much more businesslike way, or bypass established charities altogether to make direct links to the poor, diseased and disaster-ravaged.

At the opposite end of the scale are countless micro-initiatives and social networks, leveraging money and effort bit by byte, for causes great and small.

"You have the big givers, the Bill Gateses who've appeared all of a sudden, on the one hand, and then you've got the emergence of philanthropy in rapidly developing countries, and then the whole dimension of direct-giving philanthropy. It's changing everything," says J. Allister McGregor, head of the British-run Bellagio Initiative, created by the Rockefeller Foundation.

[Indeed, it] is not hard to imagine a situation, when the dust clears after the global crisis, in which conventional charities are largely obsolete, squeezed out between the world-improving schemes of billionaires and the surging efforts of lesser people responding to calls for help on Twitter....

On their Values blog, Philanthrocapitalism co-authors Matthew Bishop and Shepley Green respond to the growing number of critics who question the "outsize influence," in the field of global public health and philanthropy more broadly, of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and offer this cautionary thought:

One of the mistakes that critics of the Gates Foundation make is to compare its scale and influence with that of other foundations. It is better, we believe, to look at the role that Mr Gates and other philanthropists are playing in the whole system, including government and private sector, where its size is far from remarkable. If philanthropy does not leverage change in public and private decision-making, it is unlikely to have much influence on the world....

And on the Acumen Fund blog, the Gates Foundation's Louis Boorstin argues that "given the scope of their reach and their permanence," governments absolutely have a critical role to play in scaling health and poverty interventions that work.

Social Innovation

Getting into the Halloween swing of things, Social Velocity blogger Nell Edgington has curated a "monster list" of resources for nonprofit leaders, social entrepreneurs, philanthropists, board members, and others involved in creating social change. (Thanks, for including PhilanTopic, Nell!)

Social Media

Guest blogging on Beth's Blog, Craigslist founder Craig Newmark shares three tips for nonprofits that want to improve their social media results.

On the Communications Network blog, Buffy Beaudoin-Schwartz, communications director at the Association of Baltimore Area Grantmakers, shares some tips of her own for those who want to make the most of their social media efforts.

Technology

And on the Personal Democracy Forum's techPresident blog, Jed Miller and Allison Fine remember Rob Stuart, a long-time leader and activist in the nonprofit technology community who passed away suddenly on October 26 at the age of 49.

-- Mitch Nauffts

5 Questions for...Carol Coletta, President, ArtPlace

Launched last month, ArtPlace is a public-private collaboration designed to drive revitalization in cities and towns by putting the arts at the center of economic development. During its inaugural funding round, ArtPlace awarded more than $11 million to thirty-four community-based projects across the country working to integrate artists and arts organizations into local transportation, housing, community development, and job creation efforts. Prior to joining ArtPlace, Carol Coletta served for six years as president and CEO of Chicago-based CEOs for Cities, a national network of "urban leaders catalyzing a movement to advance the next generation of great American cities." While there, Coletta and her team worked to convince urban leaders of the importance of "quality of place" and the attraction and retention of talent. When tapped to help establish ArtPlace, Coletta said she thought it was an opportunity "to work directly on quality of place, which I knew to be such a key element of what makes communities successful."

Philanthropy News Digest: ArtPlace has been described as an initiative to accelerate “creative placemaking” in the United States. What is creative placemaking, and why is it important?

Carol Coletta: That's a good question. It has been used as a very broad umbrella to describe many things, but it all boils down to this: a portfolio of strategies with art and culture at the heart aimed at changing the trajectory of community.

For the past six years I've been running an organization called CEOs for Cities, and prior to that I ran the Mayors' Institute on City Design, an NEA program. While I was at CEOs for Cities, we came to the point where we understood that much of what makes cities successful is talent. The quality of place becomes really essential to the attraction and retention of people, and that’s the most important thing you can do for community. So, I think what makes creative placemaking and ArtPlace so important is that it's not an add-on. It's not a nice to-do. It really becomes an essential part of a community's economic success.

PND: The ArtPlace approach is based on the idea that the ability to attract and retain talent depends, as you say, on quality of place, and that the best proxy for that is "vibrancy." How do you plan to measure the vibrancy of a place?

CC: By examining the changes that take place in the people, the activities, and the value created in a community. We're actually developing a new set of vibrancy indicators -- including a transparent analysis of data collected by others on a regular basis -- that can be updated inexpensively and used by anyone. We expect to make it available through our Web site by the second quarter of 2012.

PND: The idea of a creative class serving as an engine of economic growth and prosperity figures prominently in the work of Richard Florida and others. But the context for their work is almost always urban. Is ArtPlace doing anything to promote the concept of creative placemaking in suburban and rural areas?

CC: Absolutely, because we think it has the same impact there. Let me just say as an aside that the creative class is a very broad term. It defines a very broad group of people, essentially those with college degrees, but I think in many ways the more useful measure is that of human capital. To your point, however, we are interested in what happens in rural and certainly suburban communities. One of the greatest challenges in rural communities is how they retain people. How do you make those places more appealing to keep people there? We are seeing some exciting reinventions happening in rural places, including the Wormfarm Institute in Sauk County, Wisconsin, the Vollis Simplson Whirligig Park in Wilson, North Carolina, and the Art and Agriculture project in Yolo County, California. And, while we still have some testing to do, we believe our vibrancy indicators will work in different parts of the country.

PND: Given that artists, designers, and arts organizations are engaged in creative activity by definition, what are you and your colleagues looking for as you review applications from potential grant recipients?

CC: In many ways we're looking for places where there are real partnerships happening -- not just endorsements or letters of support, but real partnership among artists and other organizations. So when you look at the outcomes, you can imagine one plus one equaling three. Let me give you an example. I think the work we funded in St. Paul, Minnesota, for a project called Irrigate represents a solid partnership of the City of St. Paul, Springboard for the Arts, and the Local Initiative Support Corporation. Since a new light rail corridor is being developed in the same area, you could even include the federal government and the Minnesota Department of Transportation in that partnership. What's interesting is that any one of these organizations could have done their work and it probably would have turned out well, but the fact that they've formed a strategic alliance makes the potential of the work much stronger. That's part of what we'll look at, whether there’s real collaboration and the opportunity to leverage the impact of the work.

We are also looking for work we believe has the opportunity to change the trajectory of the community and generate vibrancy. Not all artistic work is intended to do that. It doesn't make that work less worthy or less valuable. We're just not in a position to fund everything, so we've chosen to fund for this purpose to see if we can make a difference. Frankly, we believe that if we can demonstrate that investing in the arts in this way actually does contribute to vibrancy and to changing the trajectory of a place, that will result in a whole lot more money for arts and culture.

PND: Is it your hope that ArtPlace becomes a permanent feature of the arts landscape in America?

CC: What I hope is that funding for these kinds of initiatives becomes a permanent feature in the landscape of civic decision making, whether that involves a city or county government, a metropolitan planning organization or the federal government, a community foundation, or individual philanthropists. I will consider ArtPlace a success if we are able to influence the field in such a way that people begin to act on the belief that creative placemaking matters to the success of communities.

-- Regina Mahone

This Week in PubHub: Arts and Culture: Arts in the Community

(Kyoko Uchida manages PubHub, the Foundation Center's online catalog of foundation-sponsored publications. In her previous post, she looked at four reports that explore how school discipline policies affect students' academic performance and involvement with the juvenile justice system.)

October is Funding for the Arts Month, and this week in PubHub we are featuring four reports that explore the vital role that arts and culture play in our communities' civic life, economic development, and sense of place.

Much has been said about the role of social media in the Arab Spring uprisings. But in Egypt youth activists were using public spaces -- both virtual and physical -- dynamically to spur civic action well before the January 25 Revolution, according to Youth Activism and Public Space in Egypt (48 pages, PDF), a new report from the John D. Gerhart Center for Philanthropy and Civic Engagement at the American University in Cairo and Innovations in Civic Participation. Along with blogs and outreach by youth organizations, artistic expression -- in the form of stencils and graffiti, for example -- was an essential element in calls for change by the Egyptian people. Funded by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the report uses photographs of art works around Tahrir Square to explore the role of public art in the revolution and as expressions of collective identity, dignity, and solidarity.

If the arts can help galvanize a revolution, it shouldn't surprise anyone that they can also reveal and help strengthen a community's sense of place, values, and identity. The American Planning Association report How Arts and Cultural Strategies Create, Reinforce, and Enhance Sense of Place (8 pages, PDF) suggests that identifying, assessing, and mapping a community's arts and cultural resources enables us to better understand its historic, cultural, economic, and social contexts and values. Such assets include not only arts, educational, and religious institutions but also architecture, signage, specialty stores, and street markets and fairs. The authors also suggest that a vision for celebrating a community's legacy, diversity, and identity can be implemented through master plans, arts and cultural programming, and public investment. Funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, the report calls for programming that inspires creative ideas, community engagement, and the integration of arts programs with other community plans.

The integration of the arts into the community is the focus of Building Community: Making Space for Art (20 pages, PDF), a report from the Urban Institute and Leveraging Investments in Creativity. Neighborhood residents tend to value not only traditional cultural institutions, the report argues, but a broad range of amateur and professional activities in unconventional venues. And they yearn to create art themselves. Indeed, a community's artistic vitality is associated with its health, social, and educational outcomes as well as economic development and civic engagement. In other words, the more accessible and integrated arts spaces and artists are, the better off the community. Funded by the Ford, Kresge, and Surdna foundations, the report profiles organizations that train artist-educators, produce theater pieces about social issues, and provide mobile arts programming in renovated transit buses.

Last but not least, Blueprints: Bringing Poetry Into Communities (319 pages, PDF) argues for bringing poetry into communities -- especially those that are geographically/economically isolated or otherwise disadvantaged -- in the form of readings, festivals, and other projects. Through essays by poets about their experiences organizing events in schools, bars, libraries, and refugee camps; the impact of poetry on our notions of community, language, and history; and the need for wider access to poetry, the book explores the role of poetry in community development. Funded by the Poetry Foundation and published by the Harriet Monroe Poetry Institute and the University of Utah Press, the report also provides guidance on designing and sustaining poetry programs as well as insights into the place of the poet in the community ("[T]he poet reaches out to reveal our shared humanity out of which the spirit of community rises").

Where do you stand on the role of arts and culture in fostering collective identity, civic engagement, and healthier communities? Do you know of any programs that use the arts to address social justice issues? And what are some of the things your community does to encourage art making and appreciation? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section.

And don't forget to visit PubHub, where you can browse more than four hundred reports related to arts and culture.

-- Kyoko Uchida

Commentary: Engaging Individuals May Be Paying Dividends for Arts & Cultural Groups in Philadelphia

(Tom Kaiden is president of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance.)

It's no secret that the recession has been hard on the nation's cultural sector. Studies such as the National Endowment for the Arts' Survey of Public Participation in the Arts, Americans for the Arts' National Arts Index, and the James Irvine Foundation's California's Arts and Cultural Ecology report have all documented downward trends in attendance. So when we conducted our latest analysis of data for the Philadelphia region, we expected a similar outcome showing cultural consumers staying home as times got tough. But that's not what we found. In fact, in the midst of one of the worst and most prolonged recessions since the Great Depression, Philadelphia's attendance actually rose by 5 percent and individual giving increased 20 percent. What's going on? It's a story of adversity, but also adaptation to adversity. And, at its heart, it's a story about the core importance of arts and culture in people's lives.

These figures come from the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance's recently published 2011 Portfolio -- a comprehensive survey of Philadelphia's cultural sector. For this third edition of Portfolio, we collected financial and organizational data from more than four hundred of the region's cultural nonprofits, as well as trend data on 276 groups that allows us to take a detailed look at the effects of the recession for the first time.

What we found was a rich cultural environment but a sector struggling to contend with macroeconomic forces frequently beyond its control. The bad news was that although cultural organizations were largely successful at controlling expenses and maintaining the quality of their work, revenues dropped precipitously. Overall contributed income fell by 19 percent, largely due to reductions on the part of corporate and foundation donors and cuts to government programs. Earned income was where most of the damage occurred and is almost exclusively explained by dramatic reductions in income derived from organizations' investment portfolios and endowments. Between 2007 and 2009, the aggregate investment holdings of Philadelphia's cultural organizations fell from $2.3 billion to $1.9 billion. Although these losses tracked closely with other benchmark market indices -- and may eventually be recouped with a market recovery -- it translates to a 128 percent drop in investments and interest earnings.

Philadelphia's cultural organizations responded to these financial setbacks by taking steps to reduce labor costs while maintaining the quality of their productions and increasing the number of events. To keep patrons coming through the door, cultural organizations continued to invest in marketing, and they maximized those dollars by shifting more of their marketing budgets online. Costs for printing and postage both fell by 5 percent, while Internet and Web marketing expenses increased by 49 percent. When jobs were eliminated, organizations put the mission first and made cuts to administrative staff before artistic and programmatic staff were let go. Like many households during the recession, cultural organizations also delayed major repairs and cut facilities-related costs to keep the doors open. It's a short-term gamble, in that if the economy falters again and recovery is delayed, the costs of repairs could be compounded by neglect.

While most of the revenue side of the income statement was clobbered during the recession, one area where we made up ground was in individual engagement. In addition to the 5 percent increase in attendance, individuals also showed their support in other ways. Memberships and subscriptions rose 8 percent and personal giving jumped 20 percent. While the gains were not enough to offset the damage done by the downturn, they do help point a way forward.

For years, Philadelphia's civic leaders, funder community, and cultural groups have made arts and culture a civic priority and central part of our region's development strategy. Our aim has been not just to make Philadelphia a world-class destination, but also to use our rich cultural assets to help address longstanding civic issues and make Philadelphia a better place to live, work, and raise a family.

The result has been a profound and widespread effort to engage new audiences and serve our communities. Cultural organizations have worked to keep the performances and exhibitions affordable by maintaining the average cost of admission at $15, less than a third of the cost of production. At a time when creativity in schools was at a premium but funds were at a minimum, the region's cultural sector committed to educational programming. Cultural groups around the region are using arts and culture as a way to improve scholastic performance, foster creativity and innovation, help kids cope with bullying, train a new generation of artists and performers, and revitalize neighborhoods. Last year, there were nearly two million visits by school-aged children to regional cultural organizations, and cultural organizations conducted nearly three thousand programs on site at area schools.

These community engagement efforts may have been the sector's smartest investment for long-term sustainability. The theory is that by deepening the engagement of the individual, improving the patron's experience, lowering barriers to participation, and building strong partnerships with community organizations, we are attracting new audiences. The connections that we build by serving our neighbors are paid back in the form of patron loyalty and public support.

The early signs about community engagement are positive. But ultimately, it will be important to measure impact over time. Fortunately, we now have a tool for these longitudinal and geographic comparisons — the Cultural Data Project (CDP), a collaborative partnership of public and private funders and advocacy agencies. The CDP has grown to include eleven states with another twenty-one in the evaluation phase. And CDP is also an important analytical tool for organizations, used by both management and boards.

With prominent economists debating the likelihood of a double-dip recession, arts and cultural nonprofit leaders will need to weigh what has worked, what hasn't, and which practices are most likely to yield success in a tough economy. This requires a lot of really good data. We hope that the just released Portfolio report is an example of what we can learn and change with the right information and interpretation.

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2011 Portfolio was made possible by the Pew Charitable Trusts, PNC, the William Penn Foundation, and the Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation. The publication is available online at www.philaculture.org.

Weekend Link Roundup (September 24 - 25, 2011)

Our weekly roundup of new and noteworthy posts from and about the nonprofit sector....

Arts and Culture

On the Philanthropy Potluck blog, Susan Stehling shares findings from a new Minnesota Council on Foundations report which found that giving to the arts in the region fell 10 percent in 2009 and was down 19 percent from 2004 levels.

Communications/Marketing

While attending the Communications Network conference in Boston, Katya Andresen looked at three different ways to measure social media on her Non-Profit Marketing blog.

Impact/Effectiveness

Center for Effective Philanthropy vice president for research Ellie Buteau shares key findings from a new report that "looks at strategy at community foundations and concludes that, just as is the case at private foundations, there is a gulf between rhetoric and reality...."

Ken Berger, president and CEO of Charity Navigator, announces the relaunch of the nonprofit rating site. Three years in the making, the new CN 2.0 "evaluates [transparency and accountability] practices that have been researched, advocated for and recommended for years by many, many nonprofit experts."

Philanthropy

National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy research and policy associate Kevin Laskowski explains why technological advances and shifts in the industry could spell the end for many community foundations.

Social Entrepreneurship

Philanthrocapitalism authors Matthew Bishop and Michael Green recap the Startups for Good Challenge, which was held on the final day of the 2011 Social Good Summit in New York City last week.

Social Media

On the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Impatient Optimists blog, Melinda Gates announces that she has joined Twitter and explains why. Writes Gates:

Most people associate philanthropy with great wealth. In my mind, philanthropy is not about the money. It’s about using whatever resources you have at your fingertips and applying them to improving the world. If you are passionate about helping humanity, then you can get creative about the ways to do so.

Twitter is an example of this -- it is the type of vehicle that allows you to share stories of impact in an instant. I'll be using Twitter to pass along stories that inspire me....

Last but not least, Beth Kanter looks at the "new dramatic, life altering changes in the Facebook Platform," including Timeline and Open Graph, and teases out some of the implications for nonprofits.

That's it for now. What did we miss? Drop us a line at rnm@foundationcenter.org. And have a great week!

-- Regina Mahone 

Weekend Link Roundup (July 9 - 10, 2011)

Our weekly roundup of new and noteworthy posts from and about the nonprofit sector....

Arts and Culture

The Createquity Arts Policy Library has been revived, with new posts from the library's three fellows -- Aaron Andersen, Jennifer Kessler, and Crystal Wallis -- who take an in-depth look at research on our "cultural rights"; informal arts; and the impact of arts education.

Communications/Marketing

On her Non-Profit Marketing blog, Katya Andresen explains why listening is the "most underrated skill in the world." Writes Andresen, "The most successful people in the world are all great listeners….They're so good at hearing, they don't just listen to the words being said by others, they also grasp the meaning beneath those utterances. They therefore understand what people want, and they build great companies, amazing nonprofits, and terrific agencies based on that knowledge."

Community Improvement/Development

On his Inside Philanthropy blog, Todd Cohen makes a case for the creation of pooled funds to help nonprofits across the country struggling to make ends meet. "After the economy broke down nearly three years ago, organizations and individuals in some communities stepped up and created pooled funds to support basic and emergency services that nonprofits provide to people in need," writes Cohen. "The creation of those funds reflected true leadership and commitment, and can be a model for establishing funds to provide the operating support that nonprofits desperately need now."

After the Wall Street Journal suggested in a lengthy article that ran over the Fourth of July weekend that the deep-pocketed Kresge Foundation was rethinking its efforts to revive the fortunes of Detroit after run-ins with Mayor Dave Bing and City Hall officials, Jonathan Oosting reports in Mlive.com that the foundation has no plans "to withdraw financial support for either the Detroit Works Project or Woodward Light Rail line."

Environment

Idealist.org's Julia Smith, whom we spoke with in May as part of our "social media for social good" video series, has a few tips for jobseekers interested in "green" jobs.

Fundraising

On his Future Fundraising Now blog, Jeff Brooks shares some reservations about mobile giving campaigns. "Unless you're the Red Cross and have the First Lady and every other celebrity pushing it for you," says Brooks, "the potential is painfully low."

Leadership

Center for Effective Philanthropy president Phil Buchanan takes a closer look at the new Daring to Lead report (18 pages, PDF), which found that 67 percent of nonprofit leaders "plan to leave" their jobs in the next five years. Over the past ten years, the Daring to Lead series, which is produced by CompassPoint and the Meyer Foundation, has predicted a "'wave' of impending transitions in leadership," writes Buchanan. But while the percentage in the 2011 report is "a high number…experience seems to suggest a significant gap between the survey results…and what actually happens."

Philanthropy

On the Tactical Philanthropy blog, Darin McKeever of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation describes how the foundation came up with a new strategy for its Charitable Sector Support initiative.

Regulation/Oversight

Guidestar's Bob Ottenhoff says "it's time to change which kind of organizations are eligible for a tax exemption." College booster clubs and big football bowls are just a couple of the types of organizations that should have their status revoked, says Ottenhoff. To help address the nation's budget crises, Ottenhoff also suggests cutting back tax expenditures: "deductions -- or loopholes -- that lower tax obligations, thereby reducing the amount of revenue going to the Treasury...."

Social Media

On her Nonprofit Tech 2.0 blog, Heather Mansfield has a few tips for nonprofits that are ready to think globally. Writes Mansfield: "The world is getting smaller with each passing day, and nonprofits as the agents of social good, should try to think bigger and stretch their Twitter wings beyond their own time zones."

The launch last week of the Google+ social networking platform generated a fair amount of comment in the nonprofit blogosphere. On the NTEN blog, Amy Sample Ward shared a few thoughts about the platform's privacy settings and how the site might benefit nonprofit professionals and their organizations, while Zoetica co-founder Geoff Livingston warned that yet another new social networking site means nonprofits will be encouraged to "spread the peanut butter a little thinner" instead of focusing "on the networks that have the most impact on their community."

That's it for now. What did we miss? Drop us a line at rnm@foundationcenter.org. And have a great week!

-- Regina Mahone

The Art of Rebuilding: A Japanese Earthquake Update

(Laura Cronin is a frequent contributor to PhilanTopic. Her last post was a Q&A with Don Crocker, executive director of the Support Center for Nonprofit Management.)

The economic importance of the arts has been well documented, and funders with an interest in community development have long recognized that artists and nonprofit arts organizations are essential to community revitalization.

More recently, in the wake of several large-scale natural and man-made disasters, funders have focused on support for arts and culture as a part of the larger effort to help people rebuild their lives. Award-winning television producer David Simon even made the idea that culture can help heal a devastated city the premise for his critically acclaimed HBO series Treme.

In the United States, the Coalition for Artists' Preparedness and Emergency Response, a task force of more than twenty arts organizations, arts funders and individual artists, has been working to build a nationwide safety net for artists and the arts organizations that serve them before, during, and after disasters.

In the months ahead, this approach will cross the Pacific when the Asian Cultural Council (ACC) -- whose mission is to support international dialogue through cultural exchange -- launches Arts in Action, a grant program to support artists working in communities recovering from natural disasters.

According to ACC associate director Miho Walsh, the program grew out of something called the Java project, a series of grants the council made in response to an earthquake that struck the Indonesian island of Java in 2006. ACC partnered with the American Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and the Asia Society to raise funds for artists in the affected region, and eventually awarded a number of small grants targeted directly to their specific, immediate needs. For example, when an in-country grant team suggested to renowned Indonesian puppeteer Ki Timbul that he apply for funds to replace the partially destroyed roof of his home, Timbul instead requested support for a new gong. The gong, of course, is the heart and soul of the gamelan, the musical ensemble that accompanies traditional Indonesian puppet performances, and with his replacement gong in hand, Timbul was able to travel to affected areas, perform, and continue to earn his living as an artist, while bringing a measure of succor and inspiration to a region eager to celebrate its cultural heritage.

Martinus Miroto, an Indonesian dancer, received funds to bring his students from the Indonesian National Conservatory into quake-affected villages to introduce young people to the performing arts through simple exercises and games. In the process, Miroto was able to lift the spirits of children who were trying to cope with the devastation around them and give them the tools to express themselves at a difficult time in their lives. Another small grant provided funds to enable a group of musicians and performing artists to rent a van and travel to the hardest-hit areas, where they staged a series of concerts and theater performances.

Indeed, through the project, the funding partners discovered that small, targeted grants could be transformative in post-disaster situations. While difficult to quantify in monetary terms, the impact in terms of what they meant to individual artists, their audiences, and local communities was considerable.

As a result, Arts in Action decided to formalize the approach by creating a permanent program available to artists in need in both Asia and the U.S. With its expertise in making grants to individuals, and its knowledge of the creative arts scenes both here and in Asia, the new initiative is a natural extension of the main ACC grant program.

With support from Japanese firm Mikimoto, Arts in Action is set to award its first round of grants in Japan later this year. In the program's initial phase, Japanese artists whose canvases, costumes, instruments, masks, brushes, studios, kilns, and so forth were lost or damaged as a result of the earthquake and tsunami in the Tohoku region, an area rich in local crafts, festivals and arts, will be able to apply for funds to replace those materials as well as to share their artistic output with affected communities.

Communities also will be able to apply for grants that they can use to support cultural heritage efforts. The fund also plans to make grants available to individuals for travel both to and from the Tokohu region, as well as to arts organizations engaged in rebuilding projects of special significance.

"The arts are essential in the day-to-day life of the Japanese people," said ACC board chair Richard S. Lanier. "We are confident that Arts in Action • Japan will make a significant contribution to rebuilding, healing, and empowering communities in the affected areas."

Recovery efforts in the region are under way, but there is a lot of work still to be done and private funding is needed. To learn more about the initiative, visit the Asian Cultural Council Web site.

-- Laura Cronin

Weekend Link Roundup (March 26-27, 2011)

Our weekly roundup of new and noteworthy posts from and about the nonprofit sector....

Arts and Culture

In a post on his Createquity blog, Ian David Moss deconstructs the recent controversy sparked by NEA chair Rocco Landesman’s comments about supply and demand in the arts. The "phenomenon of oversupply...is far, far bigger than the nonprofit arts sector," writes Moss.

It affects industries ranging from video games to smartphone application stores, Facebook, cable TV, and yes, blogs. In many ways, it is existential in scope: our brains and lifespans are not built to withstand this onslaught of choices. The supply of artists, arts organizations, and even capital may increase with relative ease, but the supply of time in the day, last I checked, remains pretty constant.

So to me, the conversation we should be having is not about reducing supply. Instead it is about defining the responsibilities of cultural institutions to provide stewardship for a world in which supply of creative content is exploding and will never shrink. In this era of infinite choice, there is a desperate need for guidance as to how we should allocate the precious few hours that we have to experience something that will feed our souls, make us think differently, or incur a hearty laugh. In other words: for curation. We need someone to listen to, watch, and view all of the chaff so that we can confine our own time to the wheat....

Communications/Marketing

On her Non-Profit Marketing blog, Katya Andresen shares findings from a recent study which found that when it comes to social media adoption, the top 200 charities outpace both Fortune 500 and Inc. 500 companies.

To help nonprofit communicators working at emergency response organizations formulate a better ask in the wake of a disaster, Getting Attention's Nancy Schwartz offers some advice on her blog.

Disaster Relief

More than two weeks have passed since a violent earthquake and massive tsunami devastated large areas of northeastern Japan. On the GiveWell blog, Holden Karnofsky updates and clarifies the GiveWell position vis-a-vis to donating to relief and recovery efforts in Japan, especially in light of a bulletin issued this week by the Japanese Red Cross which states that the relief organization, "with the support of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, has determined that external assistance is not required, and is therefore not seeking funding or other assistance from donors at this time."

Governance

National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy executive director Aaron Dorfman explains why the size and diversity of a foundation's board matters on the organization's Keeping a Close Eye blog.

Impact/Effectiveness

In the second part of a two-part series on the Foundation Center's Transparency Talk blog, Commonwealth Fund executive vice president and COO John Craig offers a few guidelines for revising the 990-PF form that, says Craig, "would strengthen the sector's own self-regulatory efforts to ensure effective use of the nation's philanthropic resources."

GuideStar president and CEO Bob Ottenhoff proposes three ideas to help high-performing organizations better prepare for "black swans" -– "high-impact, hard to predict, and rare events that are beyond the realm of normal expectations in history, science, finance, and technology."

Leadership

On the Philanthropy Potluck blog, Chuck Peterson, vice president of member relations at the Minnesota Council on Foundations, celebrates the fortieth anniversary of the Association of Black Foundation Executives.

Rosetta Thurman explains why nonprofit leaders should not be encouraged to vie for mangement roles like the folks on NBC's hit TV show The Apprentice. Writes Thurman, "Organizations have an enormous opportunity (especially nonprofits) to reframe how they define and reward leadership among staff. If people are only rewarded when they earn promotions, it's much more likely that there will be competition to be the 'top dog.'"

Microfinance

Nice Q&A in the Wall Street Journal with Grameen Bank founder Muhammad Yunus about the Nobel laureate's rift with the government of Bangladesh, what it means for Grameen's future, and the status of succession plans at the bank.

Regulation/Oversight

On the Harvard Business Review blog, Uncharitable author Dan Pallotta gives six reasons why a bill proposed by Oregon's attorney general that would strip the tax-deductibility of donations made to organizations spending less than 30 percent of their annual budget on services over a three-year period should be withdrawn.

Social Entrepreneurship

The Case Foundation's Allie Burns rounds up news from and blog coverage of the recently concluded South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive conference, including a video in which Skimbaco's Katja Presnal chats with PepsiCo social media and digital director Bonin Bough and Fast Company senior innovation editor Ellen McGirt about the most exciting things to emerge at the conference.

That's it for now. What did we miss? Drop us a line at rnm@foundationcenter.org. And have a great week!

-- Regina Mahone

With Friends Like This...

Earlier this week, at a new play development conference at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., Rocco Landesman, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, made the following comment (as reported in the New York Times):

You can either increase demand [for nonprofit theater] or decrease supply. Demand is not going to increase, so it's time to think about decreasing supply....

Nonprofit bloggers and theater types were not amused, and Landesman subsequently clarified his comments in a phone interview with the Times:

There's a disconnect that has to be taken seriously -- our research shows that attendance has been decreasing while the number of organizations have been proliferating. That's a discussion nobody wants to have....

Landesman's NEA has been targeted (again) by House Republicans who hate the idea of federal funding for the arts, which might explain (at least in part) the defensive tone of his comments. But what about their substance? Has the supply of nonprofit theater outstripped demand? And are people in the nonprofit theater community unwilling (or afraid) to have that discussion?

Discuss...

NYC’s New Summer Playground Will Have Winter Tenants: A Conversation With Robert Pirani

Robert Pirani is executive director of the Governors Island Alliance, a coalition of organizations and individuals working to realize the recreational and cultural potential of the 172-acre island and former military base in New York Harbor. The island, ownership of which was transferred to New York State and the National Park Service in 2003, received a record 443,000 visitors over the summer, a more than 60 percent increase over 2009. Innovative and largely free public programs, plenty of historic charm, and spectacular harbor views are transforming the island from a well-kept secret to one of New York’s most exciting civic spaces.

The following Q&A with Pirani was conducted by Laura Cronin, director of the Toshiba America Foundation.

Laura Cronin: For those who have not yet had the pleasure of taking the ferry out to Governors Island, can you give a brief description of what people will find there?

Robert Pirani: Governors Island is just a seven-minute ferry ride from Lower Manhattan or Brooklyn, but it truly is a world apart. The National Landmark Historic District on the island features massive stone forts that defended New York after the Revolution and nineteenth-century Federal and Victorian-style buildings that housed generations of military families. The two-mile waterfront esplanade is a mecca for car-free walking and biking, and offers fantastic views of the Statue of Liberty, the Manhattan skyline, and rest of the harbor. Acres of shady lawns make it a great spot for a lazy summer picnic.

The Trust for Governors Island -- a city-led development corporation -- and the Governors Island National Monument have invited a wide range of partners to help create programming for the island. As a result, the island is becoming a venue for innovative art and creative public events. It's also an ideal platform for programs that showcase the harbor and its evolving role in shaping New York's economy and ecology.

LC: Nonprofits and private grantmakers seem to have had a rather large role in shaping the still-evolving plan for the island. Can you summarize that history for our readers and explain where the Governors Island Alliance fits in?

RP: The Regional Plan Association created the Governors Island Alliance when the Coast Guard announced it was quitting the island in 1995. Since then, we've worked with our coalition partners to help ensure that the island is returned to New York and is reinvented as a great civic space. We raised the island's profile at a time when few people were aware of its value and helped define the public interest through community workshops, hearings, and advocacy.

Our initial catalytic role is evolving. The terrific work of the Trust for Governors Island and the National Park Service in planning and programming the island's park space has already made the island a part of the city's recreational fabric. And the alliance contributes to the process by creating opportunities for visitors to become a constituency in their own right through on-the-ground stewardship as well as supporting continued public and private investment. For example, our volunteers and interns -- including students from the Urban Assembly New York Harbor School -- greet visitors to the island and survey them about their experiences on the island. We host corporate outings and day camps, and we introduce these groups to partners like the Added Value community farm and the EarthMatter compost operation.

Our work is complemented by the wealth of nonprofit talent attracted to the island's unique setting. Arts groups like Figment and the Children's Museum of the Arts, environmental organizations like NY-NJ Harbor Baykeeper and the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance are just some of the groups bringing exceptional programs to the island -- and building the visibility and brand identity critical to the island's future.

Special credit is due to the J.M. Kaplan Fund, which made several early investments in the Alliance, the Harbor School, and many other nonprofit partners located on the island. Creative grantmaking, the fund's ability to convene other stakeholders, and its willingness to stick with the project over time have leveraged an enormous public and private commitment to transform the island into an a treasured amenity for future generations of New Yorkers.

LC: Although weekend visits ended on October 10, there's still regular ferry service to the island and many of those passengers will be students and artists. Can you describe what the island's winter tenants will be up to and how those projects are supported?

RP: A terrific sign of progress on the Island are the first of what we expect to be dozens of year-round tenancies. Last March, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council established a suite of year-round artist studios at their Art Center in Building 110, a former munitions warehouse. And this September, the Harbor School, a high school with a maritime curriculum, opened its doors to four hundred students in what had been the island's McKim, Mead & White-designed Island hospital. The New York Harbor School Foundation is now working on their next project: the completion of a Marine Science and Technology Center that will showcase the school's aquaculture and boat-building activities for the public. These projects exemplify what the island should be about: Programs and uses that welcome the public, connect people to the harbor, and repurpose priceless historic buildings. We're hopeful that over the next few years other donors and visionaries will step forward with similar creative proposals.

LC: What's the status of the public park? Is the plan for the park set? And when do you expect it to open to the public?

RP: In reaching an agreement with the state to take full control of the island last summer, Mayor Bloomberg signaled his intention to make the transformation of the island one of his most important legacies. The Trust for Governors Island is now working with the Dutch firm West 8 to develop plans for the island's almost ninety acres of future parkland and public spaces. A draft concept plan has been released, schematic designs should be complete by February, and an environmental review process will get under way this winter. At the same time, the National Monument folks are moving forward in implementing a General Management Plan, and we're all really excited about the 2011 opening of Castle Williams, right in time for its 200th birthday. For the first time, the public will be able to access the roof of the fort and its spectacular harbor views. The alliance worked with Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) to secure the funding needed for the renovation.

Just like Central Park or Battery Park City, we expect the island to take shape over a generation. But we're hopeful that the mayor and other political leaders will be able to secure the capital funding needed to move ahead on the first phase of park improvements as well as the infrastructure needed to support additional tenancies in the historic district over the next three years.

LC: How can funders concerned about New York City, or parks, or schools get involved?

RP: One of our real delights is being able to introduce people to this unique and beautiful place. We're always happy to take people on a tour and introduce them to the island and the many hands at work in its rebirth. In addition to the organizations I've mentioned, a quick look at the alliance’s or trust’s event calendars will provide a shapshot of the other nonprofit partners active on the island this past summer.

-- Laura Cronin

Opera in America

(Melanie Feilotter is director of information and learning services at OPERA America, which serves and strengthens its field through programs in the creation, presentation, and enjoyment of opera. This post originally was published in PND's Commentary section.)

Opera is not a quiet endeavor, particularly during National Opera Week, when companies take to the streets with events such as "Pop-Up Opera" (Chicago Opera Theater), free dress rehearsals open to high-school students (Boston Lyric Opera), and performances in libraries (Opera San Jose). For the next week (October 29 to November 7), opera will be fully in the public sphere, accessible to broad and diverse audiences through a variety of non-traditional modes of presentation.

Of course, the artistry will continue even after National Opera Week is over, though in more traditional venues. Opera has a relatively short history in America, yet every state has at least one traditional opera company, over half of all opera companies were established after 1970, and a quarter have been established since 1980 — testimony to the field's relatively recent and continuing growth. Many of these companies offer an even broader range of repertoire spanning the entire 400-year history of the form, from Baroque masterpieces to contemporary American operas.

But there's an even more telling gauge of the health of opera in America today: OPERA America has identified no less than 193 artist-driven opera ensembles that have sprung up in recent years in just eighteen metropolitan areas across the U.S. Whether two- or three-person enterprises, university programs, or volunteer-run amateur companies, these entities share a passion and purpose: to enrich artists and audiences, raise awareness of opera as a vital part of our cultural life, and make it more accessible to the public. Few, if any, have permanent homes; they operate out of school auditoriums or churches, often underwriting costume and prop costs out of their own pockets.

These grassroots organizations have been established for a number of reasons: to provide more opportunities to emerging (and established) artists in a relatively small marketplace; to allow for experimentation with new works that are too risky (or simply inappropriate in scale) for big companies; and to bring opera to neighborhoods that have never had easy access to live performances. Perhaps most importantly, these companies are surviving and thriving because they are finding audiences.

There has always been an established audience for opera in this country, and today it is growing — though perhaps not in the way one might expect or be able to quantify (at least not yet). Once thought of as a luxury good for the wealthy and educated arts consumer, opera companies of all sizes are more than ever seeking new relationships in their communities. Many companies now offer cheerful etiquette advice on their Web sites, making it easier for newcomers to engage with the art form, while the HD transmissions of live performances from New York City's Metropolitan Opera have gone a long way toward making opera accessible in regions that are "opera-less."

Most companies today have strong ties to public schools and frequently bring performances into the classroom, giving students their first exposure to the form, while a plethora of more comprehensive programs have been developed over recent decades, with companies sending artists into schools to train teachers how to integrate opera's many dimensions — music, history, literature, dance — into the curriculum. OPERA America itself offers its members a textbook and curriculum series for use in teacher training workshops that was recently introduced in four new cities. And our professional company members invested over $10 million in education and community outreach last year.

The relationship that companies and artists have to their communities is crucial to the art form: opera companies are (and need to be) connected to their patrons' sensibilities. As one historian said, "Among Western musical forms, only opera demands more bodies in the audience than are needed to perform it." Today, however, the needs of audiences aren't uniform. Mature patrons may be intrigued by a new work or respond to the cachet of a premiere. Younger patrons, with few past points of reference, may be eager to hear the classics while remaining open to and accepting of edgier productions. And, of course, there's always an audience for opera in its most unadulterated form, on a big stage with full orchestra and traditional sets.

Some may see these dichotomies — small and nimble enterprises versus traditional companies, new works versus old — as a reflection of a field in crisis or searching for an identity in a rapidly changing cultural landscape. Nothing could be further from the truth. Cultural attitudes and biases have long informed opera's evolution and place in the arts marketplace, and today is no different, with one exception: new technologies give us the tools to unlock creativity — including creative engagement of audiences — as never before. The opera landscape in 2010 permits and even encourages experimentation, without sacrificing the elements — musical quality and imaginative storytelling — that make the form distinct and great. It's a boon to the field that not everyone is racing to do the same thing. Indeed, the many manifestations of the operatic form have the capacity to attract many different kinds of opera-lovers while offering much greater accessibility in terms of cost and cultural preferences. And once people watch and listen to an opera, they soon appreciate its role as an unmatched teacher of history, beauty, discipline, and collaboration.

While art is recession-proof, the businesses that produce it are not. Big companies have made difficult decisions in recent years to scale back on productions and performances as philanthropic support has faltered. It's imperative that opera institutions, regardless of size, continue to be supported so that the field can extend its foothold in our schools — where the audiences of tomorrow are waiting to be dazzled — and diversify its repertoire, presentation channels, and business practices for a new generation of opera lovers.

-- Melanie Feilotter