FYI – The next posting will be on May 31, then June 21, July 26, and August 16. Starting in September, I will be going back to the bi-monthly schedule. Over the summer I’ll be doing additional updating in the learning resources for each chapter. Lastly, look for new content in the Arts Manager’s Toolkit section of the website by late summer.
For this week I have three recommendations for you to explore. First, the Nonprofit Finance Fund has a great website with filter and comparison options encompassing data about the nonprofit sector. There was an interesting posting to the NPQ website about using improved technology to increase the impact of virtual museum experiences. Lastly, the San Diego Union Times had coverage about the settlement costs faced by the San Diego Opera when the company parted ways with the former artistic leadership team. I guess this HR issue falls under the subheading of a “cost of doing business.”
State of the Sector Surveys – 2015 SURVEY
In 2014, the social sector generated stories of both promising innovation and overwhelming challenges. In fundraising, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, which raised over $100 million from 3 million donors, reminded us of the power of individual giving and the underutilized potential of social media.
NFF’s 2015 State of the Nonprofit Sector Survey focuses on the underlying causes of these dynamics by exploring the programmatic, financial, and operational issues facing nonprofits across the U.S.
EXPLORE THE DATA YOURSELF!
Our 2015 NFF Survey Analyzer at survey.nff.org allows you to investigate questions that cut across sub-sectors, budget size, geography and other dimensions.
http://nonprofitfinancefund.org/state-of-the-sector-surveys
POLICY/SOCIAL CONTEXT
The Marriage of Art and Technology
WRITTEN BY DEBBIE LASKEY CREATED ON MONDAY, 04 MAY, 2015 14:00
April 29, 2015; Forbes
Sometimes, a visit to a museum may not be possible for individuals with disabilities. For many pieces of art, access is an insurmountable problem. Consider the stairs of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the tiny elevators within Eero Saarinen’s Gateway Arch in St. Louis, or the unusual dimensions within all planetarium theaters.
Enter Beam, a new technology that allows users to interact with remote locations through video and audio. Beam Smart Presence systems, as they say on their website, “combine mobility and video conferencing to deliver an immersive communication experience everywhere that conversations take place.” In the words of Scott Hassan, CEO of manufacturer Suitable Technologies, “It’s all about making communications easier and reducing the barrier to communicating through technology.”
https://nonprofitquarterly.org/policysocial-context/26066-the-marriage-of-art-and-technology.html
San Diego Opera settlement disclosed
Ian Campbell receives payout of $276,000
By James Chute, 6:58 P.M., MAY 1, 2015 – Union Times, San Diego
The San Diego Opera has closed the book on its former general director, artistic director and CEO Ian Campbell and deputy director Ann Spira Campbell.
On Friday, the organization released its 2013-2014 federal 990 — the form nonprofits file annually in place of a tax return — which by law publicly disclosed details of the company’s settlement with its longtime leaders.
According to the federal forms, the company provided Ian Campbell with a lump-sum payment of $276,000. The forms also revealed that Campbell earned a base compensation of $479,500, plus $22,655 in “nontaxable benefits” during the 2013 calendar year.
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2015/may/01/san-diego-opera-campbell-settlement/