Leadership Changes Matter, Ditching Museum Membership Fees, VP of Development
Leadership Changes Matter
Anytime an organization makes an executive level leadership change some of the management team usually will change too. However, in the case of the Atlanta Ballet, the change in artistic leadership is prompting many dancers to walk away from the company. This article can be used for a discussion about organizational culture and its impact on the artists. The issue that seems to have motivated the departure of the dancers is a change in the artistic vision of the company. The role of the board in hiring an artistic director can also be explored.
Ditching Membership Fees
The University of Michigan Museum of Art has decided to drop its membership program. The financial impact of this decision could be used as a discussion topic related to chapters 9 [budgets] and 10 [economics]. The museum is shifting from acquiring revenue through memberships to building an annual donor program. The goal is to expand the museum’s reach and engagement. The article contrasts the U of M approach with a more traditional membership program at the Toledo Museum of Art in Toledo, Ohio. The discussion could cover topics such as membership and admissions fees, annual giving, and the long-term financial stability of museums.
Fundraising Job
I am assuming that for many of you the end of the semester is approaching. If that is the case, then you are likely to be covering Chapter 12, “Fundraising and Development.” Since the topic of the Ft. Worth Symphony Orchestra was covered in the September and October 2016 postings of this blog I thought it might be interesting to look at a job posting for the VP of Development for the symphony. As the articles from the fall pointed out, the symphony was going to need to raise a great deal of money if it was to stay in business. This job posting offers a glimpse of what will be expected of the new hire.
The excerpt in this posting includes the overview statement about the position and one of the many bullet lists outlining the duties and responsibilities. The full posting is a very comprehensive document and is a good resource for students.
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Atlanta Ballet loses its star dancers; half the company will leave or be let go at season’s end
Scott Freeman- Apr 6, 2017, Arts Atlanta
News: Atlanta Ballet loses its star dancers; half the company will leave or be let go at season’s end
In a move that dramatically changes the future face of Atlanta Ballet, 13 dancers — almost 50 percent of the company — will not be back for the 2017–18 season.
The departures include the company’s four star-level dancers — Christian Clark, Tara Lee, Rachel Van Buskirk and Alessa Rogers. They will all leave the company at the end of the season in May. Eight others were not offered contracts to return.
Multiple sources within the company told ArtsATL that the departures are the culmination of a culture clash between the open and modernistic atmosphere fostered by previous artistic director John McFall that was embraced by the dancers, and the classical ballet ethos favored by Gennadi Nedvigin, the new Bolshoi-trained artistic director.
LINK: http://artsatl.com/news-atlanta-ballets-company-dancers-leave-go-seasons/
Engaging offer: Some museums ditching membership fees
Institutions bank on free memberships to raise revenue
By Robert Gedert, Toledo Blade Staff Writer, April 14, 2017, Updated 1:28 p.m.
ANN ARBOR — The University of Michigan Museum of Art wants to better engage with its visitors.
All 250,000 of them each year.
The museum has joined a small but slowly growing group of art institutions that have eliminated paid membership tiers.
“If someone walked through the museum, had a great time and then left without visiting the store, without signing up for our newsletter, without joining, they may never hear from us again,” said Justin Reash, UMMA’s assistant director of development, annual giving, and events. “This [move] cements and produces a relationship, free of charge, for us to communicate to them, and hopefully they reciprocate by coming back to the museum and becoming an annual donor.”
Under the new system, the burden to bring in additional operating revenue shifts from membership to donorship. The public institution, founded in 1856 in the Alumni Memorial Hall near downtown Ann Arbor, added about $175,000 in membership dues to an operating budget that in fiscal year 2015-16 was at $5.9 million.
LINK: http://www.toledoblade.com/art/2017/04/14/Engaging-offer-Some-museums-ditching-membership-fees.html
Job Posting – Vice President of Development
Ft. Worth Symphony Orchestra
[Note: Use as a resource relative to Management and the Arts, 5e, Ch. 12, “Fundraising and Development.” The full job posting PDF link is below.]
Position
An accomplished professional fundraiser and exemplary leader, the Vice President of Development (VPD) will direct all philanthropic giving for the FWSO. The VPD will be a strategic thinker with the skills to move a growing fundraising program forward and to achieve the goals set forth by the President and board. Reporting to the President, the VPD will create and execute plans for maximizing contributed revenues. Growing annual giving, major gifts, institutional giving, and endowment are central to the position. This individual will also lead a campaign to raise new endowment funds over the next three years and will bring highly innovative tactics to all aspects of fundraising efforts. The VPD will be results-driven, self-motivated, and relentlessly focused on fundraising goals. This individual will partner with and mobilize the President and board members to maximize development opportunities and will lead and mentor a four-member development team, including an Annual Fund Manager, Development Coordinator, Special Events Coordinator; and Institutional Giving Manager.
Roles and Responsibilities
Fundraising
- Collaborate with the President and board to develop and implement long- and short-term fundraising strategies.
- Direct all aspects of donor programs, including stewardship, special events, cultivation, benefits fulfillment, daily donor interaction, and volunteer management.
- Create, implement, and manage an endowment campaign designed to significantly increase contributed revenue and to meet the endowment goal.
- Mobilize the President and board to get in front of top prospects and proactively engage in fundraising activity to reach endowment goal.
- Cultivate existing donors for ongoing support while seeking new prospects to ensure a robust and diversified funding base.
- Engage and involve individual donors, recognizing the uniqueness of the Fort Worth philanthropic community.
- Establish solicitation priorities, manage prospect lists and research, and develop and execute targeted cultivation plans and solicitation strategies for a range of prospects.
- Maintain and expand a portfolio of donors, cultivating and soliciting major gifts for the annual fund, planned giving, special events, capital campaign, and endowment programs.
- Develop, cultivate, and enhance the FWSO’s relationships in the community with warmth and charisma.
- Oversee the planning and execution of two major annual fundraiser galas.
Link to PDF of job posting: http://artsconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Fort-Worth-Symphony-Orchestra-Vice-President-of-Development.pdf