Chapter 6

NOTE: There is often no one answer to a case study, although some solutions may be better than others. Feel free to explore multiple perspectives and points of view as you ponder how you might resolve these situations. Ambiguities and missing facts in the case study are intentional, and we seldom have the luxury of having all the facts at our disposal when trying to make decisions.

Board Perks?

As the Associate Development Manager for the Metro Ballet, you are in charge of events and donor appreciation programs. It has been a long tradition that the company holds a reception after each opening night (8 per season). However, you have calculated it costs about $900 to host these catered receptions, and currently, no donations are generated to offset the total cost of $7,200. Based on a quick headcount, there are usually a few donors (5 to 7) and dancers (6 to 8 out of a company of 22) who attend, but the majority who show up are board members (20) and staff (12).

When chatting with people at a recent reception, you did some informal polling, and board and staff members, along with the ballet CEO, Artistic Director, and Development Director, and your boss, the Development Director, generally agreed that having the dancers schmoozing with a few donors and board helps create a positive “culture” in the dance company. The staff, of course, said they loved the free food and drinks, and a few admitted they never spoke with donors. After this polling, you think maybe it’s time to recommend to your boss that the ballet discontinue the receptions. Still, you are pretty sure you will face serious opposition from a few board members if you bring this idea up.

You decide to share your concerns with your boss about the low donor turnout, cost, and how few dancers actually attend these receptions, but she doesn’t seem interested in taking on the task of changing the opening night reception routine. Instead, she suggests you explore some ideas for changing the opening night receptions with the board chair and then get back to her. You tell her that you mentioned to the board chair at the last reception that it costs over $7,000 a year to hold these events, to say nothing of the time it takes to set them up, but he just smiled at you and said, “Really?” You wonder if anything will come from bringing your idea to the board chair.

What should you do? You fail to see how these receptions are serving the mission or contribute to the “culture” of the ballet company. What other options are there besides pulling the plug? Should you suggest that board members underwrite the costs of the receptions? Or maybe you can convince the board chair to get board members to take a more active role in inviting current and prospective donors and dancers to attend? That way, the event can at least have a donor development purpose? Maybe you seek corporate or business sponsors to fund these receptions so that they pay for themselves and generate additional revenue? Ultimately, is this your problem to solve? (Adapted and expanded from Marilyn Fischer’s Ethical Decision Making in Fund Raising, p 60.)

Case Study Post-Mortem

When you think about this case study, it is crucial to expand your view of the issues it raises by zooming out a bit. Here are a few points to consider:

1.      There is a mix of human resource management issues and other related topics covered so far in this book (planning, organizing) built into the “costly receptions” case study. For example, your boss suggests you talk with the board chair about changing or discontinuing these receptions and get back to her. However, you are starting from a power imbalance when it comes to you trying to persuade the board chair to consider making a change to a long-standing tradition at Metro Ballet. Is your boss setting you up for failure because she knows the board chair will take your ideas “under advisement” and then do nothing? Or is she allowing you to see if you can “manage up” and make a convincing case to the board chair for creating a more meaningful donor engagement event? If that’s the case, you will have to be well prepared before this meeting. Wait, shouldn’t you ask your boss to clarify why she thinks you should be talking to the board chair?

2.      What is the “positive culture” that people think is being fostered by the current opening night receptions? How would changing the reception impact the culture of the organization? If so few current donors and dancers attend the receptions (e.g., 60% or more of the dancers don’t even bother to attend), where’s the evidence to support the event’s impact on the organization’s culture? Most of the dancers are likely exhausted after the performance, and the last thing they want to do is stand around and make small talk with board members and a few donors. Maybe the event is actually harming the organization’s culture. Has anyone ever thought of that? So what are the assumptions (and maybe myths) driving this mindset about gathering after opening nights? How would you assess the elements that make up the organization’s culture? Wait, how did this become part of your job?

3.      You also have to ask yourself what motivates you to bring the reception cost and attendance issue up in the first place? Are you concerned about the money or lost donor engagement opportunities? So what if it costs $900 per reception? How does that number fit with the overall expenditures of the ballet’s development budget? Do you even know? Maybe that’s why your boss and the others you informally polled seemed satisfied with the status quo. The event is not seen as a significant budget drain when considering the bigger budget picture. On the other hand, maybe you are the first to raise this cost question. Asking the “Why do we do x or y in this organization” question can lead to transformative change, or it may only result in your being told, “That’s the way we always do things here.”

The point of this post-mortem and these questions? There is usually more than meets the eye when tackling a case study, and don’t forget that an arts organization, like any workplace, is filled with layers of complexity that you need to consider as you navigate your carer journey. 

Wm. Byrnes, Management and the Arts, 6e, 2022 ©