BUILDING CAPACITY/DEVELOPING AUDIENCES
Since founding David Bury and Associates in 1981, Mr. Bury has helped arts organizations raise tens of millions of dollars. PMP brought this expert in arts management, planning, and fundraising to give a seminar called “Dynamic Planning: Strategies for Institutional Transformation” at Settlement Music School on Tuesday, May 16, 2006. Close to forty members of the Philadelphia-area music and arts community—development staff in particular—attended the event, representing a total of about 25 nonprofit organizations.
Dynamic Planning: Strategies for Institutional Transformation Seminar with David Bury
Bury began the event by going around the room and asking the attendees to summarize what brought them to his talk. Answers both helped to orient Bury’s presentation and offered a quick glimpse into the array of planning and fundraising challenges facing these organizations. Some organizations were just getting started, planning to double their budget by next season; other organizations were looking to reconfigure their images or fundraising approaches on a broad scale; some organizations focused on increasing contributed income and strategic gifts; a few organizations seemed simply to be on the hunt for good ideas. Following this collective introduction, Bury distinguished fundraising from development work and presented these definitions: fundraising means asking for money, while development—a process that’s never done—means building networks among people who share values with you, who are inclined to be involved with your work, and who have the means to help (whether with money, connections, knowledge, or professional experience). However, fundraising and development function together. Proposing two poles of efficiency, Bury noted that perhaps the least effective means of fundraising PMP 34
is sending an impersonal bid letter. The most effective, he then pointed out, is having a relationship in which a supporter identifies personally with an organization and finds unacceptable the idea that the organization could cease to exist. A good project with which to begin a development initiative, Bury explained, is to establish a list of potentially most helpful people. Then, convene them to ask what they value about your organization. Having facilitated numerous conversations such as this one, Bury attests that the conversation frequently builds in and of itself into enthusiasm and support. However, he noted, it is your responsibility to “choreograph that conversation so that it ends in commitment.” Even if some of the invited individuals never come, “Your name will cross their desk.” Bury proposed a spectrum along which to classify the involvement of a supporter or potential supporter: ignorance, awareness, interest, participation, commitment, and ownership. Development workers should keep questions in mind such as, “What can I do next month to move someone toward ownership?” and “What are we doing next month that we can show them?” Bury proposed taking an individual to lunch and
asking him or her for something, for example, an opinion. He offered as a powerful example, “Read our vision statement, and tell us what you think.” Smaller scale options include sending a newsletter, an event review, or complimentary tickets. Don’t forget the possibility of including a potential supporter in community events or a staff meeting. Rather than adopting the conventional term “cultivation,” which Bury feels implies a one-dimensional relationship, he prefers the phrase “creative engagement.” He put an emphasis on how being involved with an organization benefits supporters as well. Such involvement, at its best, provides supporters with their own opportunity for self-actualization, a chance to define who they are as individuals. Significantly, Bury added, the planning process itself can act as a platform for meaningful engagement. Involving supporters in the details of your organization, both present and future, connects people to the creative process. “Cultural participation,” he said, “is not just attendance.” Broaden, deepen, and diversify: the work of development leads supporters and contributors to understand artistic work on a “rich intellectual and visceral level.” He clearly holds rigorous standards for what planning and development can deliver: “If you’re not building capacity, you’re wasting time. If you’re spending your time inefficiently, you’re taking a loss.” Bury is confident that the activities of planning, development, and fund-raising can and should take place in tandem, as a unified effort of bringing supporters into enthusiastic intimacy with an organization. “If people help shape your vision,” he indicated, “they’re buying in. They will be there to support the realization of that vision.” Group process techniques such as brainstorming meetings are a key element in integrating planning into development and fundraising efforts. While Bury readily admits that some bad ideas emerge from these meetings, good ideas also surface, and, as he puts it, “Planning is the place for people to take ownership.” Like shaping a vision, if supporters themselves name a financial goal, they will be far more likely to commit to it. Organizational leaders are called to bring supporters and potential supporters into increasing involvement, and to share the definition and meaning of their work with those who will play a significant part in continuing to make it possible.
BUILDING CAPACITY/DEVELOPING AUDIENCES
Sector Marketing Initiative Online Advertising
In the fall of 2004, PMP began a marketing initiative to help a consortium of four new music ensembles—Orchestra 2001, Network for New Music, the PRISM Quartet, and Relâche—gain wider exposure in Greater Philadelphia. The groups cooperated to produce the first New Sounds Philadelphia brochure, which was mailed to their consolidated mailing lists and distributed citywide. In 2005, PMP also helped to produce early music and choral music brochures. The collaborating early music groups were Philomel, Piffaro, and Tempesta di Mare. The Choral Arts Society, Mendelssohn Club, Philadelphia Singers, and Singing City have collaborated for the choral music publication, titled Voices of Philadelphia.
This fall, PMP is supporting the creation of web portals for New Sounds Philadelphia (newsoundsphiladelphia.org) and Voices of Philadelphia (voicesofphiladelphia.org). Portals will promote the consortia and their public programs online, provide comprehensive performance calendars for their Philadelphia events, and link to each member’s website. The early music groups have joined forces with the Bach Festival of Philadelphia and the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance to collectively advertise their programs on the Philly Fun Guide’s Blockbuster webpage (phillyfunguide.com/ blockbuster.php). PMP’s cooperative sector marketing program helps to build core audiences by familiarizing dedicated listeners with a uniquely branded genre-specific consortium of ensembles. The initiative also enables participating groups to develop advertising income and corporate sponsorship.
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