Resources for Organizations Working With Artists
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Welcome! This is a resource for people who are invested in improving the lives of artists everywhere.
We have three pages for resources geared towards your work:
- Resources for Grantmakers
- Resources for Individual Artists
- Resources for Organizations Working With Artists
Advocacy
- MASSCreative -Organization that supports arts organizations in Massachusetts.
- WebAIM - Empowers organizations to make their websites friendly for people with disabilities.
- NEA's Section 504 Workbook - Workbook from the NEA that allows organizations to evaluate how accessible their programs are.
- NEA's Civil Rights (External) Complaint Process - NEA's process for filing civil rights complaints.
- Arts Action Fund - National arts advocacy group dedicating 100% of time to advancing the arts.
- Americans for the Arts Advocacy Toolkit - A guide for organizations that politically advocate on behalf of artists.
- VisualArts.net | National Association for the Visual Arts - Australian organization with examples of arts campaigns.
- Grantmakers in the Arts | Supporting Individual Artists: Ten Years, Ten Lessons
- Why Should Government Support the Arts?
- Grantmakers in the Arts | Supporting Individual Artists: A Toolbox
- Grantmakers in the Arts | Support for Individual Artists in the Folk and Traditional Arts Julie Dalgleish
- Grantmakers in the Arts | Understanding Support for Individual Artists: Making a Case for National Standards, John Carnwath
- Why Cities Can’t Afford to Lose Their Artists, Richard Florida, 2014
- Grantmakers in the Arts | Supporting Individual Artists—Preserving the Core of Humanity, GIA Support for Individual Artists Group Steering Committee, 2011
- McKinsey | And the Winner is… Philanthropists and Governments Make Prizes Count McKinsey & Company, 2009
- Nonprofit Quarterly | How Nonprofit Board Members Can Be Effective Advocates in Troubled Times Nonprofit Quarterly, 2017
Community Connections
- Americans for the Arts Local Arts Network - Forum for leaders in local arts institutions to discuss barriers and success stories.
- Americans for the Arts Private Sector Network - Network of businesses interested in partnering with arts organizations.
- National Council of Nonprofits: Find Your State Association - Listings of nonprofits in your state.
- Urban Insitute | Arts & Culture: Community Connections - An Urban Institute report on the benefits of engaging communities with art.
- Community Toolbox | Writing a Grant Application for Funding - Step-by-step instructions on writing a grant application.
- Nonprofit Quarterly | How Nonprofits Use Social Media to Engage with Communities - Using social media to assess the needs of your community.
- Createquity | What Makes Arts Organizations Civically Engaged?
- Americans for the Arts
Organizational Capacity
- LinkedIn | Strong Corporate Cultures Are “Self-Organizing” - Private sector organizing that is relevant in the social profit sector.
- Council of Nonprofits | Succession Planning for Nonprofits - Managing Leadership Transitions - Some considerations for writing a succession plan.
- Council of Nonprofits | Why and How to Hire an Interim Executive Director
- Stanford Social Innovation | The Nonprofit Leadership Development Deficit - On preparing homegrown leaders at nonprofits.
- BoardSource | Exit Planning for Retiring Nonprofit CEOs - Balancing the "three jobs" of a leaving CEO.
- McKinsey | Organizational Capacity Assessment Tool - A tool by McKinsey & Co to help nonprofits identify operational capacity, strengths, and weaknesses.
- Bridgespan | How to Develop Yourself as a Nonprofit Leader - Advice from six senior nonprofit leaders.
- Forbes | Nonprofit Leadership Strategies For Attracting And Retaining Talent - Retaining talent in order to by helping employees develop.
- Classy | Strengthen Your Nonprofit with a Strategic Partnership - Benefits of partnership when working with budget constraints.
- Council of Nonprofits | What is Capacity Building? - Investing in effectiveness and sustainability for your organization.
- KR Foundation | The Rainin Arts Real Estate Strategy - A collaborative strategy connecting resources in the community to the real estate needs of arts and cultural organizations.
Engaging with Artists
- Wallace Foundation | Cultural Collaborations: Building Partnerships for Arts Participation - A study about how to partner with artists and the benefits of creating alliances.
- Arts & Planning Toolkit - Toolkit for community development workers through projects that engage arts, culture, and the creative community.
- Toolkit: Engaging Your Community
- Creative Mornings | Artists as Leaders - A talk by the president of RISD about appreciating the role of artists in society.
Paying Artists
- W.A.G.E. - Focused on regulating the payment of artist fees and establishing sustainable labor relationships between artists and the institutions.
- W.A.G.E. Certification - Certification for non-profits committed to paying artists equitably.
- W.A.G.E. Fee Calculator - Calculates equitable pay rate for artists based on nonprofit's TAOE.
- Sternberg Press | Are You Working Too Much? Post-Fordism, Precarity, and the Labor of Art - Collection of academic essays regarding the structures that contribute to low wages for artists.
- IFACCA | Report: Researching Artists’ Working Lives - An introduction to understanding research around paying artists.
- Exhibition Payment Guide - Guidelines for paying artists for exhibitions in nonprofit arts spaces.
- Why Are Artists Poor? The Exceptional Economy of the Arts - Understanding the "economy of the arts" as atypical.
- How the National Endowment for the Arts Funds the Arts - A comprehensive overview of government arts funding.
- Americans for the Arts | Report: Americans Support Increases in Government Arts Funding - Facts and figures regarding public opinion of arts funding.
Funding Individual Artists
- Council of Nonprofits | Fiscal Sponsorship for Nonprofits - Information regarding the benefits of adopting the model of fiscal sponsorship.
- Nonprofit Law Blog | Fiscal Sponsorship: Six Ways to Do It Wrong - Avoiding legal complications in a fiscal sponsorship program.
- Fundraising Coach | 11 Experts on How to Get New Donors - Advice on creating a donor network and using it effectively.
- Nonprofit Law Blog | Fiscal Sponsorship: A Valuable Option for Grantmakers and Grantees - Quick legal information on ensuring a fiscal sponsor is eligible to give.
- Also visit our page Resources for Grantmakers.
Services & Programs
- How it's Being Done: Arts Business Training in the US - web-sourced inventory of field-based arts business training opportunities
- Artist Professional Development Needs Research Findings
- SNAAP Strategic National Arts Alumni Project - Special Report Career and Entrepreneurial Skills Training for Artists
- Professional Artist | Creating an Artist-Friendly Community
- Project Management Institute | Report: Measuring Program Success - Academic report on guidelines for measuring program success.
- Oklahoma Arts | How to Develop a Community Arts Council - Structuring an arts council for success.
- Nonprofit Law Blog | Arts Projects: Charitable or Not? - Understanding which programs may legally qualify for tax exemptions.
- Americans for the Arts | Emerging Leaders Network - Organization that helps young people in arts administration reach their full potential
- Grantmakers in the Arts | Review of Scholarly Research on Artist Support - Surveys of the literature on individual artists’ sources of support and related topics.
Power
- Council of Nonprofits | Nonprofits, You Are the Champions for Diversity, Inclusion and Equity - Moving on from conversation about diversity to meaningfuk action.
- HuffPost | 7 Tips on How Nonprofits can Attract Corporate Funding: Part Two - Advice from social profit sector veterans on raising money from corporations.
- HuffPost | 7 Tips on How Nonprofits can Attract Corporate Funding: Part One - Advice from social profit sector veterans on raising money from corporations.
- Community Toolbox | Building Culturally Competent Organizations - Case study in working with diverse communities and maximizing efficiency in periods of change.
- Nonprofit Engage | Embracing a More Diverse Audience in Arts and Culture - Making organizational changes to capture more diverse audiences.
- Forbes | What's Your Feedback Loop? - Incentivizing feedback.
- Council for Nonprofits | Why Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Matter for Nonprofits - Prioritizing diversity in order to build more effective organizations.
- National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy | Implicit Bias and Its Role in Philanthropy and Grantmaking - Understanding the science of implicit bias.
- Fast Company | 5 Charts that Illustrate the Racial Bias in the Nonprofit World - Facts and figures depicting inequality at all levels of the nonprofit world.
- Createquity | Making Sense of Cultural Equity
Blogs & News
- Jumper - Diane Ragsdale on what the arts do and why.
- Artivate - Organization committed to expanding access to arts, with blog posts.
- The Artful Manager - Andrew Taylor on the business of arts and culture.
- Createquity - Think tank investigating issues in the arts.
- Barry's Blog - News, advice, and opinion for the arts administrator.
- Harvard Business Review - Ideas and Advice for leaders.
- Artrepreneur - Entrepreneurship, technology, law, and conversation in the arts.
- Bridgespan Group Highlights - News and advice from top nonprofit consultants.
- ArtsJournal - Source for arts and cultural journalism.
- Non Profit Quarterly - News about innovations in the nonprofit sector.
- Classy - Fundraising platform with social profit sector blog.
- Nonprofit Law Blog - Legal news and advice for nonprofits by category.
Books
Organizations
- The Social Profit Handbook, David Grant, 2015 ($15.95) - A guide for assessing impact in a mission-driven organization.
- When Leaders Leave: A New Perspective on Leadership Change - Priscilla Rosenwald & Lesley Mallow Wendell, 2013 ($9.99) - Steps for organizations to thrive during a leadership change.
- Forces for Good: The Six Practices of High-Impact Nonprofits, Leslie Crutchfield & Heather Grant, 2007 ($29.95)
- The Executive Director's Guide to Thriving as a Nonprofit Leader, Mim Carlson & Mararet Donohoe, 2010 ($32.30)
Art World
- 9.5 These on Art and Class, Ben Davis, 2013 ($12.58) - Writings on the direction of contemporary art.
- A Short Life of Trouble, Marcia Tucker, 2010 ($16.59) - Memoir about facing barriers in the art world by the first female curator at the Whitney.