Research

Representatives from arts councils from across Canada met in Vancouver, BC November 25-27, 2009 on the occasion of the Canadian Public Arts Funders (CPAF) Annual General Meeting.

The Executive Directors and Chairs of CPAF-Canada's network of federal, provincial and territorial arts councils and equivalent public arts funders-discussed strategies to "Build Support for the Arts" and reinforce the vital role that arts and culture plays in Canadians'
quality of life.

During their discussions, the CPAF members were joined by Alan Brown, a leading researcher and management consultant in the nonprofit arts industry, and John McInerney, the Vice-President of Marketing and Communications at the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, who presented the findings from the Cultural Alliance’s recent publication Research Into Action: Pathways to New Opportunities.

"Arts organizations and artists are in the business of transforming individuals and communities through arts experiences," said Alan Brown. "The true impact of the arts experience is what happens to the individual audience members when the lights go down and the artist takes the stage-and the cumulative benefits to individuals, families and communities of having those experiences available night after night, year after year."

Yvan Gauthier, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec and Chair of the CPAF Steering Committee echoed that thought: "Arts and cultural activities help bring a community to life: they define its unique characteristics and are an integral part of the social and economic fabric," said Yvan Gauthier. "Investment in the arts from all levels of government is essential to the well-being of our communities and our country."

CPAF members expressed serious concern that BC, the province in which this year's Annual General Meeting took place, is facing an unprecedented period of uncertainty in public funding for the arts. No other province or territory in Canada has reduced support for the arts sector during the economic downturn.

"In these tough economic times, we need to continue to work together at all levels to ensure the health of our cultural sector," said Gauthier.

CPAF aims to foster and support the arts in Canada through cooperation and collaboration of the federal, provincial and territorial arts councils and equivalent public arts funders by increasing networking and partnership opportunities, sharing information and best practices, and commissioning research. Active since 2005, there is a CPAF member organization in each province and territory in Canada. The combined budget of the 14 CPAF members exceeds $430 million dollars.
 

Twenty one marketing and development staff of Greater Philadelphia's cultural institutions attended the 2009 National Arts Marketing Project Conference in Providence, RI October 30 - November 2 through the Engage 2020 Leadership program. The Engage 2020 Leadership program is a collaborative learning program that provides scholarships to non-profit art and cultural institutions to attend a national conference.

The 2009 Engage 2020 Leadership participants joined over 300 arts marketers from across the country to learn from some of the best in marketing and sponsorship including Rich Mintz from Blue State Digital, Alan Brown, Eugene Carr, David Court from McKinsy Marketing, John Maeda, President of Rhode Island School of Design, Jerry Yoshitomo and many more. 

Participants learned new strategies and best practices for email marketing, online fundraising, branding, social media tools, pricing strategies, patron loyalty programs and much more. We will be sharing some of the knowledge that these participants gained through this experience online at www.philaculture.org/programs/engage2020leadership in the upcoming month.

Opportunities to participate in this program happen annually in the early summer. For questions, please contact Kendra Lawton at kendral@philaculture.org.

To see a list of the 2009 Engage 2020 Leadership participants, please click on the attachement below. To view photos from the reception, visit our photo album.

The Engage 2020 Leadership Program is supported by The Wallace Foundation and The Philadelphia Foundation and is a program of the Cultural Alliance  s research and marketing initiative Engage 2020.  Engage 2020 is sponsored by a lead grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts, with additional support from The Wallace Foundation and The Philadelphia Foundation.

The deal was done. The cultural community could only brace itself for the administrative and financial fallout that would result from the expansion of sales tax to the nonprofit arts and culture sector. That was the message coming from legislators and lobbyists alike immediately following Governor Rendell's budget announcement on Friday, September 19, 2009.

At best, it was a demoralizing predicament – the state budget, which at varying points had included and excluded different prongs in the spectra of arts funding and was also 80 days overdue, hinged on an agreement to generate an additional $100 - $120 million in revenue by lifting the sales tax exemption on arts' ticket sales and memberships.

It was a predicament that needed facts – credible, correct, and quickly acquired facts – to illustrate to a group of decision-makers why their budget deal assumption was incorrect.  Those facts came from the Pennsylvania Cultural Data Project (Pennsylvania CDP or PACDP) and were, to the community’s benefit, collected long before the announcement of the budget deal.

Over the past five years the collection of pertinent historical organizational data through the Pennsylvania CDP has been met with the resistance that faces any new management tool.  Many have asked questions such as, "why should we devote time and resources to compiling this information?" and "how will this information lead to more informed decisions and actions internally and externally?"

Now that we have seen how its collective data builds sector reports such as the Cultural Alliance's Portfolio series and sector advocacy, it is critical that we systematically integrate the completion of the Pennsylvania CDP into our annual schedules in order to continue bringing its great benefits to our individual organizations and the field at large.

Read more and learn how others are using PACDP here.

KYW NewsRadio 1060
Jim Melwert

(September 27, 2009) - The Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance has set lofty goals for the next decade and it's hoping information from a recently released report will help.

Alliance President Peggy Amsterdam says there's good news and bad news in the report:

"We lead the country in attendance. The bad news is we're not capturing all of our attendees to attend more frequently."

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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Tom Barnes

(September 22, 2009) - HARRISBURG -- Christopher Hahn, general director of the Pittsburgh Opera, is still reeling from the shock he got Friday night, when Gov. Ed Rendell and state legislative leaders announced they plan to extend the sales tax to tickets for live arts performances, zoos and museums.

"This is a big deal and I'm very concerned," Mr. Hahn said yesterday. "It's another barrier in our marketing attempts" because it will increase the price of tickets.

"Like many nonprofit arts groups, we are struggling. Opera and ballet companies are having trouble in this economic climate, and some are closing. We're all in a crisis mode, trying to stay alive and keep our artistic standards high while we beg and plead for support."

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