Starting my own arts non-profit: how nutty?

September 23, 2010 3:34 PM

My adult life has been split between art (performing arts) and non-profit administration (major donor fundraising). I'm now approaching a point where I want to merge the two and create my own arts nonprofit. My intent is to start small. I guess I'm hoping to split half my time as a fundraiser/grantwriter/administrator and half my time running the program. Am I crazy? I dont think this thing will officially launch before the next year or two, so please pretend this will happen in a decent economy. I think I have a good service to provide, access to strong potential boardmembers, etc. Thanks, hive.
posted by mcgordonliddy to Work & Money (11 answers total)

So your question is, are you crazy? There's little else to go on here...
posted by jon1270 at 3:40 PM on September 23, 2010

There's no question here. In fact, I don't even get a sense of what you want to do. Please expand.
posted by xingcat at 3:45 PM on September 23, 2010

Response by poster: Sorry for the lack of clarity: i guess i'm looking for a non-profit organizational model that is more like a consultancy. I'm on familiar with the typical structure: executive, development, & program. I'm wondering if it is possible to have an organization that is scaled in such a way that one person can handle all three tasks, at least in the short term. Is there an example of a non-profit that has a single employee?
posted by mcgordonliddy at 3:52 PM on September 23, 2010

As someone who has done a similar split in the field of literature my only warning would be to be careful that the admin and promotion of others does not fill up all your time and leave none for your own art. The problems to do with admin are usually more immediate and it's easy to delay work on that novel/dance routine/composition...
posted by sianifach at 3:53 PM on September 23, 2010

Still a bit unclear - do you already know the purpose of your organization and the specific services you will provide? (If so, sharing the details might get you better advice.) Or on the other hand, are you looking for examples because you haven't nailed this stuff down yet and want some options to consider?
posted by ella wren at 4:30 PM on September 23, 2010

My experience with non-profits was that the development stuff was always hardest. You seem like you have the perfect combination of skills, experiences, and contacts for this. The only real question then comes down to how much time you'll have to spend on various tasks, and whether you can get any volunteer/friend/board help if one of the areas starts lagging.
posted by ldthomps at 4:31 PM on September 23, 2010

Best answer: Are you crazy to take on such a huge project? Yes, but probably in a good sort of way. Actually I started a non profit the same way, by myself, doing everything (doing all of the set up from paperwork to bank account to 501c3 app) plus doing the grantwriting/fundraising, plus providing services to clients...It is possible to do but I was getting burned out fast. Now I have a great board and a great staff and I can focus on the parts that I really enjoy. I found that people weren't interested in 'playing in my sandbox' until I had the organization up and running. Then we started getting clients, then community agencies started coming to us, then we had a great fundraiser come on board, then we drew some volunteers who were ultra committed to the cause...and now I can relax a bit!
posted by MsKim at 5:55 PM on September 23, 2010

The arts nonprofit that I work for had only one employee for many years and they managed to do a lot in that time. That situation worked because the board was very hands-on, there were some great volunteers, and the artists involved in the organization were willing to collaborate with each other on projects. You can memail me if you want more specifics.
posted by entropyiswinning at 6:05 PM on September 23, 2010

The nonprofit I'm on the board of was exactly this for the first few years, and now has 7 people on staff (4 fulltime & 3 parttime). You'll probably find it helpful to have interns, volunteers & a great board.
posted by judith at 7:15 PM on September 23, 2010

I say go for it! You only live once.
With that said, you do have a long road ahead of you with plenty of miles to cover.
My non-profit knowledge is purely academic, but it is something I one day would like to put in use.
Your profile doesn't say where you are located, but if you are interested in maybe getting some ideas, I could point you to someone who consults/teaches, and has his own gig doing nothing but non profits. In Michigan.
posted by handbanana at 11:43 PM on September 23, 2010

Response by poster: very encouraging. THANK YOU!
posted by mcgordonliddy at 9:27 AM on September 24, 2010