Henry Kurkowski - The Artful Ask: How arts organizations can build better partnerships & lifelong sponsors

This book is dedicated to my wonderful godmother Sheril Joan McCormack (aka Aunt Joanie) She introduced me to Broadway, the arts and has inspired me my entire life. You are a godsend Aunt Joanie!

THE ARTFUL ASK

THE ARTFUL ASK

How arts organizations can build better

partnerships & lifelong sponsors

HENRY KURKOWSKI

Copyright 2019 by Pimbleberry

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

Names: Kurkowski, Henry, author. | Irvin, Bradley, illustrator.

Title: The artful ask : how arts organizations can build better partnerships & lifelong sponsors / Henry Kurkowski ; Bradley Irvin, illustrator.

Description: Indianapolis : Henry Kurkowski, 2019. | Also available in ebook and audiobook formats.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019916260 (print) | ISBN 978-1-69694-266-9 (paperback)

Subjects: LCSH: Arts fund raising--United States--Handbooks, manuals, etc. | Arts publicity--United States--Handbooks, manuals, etc. | Arts--Management. | Art patronage. | Corporate sponsorship. | Special events--Marketing. | BISAC: BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Nonprofit Organizations & Charities / Fundraising & Grants. | ART / Business Aspects.

Classification: LCC NX765 .K87 2019 (print) | LCC NX765 (ebook) | DDC 700.68/1--dc23.

ISBN-13: 978-1-69694-266-9

For general inquiries visit www.theartfulask.com

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to my wonderful godmother Sheril Joan McCormack (aka Aunt Joanie) She introduced me to Broadway, the arts and has inspired me my entire life. You are a godsend Aunt Joanie!

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to express my gratitude to my friend Frank Basile for his words of advice and encouragement regarding the creation of this book. I am also thankful for my friend and illustrator Bradley Irvin who has a detail oriented mind. My deepest appreciation goes to my good friend Lisa A. Hendrickson who was the editor for this project. She is also a great mentor and taught me quite a bit about the writing and publishing process. Lastly I would like to give special thanks to my husband Kirby for always believing in me and inspiring me to do great things.

CONTENTS

The arts are big business. Does that sound contradictory? Its not in spite of the fact that arts and cultural organizations are not-for-profits, theyre not only businesses, but businesses that make significant contributions to the economy. In fact, they contribute far more than most people might imagine. As a result, they have the opportunity to leverage synergies with for-profit businesses.

This book describes in detail why many companiesranging from Fortune 500 businesses to small, locally owned enterprises find a business benefit in partnering with the arts. It also provides countless examples that help to position your arts and cultural organizations to create the corporate partnerships you need in order to thrive.

As a business owner, I have had extremely fulfilling experiences helping to promote the arts and cultural scene in my city. I have worked on numerous committees and have had the privilege of serving as the president of the board of trustees of an outstanding Indianapolis-based nonprofit arts organization. Not only are there indirect benefits from such work, there also are many direct benefits for the professionals and businesses that support the arts. The Artful Ask helps arts organizations take a look at todays business world from the point of view of owners and the C-Level executivesproviding a perspective thats key when speaking with companies about potential sponsorships.

The Artful Ask will arm you with the knowledge arts organizations need to create great corporate partnerships. Within these pages youll find talking points and data, as well as countless tips on how to engage businesses and corporations with your organization to build a better financial future for the arts.

This book will not, however, tell you what types of partnerships you should establish. Thats going to be entirely up to you: Rely on your own creativity, mission and goals to help guide you to success. The companies you choose to partner with will likely have their own highly creative and innovative ideas. Together, you can develop a partnership that is unique, brilliant and helps both organizations reach their goals.

If youre ready to develop lifelong relationships with your sponsors and create strong corporate partnerships, I invite you to dive right in to The Artful Ask.

Chapter 1

If you were to hazard a guess as to the financial impact that Broadway theater has on New York Citys annual economy, how much would you estimate? Stop and take a moment to think of a dollar amount before you read the next sentence to see how close you were.

The actual economic impact of Broadway on the NYC economy is more than $12 billion each yearand rising.

The population of Manhattan is estimated at 1.7 million. That means a huge chunk of the money being spent on Broadway shows originates from people who come from out of town. Its part of the citys arts and cultural tourism product, a topic well cover in more detail in a later chapter.

In March 2019, the U.S. Department of Commerces Bureau of Data Analysis (BEA) published a report showing that U.S. arts and cultural economic activity continued to have steady growth in 2016. The three-year growth rate for the arts from 2014-2016 was impressive: It increased by 4.2%, while the U.S. economy as a whole grew at a rate of only 2.2%.

Think about that for a moment: The annual growth rate of the arts was close to double the growth rate of the entire American economy. In fact, the economic impact of the arts and cultural activity represented 4.3% of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) for 2016. That equates to more than $804 billion in economic activity for that year alone. Whether you are an arts administrator or a board member for an arts organization, you are well aware of the impact your organization has on your community. But are you prepared with the facts, figures and examples that will convince a business to support you? This guidebook will help you to effectively grow your organization and build strong corporate partnerships that will ensure everyone benefits from the experience.

If at first glance you arent impressed by the significance of the figures mentioned above, it may help to take a look at some comparative figures. The arts added about $60 billion more to the U.S. economy than the construction industry in 2016. In the same year, the arts industry contributed nearly five times more to the American economy than the agricultural sector. Those facts alone should be eye-openers, but add to that the realization that the $804 billion the arts contributed to the U.S. GDP in 2016 is more than half of the entire GDP of Canada or Russia. The GDP for Canada was $1.536 trillion in 2016, while in Russia it stood at $1.3 trillion.

Whats more, the impact of the arts on the U.S. economy is more than the entire 2016 GDP for countries such as Saudi Arabia ($645 billion), Switzerland ($669 billion) or the Netherlands ($784 billion). Its been said that the arts mean big business, but the facts show that the arts mean