Author(s): McQueen, Ann
Date of Publication: March 2013
The East Bay Community Foundation (EBCF) makes grants to artists and artist-centered nonprofits to assure that East Bay’s multi-cultural, multi-racial artists have the resources they need to advance their community-based practices, tackle social issues, and give back to local audiences. The foundation’s arts grantmaking of close to $250,000 is drawn from three donor-supported funds that, despite separate awards processes, work synergistically to advance art that grows out of and impacts the East Bay community. The Macpherson Fund for Small Arts Organizations, an endowed fund,
Author(s): Boggs, Grace Lee
Date of Publication: 2003
In October 2003, Detroit-based activist, cultural worker, and octogenarian Grace Lee Boggs energized and inspired a national gathering of artists, arts organization and community leaders, and activists with her speech at Animating Democracy's National Exchange on Art & Civic Dialogue. Boggs described a United States that is increasingly jobless; that jeopardizes its youth in a problem-wrought education system; and that is resented for its economic, military, and cultural domination. "Can we create a new paradigm of our selfhood and our nationhood?" she implored. In Boggs&
Author(s): Cohen, Randy
Date of Publication: May 2020
Local arts agencies—arts councils, arts commissions, cultural affairs departments—are an essential tool for community leaders as they rebuild their economies and promote social cohesion. The nation’s 4,500 local arts agencies (LAAs) support, present, and promote the dynamic value of the arts. Through their partnerships and leadership, LAAs are building healthier communities through the arts.
Author(s): Cohen, Randy
Date of Publication: March 2020
The arts are fundamental to our humanity. They ennoble and inspire us—fostering creativity, goodness, and beauty. The arts bring us joy, help us express our values, and build bridges between cultures. The arts are also a fundamental component of a healthy community—strengthening them socially, educationally, and economically—benefits that persist even in difficult social and economic times.
Author(s): Americans for the Arts
Date of Publication: August 2018
Author(s): Peck, Emily; Parkinson, Alexander; Cohen, Randy; and Kahn, Graciela
Date of Publication: October 10, 2018
Business Contributions to the Arts: 2018 Edition is the second edition of the annual report published by The Conference Board and Americans for the Arts. Conducted in the summer of 2018, this year’s survey garnered 132 responses from small, midsize, and large US businesses, 123 of which made a philanthropic contribution of some description in 2017 and are therefore included in this report. The survey asked for information based on corporate practices at the time of the survey completion.
Author(s): Partners for Livable Communities
Date of Publication: June 1, 2011
Due to the financial consequences from the Great Recession, many US communities have been unable to make significant progress in preparing to meet the needs of the country’s rapidly aging population. The Maturing of America—Communities Moving Forward for an Aging Population, a follow-up to an extensive survey conducted in 2005, reveals that at best, communities have managed to maintain the status quo for the past six years due to the decline in the overall economy and local government budgets.
Author(s): WQXR Radio
Date of Publication: June 1, 2018
This guide is drawn from lessons learned during two musical instrument drives sponsored by New York’s classical music radio station, WQXR. Students in under-resourced music programs across the New York City area benefited from the roughly 6,000 musical instruments donated through the drive.
Author(s): Cleveland, William
Date of Publication: Jun 01, 2016
In this case study, Bill Cleveland offers an engaging in-depth excavation of the genesis, planning, and implementation of Creative CityMaking, a collaboration between the City of Minneapolis and Intermedia Arts aimed at integrating creative thinking, strategies, and processes into the operations of city departments. Detailed stories of the five collaborative projects at the heart of Creative CityMaking along with outcomes and learning from the first phase provide an illuminating and instructive look at how collaboration between artists and municipal government can achieve
Author(s): Shue, Jordan
Date of Publication: Apr 01, 2016
This workbook series focuses on one of the many ways arts organizations can work with businesses: skills-based volunteering. The Business Volunteers for the Arts® (BVA) program, a pro bono consulting program, operates in several cities around the United States. The program is overseen nationally by Americans for the Arts.
Author(s): Smiland, Bob
Date of Publication: Jan 01, 2016
Situated at the crossroads of LA’s Skid Row and the burgeoning downtown Arts District, Inner-City Arts is well-positioned to produce greater educational equity for our students and opportunities for them to participate in the region’s growing creative economy. This study looks at the data showing how our work has an impact on the students in Los Angeles.
Author(s): America's Charities
Date of Publication: Dec 01, 2015
Every year, millions of people across America are invited to participate in an activity that has become a Fall tradition for generations of employees working at many of the nation’s largest employers: the Employee Charitable Giving Campaign.
Author(s): America's Charities
Date of Publication: Dec 01, 2014
Every year, millions of people across America are invited to participate in an activity that has become a Fall tradition for generations of employees working at many of the nation’s largest employers: the Employee Charitable Giving Campaign.
Author(s): America's Charities
Date of Publication: Dec 01, 2013
Every year, millions of people across America are invited to participate in an activity that has become a Fall tradition for generations of employees working at many of the nation’s largest employers: the Employee Charitable Giving Campaign.
Author(s): Deloitte University Press
Date of Publication: Jan 01, 2016
Sweeping global forces are reshaping the workplace, the workforce, and work itself. After years of struggling to drive employee engagement and retention, improve leadership, and build a meaningful culture, executives see a need to redesign the organization.
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What is BVA?
Business Volunteers for the Arts® (BVA) is a national skills-based management consulting program operated by a network of organizations around the country under the leadership and coordination of Americans for the Arts. It helps nonprofit arts groups by recruiting and placing specially-trained business executives who assist with distinct management projects. At the same time, it provides unique leadership development opportunities for business volunteers allowing them to apply and expand their professional skills and gain new perspectives by working outside their field.
Since 1975, thousands of business professionals have helped thousands of nonprofit arts organizations by sharing their expertise and talents on a wide range of consulting projects through BVA.
In 1978, Arts & Business Council, Inc. began to make the highly successful BVA model available to local communities across the United States. Those establishing a BVA chapter became licensed affiliates of the council. Americans for the Arts now serves as the national headquarters for a growing network of partners in local communities, managing their training, communication, and program sharing. This strong network of organizations continues to strive toward the following objectives:
- To help nonprofit arts organizations improve their business practices
- To provide rewarding opportunities for business professionals who wish to contribute to their community and become involved directly with the arts
- To increase business leadership on behalf of the arts
- Nationally, since the program’s inception, BVA has generated over $134 million in donated services, cash, and other in-kind resources.
How Does BVA Work?
BVA partners in cities around the country recruit and train business professionals to be placed as skills-based management consultants with nonprofit arts groups. Arts groups applying to the program receive an in-depth management assessment by BVA staff to help determine their needs. Trained BVA volunteers are then matched with organizations to complete a clearly defined consultant assignment. Possible projects address all management areas—strategic planning, marketing, information systems, human resources, and financial management.
Why is BVA needed?
Nonprofit arts management is becoming increasingly complex as arts groups deal with changing demographics, marketing and image issues, shifting funding patterns, the opportunity to create partnerships with businesses, new I.R.S. and accounting regulations, and technology. People with the skills and experience to address many of these areas are financially beyond the reach of many chronically understaffed and underfunded nonprofit arts groups.
BVA provides a personal, hands-on approach to helping arts groups leverage their resources and gain the expertise to address these and many other issues.
The BVA program also provides unique leadership development opportunities for business volunteers allowing them to apply and expand their professional skills and gain new perspectives by working outside their field. The BVA program increases a sense of community connection for the volunteer and provides resources to arts groups that would ordinarily be out of reach.
How do I establish a BVA program?
- The first step to establishing a licensed BVA Program is to conduct a feasibility study, available free of charge, from Americans for the Arts. Complete and return the feasibility study for our analysis. We will then get back to you about any concerns or questions.
(Available by contacting [email protected])
By implementing the proven model developed by Americans for the Arts, local regions or communities can create their own BVA program with assistance from Americans for the Arts. The basic BVA model covers all of the components necessary to establish and sustain a successful program. Program partners also gain access to the many benefits of being part of a national support network.
Yes, there are one-time only start-up fees - $500 for the license fee and $500 for materials. Membership with Americans for the Arts is required and the $250 level is strongly recommended. The fees cover the license to use the name, everything you need (manuals, forms, fundraising letters, etc.) to run the program, and ongoing participation in the BVA national network. We believe that when consideration is given to developing recruitment and screening procedures, writing all of the materials, designing the orientation, creating the assessment procedures, developing promotional materials, and implementing ongoing management procedures, it would cost far more for each community to develop its own program. Beyond this, BVA national network offers opportunities for communication with other program partners, sharing of program ideas, training, contacts with local offices of multi-national corporations that are active in other cities, a national forum for public relations and image-building, and advice and guidance from professionals who have been involved in the program for many years.
Our tool-kit, Establishing a Business Volunteers for the Arts® Program , provides an overview of what’s involved in building a successful BVA Program.
Also available: on-demand webinar, Strategies on How to Build and Fund Successful Volunteer Programs
How do I recruit and work with volunteers?
Volunteers are a critical component of any arts organization. From ushers to fundraising, to skills-based consulting and board service, volunteers expand the capacity of a nonprofit. Volunteers also create an entry point for establishing a relationship with businesses.
To learn strategies for recruiting and successfully managing volunteers, visit our tool kit: Working with Volunteers.
Also available: on-demand webinar, Building Relationships with Business: The Importance of Volunteers (The pARTnership Movement series)
Volunteer with ABC/NY
Arts clients. Business consultants. ABC/NY matchmaker. For more than 30 years, ABC/NY has identified—and brought together—challenging projects at arts organizations and capable volunteers from the business sector to solve those challenges.
About the Process
The arts client submits an application for assistance with a project, followed by an interview with ABC/NY staff. Free for arts members. The business volunteer consultant submits an application, followed by an interview with ABC/NY staff and by opportunities for orientation sessions.
About the Projects
Project times vary from a few hours to a year. Typically, the volunteer is investing one or two hours a week, in a flexible way that suits his/her schedule. Typical projects can include business and marketing plans, entrepreneurial plans for increased earned revenue, PR/communications, strategic plans, staff/volunteer training, or analysis of financial systems, technology systems, human resource/staffing systems. Some projects are more specialized, (e.g., events, real estate, legal).
BVAs are not expected to become members, subscribers, donors, or trustees of their arts organization, but it is not a surprise that some are asked to join arts boards. Some use the experience to enhance their training for board service. Some use the experience to build their own professional skill sets/portfolios.
Arts Client Application | Business Volunteer Application
