Arts Leadership Summit

nonprofit arts leader peer exchange

about the summit

Annually, Arts Alive welcomes the end of the year with a full day retreat for staff and board members of nonprofit arts organizations. Arts Alive invites experts in relevant fields to share learning for the enrichment of the participants, and facilitate discussions with the full group at the end of each presentation so participants may ask questions and share their own knowledge and experience. Locally sourced and nourishing breakfast, lunch, and snacks are provided. The event has an intimate feel and is held in a bright, warm, accessible space with wifi and access to nature!

2024 summit

Who should attend: Leaders of non-profit organizations

Themes: Employees, Access & Inclusivity, Fundraising, Marketing

Where & When: Friday, November 8th 2024 at the Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music in Nelson, NH.

Tickets: $80 for arts leaders, $105 for business partners

Discounts: $25 tickets for those who feel like cost is a barrier, member discount of $20, multiple tickets discounts if you purchase 2 or 4 tickets.

Agenda:

9:30am Breakfast

10am Arts Alive updates, icebreaker, grounding exercise (body scan)

10:30am Arts organization introductions

11:15am Fundraising with Mick Blume, Director of Development & Community Impact at the Keene YMCA

We will have a peer to peer conversation about the tools and strategies we have each used to engage board members and volunteers in community-driven fundraising efforts. From organizational structures to a unified vision to scripts and graphics, we'll hold the much-needed space for sourcing ideas and inspiration from each other.

12:15pm Lunch break

1pm Marketing with Jan Ziegler from Freitag Marketing

Jan will lead a presentation on developing their marketing strategy for programming, events, and development efforts. This will help participants not just identify their current market, but help them identify potential new markets to reach.

2pm 10 minute break with guided light stretching

2:15 Access and Inclusion with Meiver De la Cruz and Davey Schlasko from Think Again Consulting

Meiver and Davey will lead a conversation on Accessibility and Inclusion in organizational events, programming, and structure. The conversation will help organizations self-assess and develop straightforward, actionable steps to increase the accessibility and inclusive culture at their programs and events.

3:30 Two rounds of four corners peer discussion exercise on the day’s presentation topics, snacks, end of day reflections

4:30 End

2023 summit

To begin, Arts Alive will present its new mission and vision, announce November’s Arts Ambassador meetup to develop a robust strategy to get the word out about the AEP6 data. We’ll announce the December and January Listening Sessions around the region, and share the ongoing resources and programs that will be continuing into 2024.

Lifeboat Accounting’s Amity Ollis will give the first workshop: nonprofit compliance standards. A general overview and history of local and national nonprofit statistics will allow participants to identify where they lie within industry norms. Amity will then describe the lifecycle of a nonprofit while highlighting the issues that organizations face in each phase. Finally, she will review common compliance policies and items essential to all nonprofits. Amity, having worked with nonprofits with budgets from $30,000 to $8M, comes to us with a well-rounded understanding of various nonprofit sizes, scopes, and configurations. A Q&A session will follow the workshop, during which participants are encouraged to ask questions concerning bylaws and financial management.

During lunch Arts Alive will share and discuss results from the Arts and Economic Prosperity Study 6, what the data tells us about arts in our community, and how to leverage them for funding. Over the course of 2022 and part of 2023 Arts Alive in partnership with Americans for the Arts mobilized arts presenters to collect almost 1,000 surveys from audience members to track the economic and social impact of arts events in our community. This is the third time Arts Alive has participated in this nationwide study. The results have been used by arts organizations over the years to access economic development grants and funds for infrastructure, capital, workforce, and programming investments. Steve Fortier, Administrator of Rural Economic Development for NH Department of Business & Economic Affairs, serves as State Program Manager for Northern Border Regional Commission. Stuart Arnett, is the founder and principal of Arnett Development Group, is BEA’s Capacity Contractor, provides free Technical Assistance to non-profits and municipalities for NBRC and other federal and state grants. They will lead a discussion on how arts organizations can utilize this data in grant applications from state and federal sources. This discussion may be useful to organizations seeking to apply to the Community Center Investment Program through the CDFA.

The next portion of the Arts Leadership Summit will teach participants about trauma, its impacts on individuals and how they navigate unfamiliar programs, systems and spaces. The group will then have a discussion around what the arts community can do to adapt current programs and provide additional opportunities to increase access to the arts to those who are impacted by trauma. Phil Wyzic, of Monadnock Family Services, will join us to do a brief review and lead a discussion about how this impacts arts organizations' work on providing accessible arts opportunities. Trauma is “an emotional wound or shock that creates substantial lasting damage to the psychological development of a person.” Systematic racism, inequality, public health crises, poverty, and other high-stress situations can create cycles of intergenerational trauma. The Monadnock region's Community Health Improvement Plan identifies the issue of behavioral health as an important priority. Over the last few years, a group of individuals in the Monadnock Region from organizations and the general public under the lead of Phil Wyzik, have put forth the idea that our region should become a trauma informed community. To that end, the Healthy Monadnock Alliance is preparing to launch a public health initiative that brings people and groups together to improve our community.

Over an afternoon snack, participants will meet the new Director of the NH State Council on the Arts Adele Bauman. Adele will use the opportunity to learn more about arts in the Monadnock region of New Hampshire. As director, she oversees competitive grant processes and program services, compliance with state and federal financial requirements, and the legislative process as it relates to the arts. Adele also plans to seek out collaboration and partnerships with state leaders and organizations across multiple sectors, including healthcare, education and the creative economy.

The summit will close with a peer-support focused activity called the "luck circle." Participants will be divided into small groups and have the opportunity to share a personal or professional goal with their group. The group will then provide recommendations, connections to potential partners, or resources to support their colleagues to achieve their goals. It is an excellent way to build relationships and support each other in the development of a collaborative and fruitful regional arts community - and a beautiful way to end our day.