Small money, big hearts

 

Last week I received an email from one of the great performing arts institution in New York. They’re celebrating their 35^th anniversary with a range of virtual (alas!) events – and also looking for donors. In 2020, when art and culture organizations didn’t operate for so long and faced financial problems, my email was exploding with membership offers. Public funding plays a great role in the United States (in some countries arts are mostly funded by the government). Individuals, private funds and corporations may contribute up to 40% of the income of an art organization according to the research How the United States Fund the Arts by National Endowment for the Arts. Now, in the time of major fiscal crises individuals’ support starts playing a greater role.

However, it looks like the membership offers didn’t change much, they just became more frequent. I looked through the offers of famous companies: The Met, The Rubin Museum, The Guggenheim, Lincoln Center and The World Music Institute – and found out that if you donate less than $500-600, the biggest benefit you usually get is tax deductable. However, deducting such small sums doesn’t help you much too. All other benefits, like member events, previews, VIP and private openings, membership appreciation events are not accessible. However, these minor donors may have so much love and commitment!

Of course, it’s easy to understand such logic. Running an art or culture organization is expensive and often risky, and finding a good donor is a great success. But a big donation doesn’t guarantee that the donor will stay with the company forever. Why not to pay attention to people who are really devoted? Maybe they never buy orchestra tickets, maybe they donate $50 or less  – but they have been doing this for years, and their total could be much greater than a single chunk of money from a person who is not really engaged in the organization life and projects.

So if I was a marketing person, or an art director, or a board member (sending my wishes to the Universe), I’d definitely track these little lights of commitment and involvement – the volunteers, the regular attendees, the donors who send $10 every other month – and give them a chance to celebrate and to be appreciated by the company they gave their big loving hearts to.