Monthly Archives: October 2013

Attention all start-ups!

By Anahita | Published: Oct 23 2013

by Jini Stolk We’re delighted to release our newest Creative Trust Open Source Tool Kit Developing the Organization, which includes information helpful to anyone involved in starting-up an organization or major new project. Developing the Organization focuses on Creative Trust’s one-year Development Phase during which we built the organizational infrastructure needed to launch our $6 […]

Posted in Organizational Development | Leave a comment

Checking our vital signs

By Anahita | Published: Oct 23 2013

by Jini Stolk The latest Vital Signs Report from the Toronto Community Foundation provides an interesting snapshot of where Toronto is at in 2013. Using stats and reports, it focuses on 10 “vital signs” of community well-being, such as Safety, Health and Wellness, Transportation, Environment, Jobs, Gap between Rich and Poor, Housing and Civic Engagement. Giving […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Making board meetings productive

By Anahita | Published: Oct 23 2013

by Jini Stolk An organization I chair recently tried out a new agenda format for board meetings. We’re liking it a lot. This simple PowerPoint layout helps concentrate the mind (as they say) on essentials and differentiates current issues needing discussion from work in progress; it also flags potential upcoming problems. I always loved writing my […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Finding a new leader

By Anahita | Published: Oct 23 2013

People come and go all the time in our community, and I’m noticing that some senior leaders are moving on this fall. I’m always sad when people I love and respect leave – but for the board members and managing directors tasked with replacing them, there’s little time for regrets: they need to act fast. […]

Posted in Organizational Development | Leave a comment

Sustainability, resilience or both

By Anahita | Published: Oct 08 2013

by Jini Stolk I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, again, about how to help arts organizations grow stronger. This time, I’m working with Charles Smith and CPAMO (Cultural Pluralism in the Arts Movement Ontario) to look at how to develop sustainable organizational support structures for CPAMO members and other Aboriginal and ethno-racial artists, collectives and […]

Posted in Organizational Development | Leave a comment

Hitting your numbers

By Anahita | Published: Oct 08 2013

by Jini Stolk I understand why the theatre community is feeling such a strong undercurrent of anxiety about audiences. After all, the New York Times recently ran an alarming piece on the National Endowment for the Arts’ 2012 public participation survey. Arts participation across the board dropped from 2008, but the most precipitous decline was in […]

Posted in Audience Development | Leave a comment

Supporting the arts in a time of change

By Anahita | Published: Oct 08 2013

by Jini Stolk I want to say a quick thank you to PACT President Eric Coates on his recent President’s Message calling for mutual support and understanding between emerging artists and arts organizations and the longstanding “institutions.” Surely, we’re working within an ecology of large and small, established and new companies – and as in […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Crowd fundraising: not as easy as pie

By Anahita | Published: Oct 08 2013

by Jini Stolk Everywhere I go these days, people are interested in new fundraising methods, especially crowd funding platforms like Indiegogo or Kickstarter. (Check out the Wikipedia article comparing the various services: it’s a surprisingly helpful starting place.) Smart people with good ideas are well aware that traditional funding sources are stretched thin. Our cultural entrepreneurs […]

Posted in Fundraising | 1 Response