Category Archives: Uncategorized

Our unique leadership model

By Anahita | Published: Apr 11 2017

by Jini Stolk Half way through a NPQ webinar on Nonprofit Leadership Transitions and Organizational Sustainability (which will be very helpful in planning our November 27th Creative Champions workshop on Succession Planning) it hit me. The performing arts has for years been using a shared or co-leadership model that the wider non-profit community has recently […]

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How and why people attend

By Anahita | Published: Apr 11 2017

by Jini Stolk The more you know about your audiences and why they attend, the more successful you’ll be at filling your house. That’s the theory. Not everyone is as immersed in research as I am. And that’s okay. The National Endowment for the Arts research paper When Going Gets Tough: Barriers and Motivations Affecting […]

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Reading and writing

By Anahita | Published: Apr 11 2017

by Jini Stolk I’ve been thinking recently about my favorite pastime, reading. It’s more than just a lifetime joy (although it certainly is that.) The proliferation of book clubs, across ages and other demographics, indicates that reading helps answer a deeply felt need for thoughtful discussion and exchange of views. Book Clubs for Inmates at […]

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The scope of our impact

By Anahita | Published: Mar 21 2017

by Jini Stolk “How the arts helped kill off the NEA — by trying to play the conservative “economic value” game”. The title alone of this piece caused me a few sleepless nights. It’s a cri de cÅ“ur from arts advocate Matt Burriesci who’s facing up to the reality “that the NEA and the NEH […]

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Remembering

By Anahita | Published: Mar 20 2017

I’d like to say a fond farewell to four wonderful women who had a great impact on my life, and whose loss in 2016 touched me deeply. Sandi Ross (1949-August 31, 2016)  Sandi was an actor, activist and force of nature. She was an early leading champion of diversity on stage and screen; an untiring […]

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Fundraising’s shifting sands

By Anahita | Published: Nov 02 2016

by Jini Stolk The Ontario Nonprofit Network’s Nonprofit Driven 2016 conference revealed an unexpectedly forceful consensus. It’s time for both government and non-government funders to move to trust-based grantmaking. Vu Le’s description  of a gradual shift to “a default starting relationship between funders and nonprofits (that) is one of suspicion” is as recognizable here as […]

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Merry and bright

By Anahita | Published: Nov 02 2016

by Jini Stolk Simone Joyaux makes a strong case for abandoning frenzied year-end fundraising in favour of a carefully planned 12-month strategy involving your whole organization (although read carefully for some excellent end of year tactics.) However, I know and you know that my real and virtual mailboxes are going to be flooded with holiday […]

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Regaining control

By Anahita | Published: Nov 02 2016

by Jini Stolk I don’t know about you, but I’ve been truly distressed by the political situation in the country below ours. Or maybe my spirits are low because of the changing of the seasons. Anyway, it’s time to pull myself together and stop watching CNN (forever); purchase an insulated jacket from MEC (available in […]

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People first

By Anahita | Published: Jul 13 2016

by Jini Stolk Those of us in the arts don’t need to be reminded that our most important resources are people: those who create the art, support the art, and engage in the art. But our work can be so intense that I think we sometimes forget to care for ourselves and each other. That’s […]

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Boards embracing fiscal oversight…

By Anahita | Published: Jul 13 2016

by Jini Stolk Or so we sincerely hope. A Fine Balance: An Arts Board’s Role in Financial Oversight and Responsibility on June 13 was another sold-out event from the Toronto Arts Foundation’s Creative Champions Network. Extremely wise words from keynote speaker Lois Fine (Director of Finance and Information Technology at YWCA Toronto and a playwright, […]

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