News Article

Main Page Content
Amercicans for the Arts Hosts Two Events
January 29, 2015

Please register/mark your calendars for two upcoming Private Sector events sponsored by Americans for the Arts.

February 23 Americans for the Arts Conference Call: Making Major Asks

The nation's largest source of private sector funds is not being tapped by most arts organizations–and there’s a chance you may be included in that group. Join Americans for the Arts and guests from Richmond, Virginia for a free February 23 conference call to learn more about how you can take better advantage of this untapped private sector resource.

Virginia Commonwealth University’s (VCU) Center for Urban and Regional Analysis (CURA) recently researched arts organizations in Richmond, Virginia–one of the nation’s top ten test markets–and found that most have little ability or track record with soliciting major gifts from individual persons.

A simultaneous Richmond report documented the success of a 12-month learning/mentoring/doing program–the Moose Management Academy–that transforms the abilities of arts organizations to get major gifts.

During this call you’ll learn research details, as well as steps to help your own arts organizations get major gifts, from four key leaders: VCU Center director John Accordino; Academy director John Bryan (AFTA’s 2012 Selena Roberts Ottum Awardee); Jeff Schreifels (senior partner of Veritus Group); and Academy associate director Candace Mraz (director of development for SPARC, a Richmond arts organization).

No registration is necessary; all you have to do is dial 605-475-4825 #255988 on February 23 at 3pm eastern. We hope you’ll join us!

Guest Speakers

  • John Bryan, retired president of CultureWorks (Richmond’s local arts agency), and now director of the Moose Management Academy (derives from “moves management” which is a major gifts strategies term).
  • John Accordino, director of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Center for Urban and Regional Analysis.
  • Jeff Schreifels, principal and co-founder of Veritus Group, national consulting firm that focuses only on major gifts, and partner with the Moose Management Academy.
  • Candace Mraz, director of development of SPARC (performing arts organization in Richmond), graduate of inaugural class of Moose Management Academy and now associate director of the Academy.

March 4 Webinar: The Arts and…Arts?

Arts partnerships are often where you least expect it, though sometimes that ends up being right in front of your nose. We know about the power of connections through things like the Arts and Healthcare, the Arts and Tourism, etc., but what about the Arts and...Arts? This webinar will focus on for-profit and government entities whose business is the arts, and how they’re giving back to the non-profit community and creative industries. We’ll hear examples and case studies from two presenters that make giving back to and strengthening the arts community a cornerstone of their work. Our first guest will be Kerry Adams Hapner, the Director of Cultural Affairs for the City of San Jose. Through a number of programs, the city supports local artists and entrepreneurs to strengthen the local creative economy, and the city itself. Cheri Sterman, the Director of Education & Consumer Relationships at Crayola, will join us as our second guest for a discussion of the company’s Champion Creatively Alive Children. The program offers mini-grants to elementary schools that partner with local arts organizations to support innovative creative leadership professional development to increase the creative capacity of the school. Remember that webinars are free for Americans for the Arts members! Click here to register: http://www.americansforthearts.org/events/webinars/the-arts-and%E2%80%A6arts?delta=0.