One of the phrases I often run into in the literature published by artistic organizations and opinions on websites everywhere is the oh so common phrase, "we need more funding for the arts."
Okay, I can buy that. But here’s my question: how much funding is enough? Can you name that number?
Because if you can’t, it means you probably don’t have a strategic plan or a specific goal. It also probably means you don’t really know what it is you are trying to do, and that may be why people are afraid to give you money.
A music school I attended, that shall remain nameless, just had a $100 million fund raising campaign. It was very successful; they raised $115 million. I just got another letter from them, telling me that they have a goal to raise another $3 million. When does this end? How do we define success? How much funding for the arts is enough? –
–jl
