MARKETING THE ARTS

MARKETING is such a crucial ingredient to successful enterprise development. This is a valuable tool for anyone within the arts interested in how marketing can help. Craft Victoriahttp://craft-victoria.blogspot.com/2011/06/craft-victoria-ceo-joe-pascoe-on-arts.html is an excellent example of a non profit organisation that has developed a multi-layered mechanism for showcasing art and craft. The store is a must see next time you are in Melbourne.

Life is never dull when you are working in the arts. With announcements of funding cuts from everyone from the State Government to ABC Television, there is a rumbling going on amongst arts organisations and artists.

I am hearing conversations about sharing resources, looking for new funding avenues and other ventures that can build income. While it's a challenging time, it's also an exciting opportunity for us all to lift our heads and start talking to each other. Rather than scrambling for the same bits of money, perhaps there are other answers.

For me, there is a lovely relationship between all my roles at the moment. My work as a private consultant led me to TRA and the role of managing Branching Out, the social enterprise project. This then led to working with the Institute for Regional Development as Research Associate on the Tasmanian Social Enterprise Study. TRA's CEO is on the advisory group for this project and continues to show a strong commitment to social enterprise in Tasmania.

This is particularly evident through the partnership with Tasmanian Council of Social Services (TasCOSS) where we sought funds to bring Dr Ernesto Sirolli to Tasmania. His approach was supporting what we were finding through our connection to the state. Since then we held the first Trinity of Management training in the state with involvement from a broad range of organisations and we hope to fund at least 2 social enterprise facilitators for Tasmania to work across sectors, including the arts. It's an interesting model that focuses on enabling the environment around social enterprises and making things happen. So, watch this space as we work with a range of partners and stakeholders to build on the momentum of Branching Out and the work of others in the social enterprise sector.

Branching Out on Social Traders

http://www.socialtraders.com.au/news/2010/03/branching-out-social-enterprise-and-arts

Learning from the Non Profit Sector

The npEnterprise Forum is the global,moderated, free listserv of almost 7500 subscribers who discuss practical ways social enterprises (SEs) can advance their social or environmental missions through entrepreneurial strategies. Regardless of your affiliation -- nonprofit, forprofit, hybrid, government, or individual entrepreneur -- if you're interested in social enterprise, you're welcome here. According to the Social Enterprise Alliance, a social enterprise is any organization (or activity within an organization) that "harnesses the power of the marketplace to solve critical social or environmental problems."

The benefits of sharing

An excerpt from research into the benefits of shared spaces by community, arts and others...
TROY, Mich. – When the Michigan Nonprofit Association, Michigan Association of United Ways and the Food Bank Council of Michigan move into new quarters in the state capital this fall (2011), they will be part of a growing trend: nonprofits co-locating under one roof. The nonprofits’ headquarters in Lansing, Mich., will be among more than 250 such centers in the United States and Canada.

Co-location centers come in all shapes and sizes. Some provide support such as bookkeeping, information technology and print and mail services in addition to office space. Brotsky cites a few examples:

• Arts Court in Ontario is a historic landmark building owned by the local municipality. A hub for Ottawa artists and audiences, Arts Court is home to a consortium of 26 arts and cultural organizations that save thousands of dollars a month in rent by sharing office and rehearsal space.
   
• The Alliance Center in Denver is home to 27 nonprofits. Half of those tenants work in the environmental field. The center and its tenants have helped pass more than 100 pieces of sustainability-related state legislation in just two years.
   
• Children & Family Services Center in Charlotte, N.C., is a nonprofit center with 11 organizations co-located to better serve the children and families. In addition to coordinating services, the center has expanded into shared back-office services including information technology, human resources and finance staff.

Social Entrepreneurs

Interesting article in the New York Times about Social Entrepreneurs. People interested in this field now have the opportunity to learn on the job via the School for Social Entrepreneurs in Sydney and now Melbourne. It's a coupe for those of us who have worked across sectors, and hopefully there will be some future options to access these and other courses for those of us living in Tasmania.

SOCIAL TRADERS

Set up around 3 years ago, Social Traders is a non profit organisation whose mission it is to support the emerging and established social enterprise sector. While some of its programs are focused on Victoria, such as The Crunch, many have relevance Nationally. Today I met with its Director, David Brookes to find out more about what they are doing and the potential opportunities in linking to the work in Tasmania.
Funded by the Victoria Government and a private donor, this fantastic team are working hands on with social enterprises, research organisations such as the Queensland University of Technology and others who are working in the field.
The resources they are developing include the Social Enterprise Builder; a step by step tool to developing a social enterpise and the Social Enterprise Finder; a listing of social enterprises across the country.
Leading the way in many respects, Social Traders is a useful and practical resource for those toying with the idea of social enterprise and those who want to build their ventures.