Category: Help Yourself

Orchestras have met the pandemic with heightened creativity and innovation. And that’s particularly true for fundraising, since orchestras have had to amplify their giving programs to make up for dramatic reductions in box office and other earned income. As concert performances resume and emergency funding and special, one-time gifts are being spent, orchestras continue to rely on increased fundraising to balance the budget. How to maintain and grow fundraising programs while earned revenue finds its footing? On Tuesday, November 16 at 3:00pm Eastern/Noon ​Pacific, the League of American Orchestras will present Emerging Challenges and Solutions in Orchestra Fundraising, a 60-minute webinar in which Bob Swaney, founder and CEO of Robert Swaney Consulting, Inc., will discuss emerging best practices for orchestra fundraising and actionable steps toward financial sustainability.

Emerging Challenges and Solutions in Orchestra Fundraising takes place on Tuesday, November 16, 3:00pm Eastern/Noon Pacific; a recording will be available after the live webinar. The League is offering 50% off registrations to staff of NYC arts organizations, thanks to the generosity of the Howard Gilman Foundation and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Learn more and register for the webinar here or contact League Member Services at member@americanorchestras.org.

The ​new edition of Symphony, the League of American Orchestras’ ​award-winning magazine, tackles today’s most pressing issues. The Delta variant and shifting COVID-19 infection rates mean that vaccine and testing mandates, plus masking and social distancing, are being implemented for orchestra audiences, musicians, and staff. Symphony reports ​on how orchestras are adopting health protocols to keep everyone safe at in-person concerts. An in-depth article reports that although musicians of Asian descent are often highly visible onstage, that representation has not translated into equitable roles behind the scenes or at the creative level. This issue charts the new roles that musicians at orchestras are taking: commissioning and performing new music, curating performances, and as soloists. In Symphony, members of the classical music community remember conductor Michael Morgan, whose commitment to music education, community connections, and social justice transformed orchestras. Also in this issue: pops artists who perform with orchestras reveal how they have fared during the pandemic, what they have missed, and what they have planned for the season ahead.

Check out the latest issue of Symphony at www.symphony.org.

As orchestras begin to resume performing for live audiences, fresh opportunities to innovate have emerged in the new landscape of ticket-buyer behavior. On Wednesday, October 20 at 3:00pm Eastern/Noon Pacific, the League of American Orchestras and TRG Arts will present “Returning to Performances with Live Audiences,” a 60-minute webinar that examines emerging best practices around building and retaining audiences during this rebound season. Moderator Eric Nelson, client engagement officer at TRG Arts, will be joined by panelists Kristen E. Bennington, director of marketing and communications, Virginia Symphony Orchestra; Kate Hagen, senior consultant, TRG Arts; Susan Hoffman, executive director, Peoria Symphony Orchestra; Jill Hurwitz, chief marketing officer, Grant Park Music Festival; and Priscilla Slaughter, director of development and patron engagement, Peoria Symphony Orchestra.

Learn more and register to watch “Returning to Performances with Live Audiences,” on Wednesday, October 20, 3:00pm Eastern/Noon Pacific. The League is offering 50% off registrations to staff of NYC arts organizations, thanks to the generosity of the Howard Gilman Foundation and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. If you can’t attend the webinar live, register to receive the recording. Questions? Contact League Member Services at member@americanorchestras.org.

Making up the governing body of an orchestra, board members are responsible for ensuring the health of the organization—and it’s important for board members to stay fully informed. The League of American Orchestras has updated its Noteboom Governance Center, which offers a comprehensive range of resources, tools, strategies, and programs designed to strengthen governance practice in orchestras, including the new League guide on how orchestra boards can advance equity, diversity, and inclusion.

The Noteboom Governance Center was created in recognition of former League Board Chair Lowell Noteboom, honoring his longstanding commitment to improving governance practice in American orchestras. Visit the Noteboom Governance Center at https://americanorchestras.org/learn/governance.

The League of American Orchestras has released the results of its field-wide Health and Safety Policies and Planning Survey, which reports on the vaccination, testing, and masking requirements that orchestras have in place for musicians, staff, and audiences for this fall. More than two hundred U.S. adult and youth orchestras across a range of orchestra budget sizes participated in the survey, which was open from August 25 to September 10, 2021. Some top-line findings include: 82% of responding orchestras (excluding youth orchestras) reported either a mandatory vaccination policy or testing requirement for their musicians; 73% of responding orchestras have either a mandatory vaccination policy or testing requirement in place for their office staff; 41% of all responding orchestras, including youth orchestras, reported either a mandatory vaccination polity or testing requirement for their audiences. Read the complete Health and Safety Policies and Planning Survey here.

Now more than ever, it is critical that nonprofits partner with donors to help them fulfill their philanthropic goals with gift planning that is mutually beneficial to the organization and the donor. With this in mind, the League of American Orchestras is launching the League Legacy Society, a comprehensive new gift-planning program that will support the League’s essential work for orchestras for generations to come.

Planned giving enables individuals who care deeply about the League of American Orchestras’ mission—to support orchestras and champion the contributions they make to create healthy and vibrant communities—to fortify the League’s critical work beyond one lifetime. Planned gifts ensure that the League will continue to be:

• The orchestra community’s indispensable voice and public policy advocate.
• The industry source for professional learning, leadership development, and civic engagement.
• The nation’s lead orchestra storyteller.
• And more…

To learn more about the League Legacy Society, make a planned gift, or discuss your intentions for planned giving, contact Samara Ungar, Director, Annual Fund and Gift Planning, at 646 822 4008 or sungar@americanorchestras.org. Visit www.americanorchestras.org/plannedgiving for more information.

The League of American Orchestras has received a $2.1 million leadership gift from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to continue work through the League’s Catalyst Fund, a grantmaking program designed to develop and strengthen equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) practices in American orchestras. The new grant follows an initial gift of $2.1 million that the League received from the Mellon Foundation in 2019 to fund a three-year pilot program that provided grants to 49 orchestras. The new Catalyst Fund Incubator program, modeled after incubators in the technology sector, will provide 20 orchestras with: three years of support totaling $75,000, enabling them to work with an EDI consultant to conduct activities that assist the orchestra in achieving a more equitable, diverse, and inclusive organizational culture; a peer learning community that includes online and in-person discussion forums, and convenes formally two times per year; a sequenced curriculum to support orchestras in building capacity to create and sustain an organizational culture that facilitates inclusivity; and mentorship and guidance from faculty and guests, League staff, and EDI experts.

League member orchestras meeting the eligibility requirements have until October 22, 2021 to apply for The Catalyst Fund Incubator program. Grants will be announced in December 2021. Learn more and apply at americanorchestras.org/learn/grant-programs/the-catalyst-fund-incubator/.

After more than a year of canceled, postponed, or reimagined performances, U.S. orchestras, arts groups, presenters, and agents have resumed programming and planning for the 2021-22 season—only to find the U.S. is not quite ready to open its borders for all international artists. How to understand the latest visa policies and travel restrictions?

In “U.S. Artist Visas and International Travel in the Age of COVID: Latest Update,” a free 75-minute webinar on Thursday, September 9, experts from Tamizdat and the creators of ArtistsfromAbroad.org—the Association of Performing Arts Professionals and the League of American Orchestras—will describe what it takes to secure U.S. artist visas and navigate COVID-19 travel restrictions right now. They will also cover what the current and long-term policy environment means for seeking more equitable opportunities to support international cultural activity.

Learn more and register to watch “U.S. Artist Visas and International Travel in the Age of COVID: Latest Update” on Thursday, September 9, 3:00pm Eastern/Noon Pacific. If you can’t attend the webinar live, register to receive the recording. Questions? Contact League Member Services at member@americanorchestras.org.

While contributed income for arts organizations has held steady across the past 20 years, the number of donors making donations has declined, creating a riskier landscape for arts groups. On Wednesday, August 25, at 3:00pm Eastern/12:00pm Pacific, the League of American Orchestras will present “Redefining the Donor Proposition,” a 60-minute webinar examining the results from Advisory Board for the Arts’ extensive quantitative initiative to understand the motivations of arts donors. In the webinar, Advisory Board for the Arts Founding Partner Michael Mael and Chief Research Officer Pope Ward will discuss how their research provides new insights and opportunities for development leaders willing to redefine their value proposition to address the evolving needs of donors.

Learn more and register to watch the “Redefining the Donor Proposition” webinar on Wednesday, August 25, at 3:00pm Eastern/12:00pm Pacific. If you can’t attend the webinar live, register to receive the recording. Questions? Contact League Member Services at member@americanorchestras.org.