For a Select Few Twentysomethings, It’s White Wine and Cheese, Not Red Bull and Vodka
It’s one thing to cultivate wealthy young arts supporters to ensure a future stream of funding.
It’s quite something else to give them leadership responsibilities at family arts foundations.
In a fascinating piece in last Sunday’s Arts section, the New York Times profiled a couple of twentysomethings who have been handed the reins and “are being groomed … to take over the family business, so to speak — that business being arts patronage.”
Their position is a rare one. Not many people have a foundation in the family. But the journey ahead of them poses some interesting questions. It is one thing to pass on a casual appreciation of the arts, but can one also pass on a lifetime commitment? How does one learn the ropes? And how do foundations integrate the sometimes different priorities of younger and older members?
As someone who writes not only about nonprofits but also about family businesses, I find this … well, trend is too strong a word, so let’s call it a situation … awfully intriguing. For the foundations in question, these moves are smart ones, provided the young leaders have the chops. For family businesses, succession is often a huge issue — who takes over when Mom’s ready to step aside? Similarly, nonprofits are facing the conundrum of how to entice fresher blood into the sector, not only as foot soldiers but also as leaders. Additionally, by bumping younger, committed patrons into senior leadership roles, the foundations position themselves to begin cultivating donors who may lack the resources now to give substantially but will be able to pony up, in time and money, much more in future years. After all, it will be their peers who have been soliciting them for all those previous years. | 501(c)
Related Stories
POSTED IN: Foundations, Leadership
0 opinions for For a Select Few Twentysomethings, It’s White Wine and Cheese, Not Red Bull and Vodka
No one has left a comment yet. You know what this means, right? You could be first!
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: