A two-year strategic planning program for Holland-area nonprofits called “Capacity Building: Michigan Lakeshore,” will support 15 lakeshore cultural organizations toward long-term sustainability, growth and successful leadership.
The DeVos Institute of Arts Management (DVIAM) based at the University of Maryland is offering this national program to Holland to strengthen the arts and cultural institutions of West Michigan.
Funded by the Dick and Betsy DeVos Family Foundation, Capacity Building: Michigan Lakeshore will engage area organizations through events and in-person consultations for over 70 hours of learning and development over the next 24 months.
“The program has four components,” said DVIAM President Brett Egan. “It offers six intensive groups focused on key arts management topics such as strategic planning, fundraising, marketing and board development. Second, it will consist of four economic development roundtables in partnership with local convention leadership, tourism and economic development. It will consist thirdly of small group meetings with emerging leaders who will also participate in all program activities. And fourth, it consists of providing each of the 15 organizations with a long-term strategic plan.”
Egan will co-direct the lakefront program with DVIAM Chair Michael M. Kaiser, with whom he co-authored “The Cycle: A Practical Approach to Managing Arts Organizations” in 2013. This book will form the foundation of the program.” Capacity Building”.
“Arts and culture leaders often find themselves in their jobs without formal training,” he said. “So, unlike many professions, our sector is led by entrepreneurial individuals who do not have regular access to professional development and technical assistance.
“Our group was created to fill that void. And the need for this, in our view, has increased in a post-pandemic environment where the environment has changed radically over the past three years.
According to Egan, this program is a replication of a program that has been offered in nearly 30 American cities over the past 15 years, helping to build the capacity of community leaders.
DVIAM has advised over 2,000 individuals, organizations and foundations globally, including capacity building programs in Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Los Angeles, Louisville, Miami, New Orleans, New York City , Portland, Orlando, Puerto Rico, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, San Francisco, San Jose and Washington, DC, as well as international organizations in Croatia, Ireland, Vietnam, Trinidad and Tobago and England.
Having successful and sustainable arts and culture organizations is a key component in building strong communities, Egan said.
“Arts and cultural organizations are small businesses that employ people and produce a multiplier effect for the economy,” he said. “The average multiplier effect is about $4 for every dollar spent when you look at the economic return on investment. We believe that the arts and cultural organizations are, in their own right, valuable to communities in terms of producing social cohesion. But we also believe they are critical drivers for local economies, including creating and retaining jobs.”
According to the Michigan Council on Arts and Cultural Affairs’ 2021 annual report, Dutch arts and cultural organizations welcomed 143,153 visitors to the area, had 1,766 people volunteer or serve on their boards, and employed and/or contracted with 235 people. The same report listed the annual expenses of these organizations at $5,773,536 and the total annual income at $6,429,716.
Capacity Building: Michigan Lakeshore participants include:
- Culture Works Transformative Art + Design Academy
- Evergreen Commons
- Holland Area Arts Council
- Dutch Community Choir
- Holland Museum
- Dutch Symphony Orchestra
- Knickerbocker Theater (Hope College)
- Hope Repertory Theatre
- Latin America United for Progress
- Michigan Maritime Museum Inc.
- Ox-Bow School of Art
- Park Theater Foundation
- Saugatuck-Douglas History Center
- Tri-Cities Historical Museum
- Zealand Historical Society
These organizations, which responded to the DVIAM application, were selected to represent a wide range of disciplines and geographies in the Holland area, which had been identified by the Dick and Betsy DeVos Foundation as an area of interest.
According to Egan, the 15 nonprofits participating in the program can expect to see improvements in their fundraising skills, as well as revenue development operations, audience building, leadership and the ability to attract volunteer leadership to t supported them.
“There are benefits for the organizations themselves, but in terms of the wider community, we really believe that arts and cultural organizations are job generators,” he said. “They are generators of social cohesion and understanding. So there are hard and softer community benefits that we believe come from culturally strong nonprofits, and we would expect those results to be increasingly legible because of the good work of these organizations in the Netherlands.
The program, which began last month, will continue until August 2024.