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Succession Planning Case Study And Resources

April 20, 2026

by:

Joe Patti

Last week, CreativeWest hosted a high quality webinar on succession planning. The guest speakers were Roy Hirabayshi, a founder of San Jose Taiko, and Tom Clareson of the Bay Area Arts Readiness Network ond Lyrasis. (Slide decks of their presentations are available.)

Roy talked about the succession planning San Jose Taiko undertook when he and his wife PJ, the Executive Director and Artistic Director, respectively, decided to retire.

I recall hearing when they retired but I was unaware they had started their succession planning seven years prior. What I found valuable about Roy’s presentation was his discussion of all the things they considered. It wasn’t just internal factors like who would succeed them, what records and information needed to be passed on, and what the impact of losing the institutional memory of two of the founders departing at the same time.

They were also concerned about the local community, including the Japantown community in San Jose. Their relationship with taiko groups in Japan and across the US, relationships with donors and funders. They worked across the succession preparation years to cultivate relationships between their successors and these external entities so that there was a level of comfort and familiarity.

They also recognized that there was a need to pay attention to cultural stewardship elements, including musical instruments, scores, and preservation of cultural expression which they embodied.

Tom Clareson’s presentation was more focused on the perspective of what do you do when you don’t have a lot of time to prepare for leadership transitions. Many of his suggestions fell into the general practice of regularly documenting and updating plans, descriptions of procedures, using a standard filing and naming process so that successors have an easier time accessing and understanding what needs to be done.

Emergencies and disasters played a big part in his presentation as well. Even if there is no loss of personnel, having back-ups, redundancies, plans of action for continuing operations in the face of natural disasters, emergencies and technological crises is important.

He said they have added a new category known as Administrative Disasters which includes funding changes/cuts; reputational disasters, event cancellations, socio-political shifts, and succession planning, as areas non-profit organizations should prepare for.

His slide deck had a lot of resources and links related to these issues. Due to recent events he had a couple slides devoted to questions about how small organizations can do succession planning and maintain programmatic and collections management continuity during staffing/leadership gaps caused by the loss of federal funding.

Audience Relations, Boards, Government Relations, Info You Can Use, Leadership

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Are Donors Getting More Than What They Are Paying

April 14, 2026

by:

Joe Patti

Seth Godin recently wrote about his perception that people approach fundraising in the wrong way. He suggests that for the donor making a donation is just as transactional as buying a suite at a NY Knicks game or purchasing Super Bowl tickets.

Fundraisers can fall into the trap of believing that they’re asking for a favor or begging for a donation. But human beings, like all creatures, exchange time, money or risk in return for something. When that exchange is insufficient to cause action, we don’t do it.

[…]

The status and connection they buy is a bargain, worth more than it costs. In fact, if it wasn’t worth more than it costs, they wouldn’t buy it.

The fundraiser isn’t asking for a favor. They’re offering an opportunity.

Source

I am curious to learn what people’s perception of these thoughts are.

There is already a recognition that external audiences and communities often have a different perception and experience of our organizations than those of us who work within the non-profit sector.

For example, many aren’t able to easily discern between commercial and non-profit performing arts organizations and venues. While some people recognize the difference and are invested in the success of a non-profit’s mission, a fair number of people are engaged by whatever interests them at the time.

Is it the same with fundraising? Are people willing to give if they view what they get in return, be it tangible or intangible rewards, to be worth the price they pay?

Finance, Fundraising

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An A Corporation Affords Artists Alternatives

April 13, 2026

by:

Joe Patti

I had seen a post on LinkedIn celebrating a bill establishing Artist Corporations passing out of committee in Colorado. Since I had never heard of that before, I did some additional research.

It is no wonder I hadn’t heard the term before. If it passes the full legislature, Colorado will be the first state to offer this corporate structure. Artists living anywhere would be able to incorporate themselves in Colorado.

According to Colorado Public Radio the goal is to make it easier for artists to incorporate versus a traditional LLC. Though the A-Corp website has a tool to help people determine whether an A-Corp or LLC would be better financially.

The A-Corp structure ensures artists maintain at least 51% ownership in order to protect their interests and the work they produce.

It also provides an option that falls between a traditional LLC and the reporting burden of a 501 (c) (3) non-profit structure:

“Structurally, we are forced into a binary. Either operate as a traditional for-profit business, which doesn’t account for our public impact or protect us fully, or form a nonprofit, which often comes with administrative burdens that are not feasible for individual artists or small teams.”

Source

This feature appealed to a senator representing a rural district as enabling creatives to thrive while offering programs and opportunities to smaller communities.

Another possible benefit providing leverage in negotiating health insurance.

“It allows there to be more of a collective power where, for example, we can go to insurance companies and argue, ‘Hey, there should be a group plan for artists corporations. This is a great customer base for you to introduce a specific plan for,’” he said. “Whereas right now, artists have nothing like that.”

Source

Business Models, Government Relations, New Initiatives, Working In The Arts

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Argument For Not Dumbing It Down

April 8, 2026

by:

Joe Patti

In conversations about why people are not attending arts and cultural events and experiences the concept of the work being too complicated for people to understand or perhaps, more complicated than they are willing to make an effort to understand, is often raised.

Seth Godin addressed this idea in a post where he broke things down challenging readers to consider who are the people, what constitutes “complicated,” and what degree of understanding is necessary.

He suggests complicated “just might mean, “we don’t understand it yet.”

And that people don’t need a deep understand the workings of things like iPhones or appliances like refrigerators to see the value in those items.

The people who were moved by The Rite of Spring or Miles Davis or Esperanza Spalding might not have understood the music but it still succeeded.

People walk away when it’s not worth the effort to pay attention. People ignore innovation when the network effect is insufficient to overcome their fear. People rarely understand something the same way the creator does, but that’s okay.

Our first job is to do work that matters for people who care. It helps to follow that up with the scaffolding needed to cause cultural change, so the idea spreads.

Source

Many arts organizations have recognized that people often have an anxiety about not being able to understand what they are experiencing or grasp the arcane rules of behavior and dress. There will be attempts to communicate to people not to worry and come as they are, but as I referenced in my post yesterday, sometimes the other attendees aren’t on board with that messaging and demand stricter rules of behavior.

Sometimes the network effect of peers and others showing interest and investment in the experience can overcome those concerns, as Godin notes. But it is more likely, as he suggests, you will need to create a framework in which not understanding is not viewed as a detriment.

That may include creating a different context or lens through which the experience is viewed. Which could also involve the way it is marketed or positioned in relation to other events or physical settings.

It may also require communicating a change of perspective to more experienced attendees to encourage them to be your partner in encouraging the participation of newer folks.

Though it could require recruiting a new audience.

One thing Godin is adamant about is not dumbing content “down to reach people who don’t want to be reached in the first place.”

It is more a matter of what folks like Nina Simon have been advocating for over a decade – providing new doors through which people can enter and have an experience.

Audience Relations, Marketing/PR

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