Artful proposal writing for effective fundraising

In the “Proposal Writing” sessions with Tracy Kaufman of Candid, the 2023 GLI Cohort delves into the world of artful fundraising. Kaufman shows how written proposals stand the best chance by aligning three elements — 1) Financial and impact data that bring to life the credibility of the plan 2) Language tailored to address the values of the prospective funder […]

The difference between good and excellent…

The Global Leaders Institute takes a deep dive into the “Customer Journey” concept under the Brand Management for the Arts module led by  Renaud Legoux of HEC Montréal Business School. One of the “Customer Journey” concept’s central themes is engagement. Through case studies focused on the arts, class reading shows how creative organizations can improve engagement by creating […]

Stakeholder personas: eye of the beholder

Professor María Ballesteros -Sola of Cal State Fullerton, College of Business and Economics explores the concept of ‘Stakeholder Personas’ with the GLI Fellows. ‘Stakeholder Personas’ are conscientious representations of stakeholders involved in an enterprise’s activities. Depending on the enterprise, stakeholder personas can range from clients, beneficiaries, participants, and audience members to sponsors, service providers, employees, suppliers, etc. Carefully constructed, […]

Lean methodology in an arts enterprise context

In the GLI’s Operations Management module guided by Tim Kraft (NC State Poole College of Management), 2023 Cohort Members explore, adapt, and apply LEAN manufacturing methodology to an Arts context. LEAN manufacturing first arose in the 1980s as a tool to simplify processes and minimize waste in the Japanese automobile industry. Founder Haruo Shimada observed a […]

Building consensus: Leading change in creative teams

How do you lead change within a creative team? GLI Fellows focus on this question with operations experts Tim Kraft of NC State Poole College of Management and Andrew Gonce of Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals in their Change Management Module. By analyzing case studies, the 2023 Cohort extracted a range of insightful takeaways — I. BUILDING CONSENSUS TO EVOLVE Change management […]

Customer discovery through the lens of Social Science

To find opportunities that others miss, Arts Innovators must be experts in perceiving the world through as many lenses as possible. It’s not enough just to know the creative world. Arts leaders must also be able to decipher the world through the perspectives of social science, economics, psychology, operations, service, design, communication, education, technology, and […]

The fallacy of the perfect Business Plan

In the “So You’ve Got a New Idea, Now What?!” course led by Frank Rimalovski (NYU Entrepreneurial Institute), GLI Fellows learn about “The Fallacy of the Perfect Business Plan” to understand why the majority of new ventures (75% of startups according to Harvard Business Review) tend to fail. The fallacy exposes certain assumptions derived from conventional business practices […]

Impact + Viability = Sustainable Solution

In the GLI’s Financial Management for Enterprises Module, led by instructor Leah D. Barto of Endeavor explores the rise of hybrid social organizations. The past 15 years have increasingly seen mission-focused enterprises using commercial strategies to scale their social impact goals. This new generation of endeavors is far less dependent on subsidies than their predecessors, […]

Finance brings your business model into focus

In The Global Leaders Institute’s ‘Key Concepts in Financial Management’ Module, lead instructor Eva Heinstein of the Mandel Institute for Nonprofit Leadership reveals how financial health is essential to the mission of arts organizations. In this module, GLI Fellows learn to look at the big picture of financial management for arts organizations, exploring how financial […]

Hindsight no longer leads to foresight

It is tempting in arts management to rely considerably on personal experiences. As we proudly participate in the advances and contributions our generation offers to the arts, we find wisdom and comfort in “known knowns”, a shared understanding of areas that are little subject to change. In these situations, it is often enough to assess, […]