Sustain The Impact in Nonprofit Art Organizations

In the Forces for Good, the author summarizes three critical elements to sustain impact in nonprofit organizations. I will take my internship in nonprofit art organization this summer, so I focus on how to apply them in art organizations.

People: develop a people strategy and invest heavily in top performers.

Capital: find the right sources of funding.

Infrastructure: invest in overhead, despite the pressure to look lean.

The last one is explained as "they needed to invest heavily in information technology, buildings, or management systems and build their own organizational capacity". The most significant difference between nonprofit art organizations and others is that they need someone has more knowledge in art (specific fields) than management skills. How to communicate between two groups of people is a tough question. Interestingly, in the organization I will work in, the bridge is internship student.

Internship students are divided into three groups: one for art, one for funding, and one for both. I belong to the last one. Two groups of people are in charge of different things: daily operations and fundraising. By this way, everyone in the organization can understand everything fast. It is a kind of leadership sharing. Moreover, everyone can play to their strengthen in the organization.