Welcome to ELAN’s Blog Salon! All week we’ll be featuring articles from ELAN members around the theme of “My Life in Art”. Members will talk about their lives as artists, arts administrators and arts supporters.
Time to hear Meghan Burke’s insights from the world of development on how we can better support the arts.
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Ever since humans started creating art, there have been patrons, donors, and sponsors to ensure the artist’s creativity was nurtured. This relationship between the artist and patron is what I have decided to dedicate my career to: development.
Development and fundraising work is an integral cog in the nonprofit machine. It helps cultivate an interest, audience, and most importantly funds for nonprofit organizations through employees sharing their passion for the organization. I personally am drawn to the field because of the work focusing heavily on building relationships with community members of all ages to spark interest in an arts organization. I look forward to helping people discover new passions, definitions, and interest for art through patronage.
Currently, fundraising is at an interesting crossroads in the twenty-first century. Traditional methods of cultivation through direct mailings, radio and television advertising, 
and print media are now in competition with the various donation tools the internet has to offer. Social media, crowdfunder campaigns such as Kickstarter, and online donation software are becoming increasingly important tools to use to reach a wider audience. Development departments have to keep one foot in the pre-digital age and one in the digital age to cater to all demographics of arts patrons.
The one tool I think is most important is a user friendly way to donate on the company’s website. With the landscape of the non-profit field being constantly altered by technology, having an online presence can make or break an organization. The most basic web tool for a
non-profit is an easy, accessible website. This sounds simple, but surprisingly it takes a lot of strategy and manpower to maintain a successful website that can attract, accommodate, and intrigue potential and current donors. Personally, I think that the layout is the most important aspect to a website’s survival. With visitors having a wide range of technological skills, each will be looking for different things in a website’s layout. Allow for easy navigation for visitors who want more in-depth information but at the same time make it easy for lower skill level, visitors to find what they need quickly.
Through having interesting website copy, a blog or place to share research, results, and successes, a money trail so visitors can see that their donations are making a difference, new and fresh content, and finally an easy and secure place for visitors to make a donation, a website allows organizations to use several development techniques in one place, making things easier for the patron and the organization. An organization can thank its sponsors, keep patrons updated on the progress of various projects, and allow visitors to make donations from the comfort of their home. The fundraising tool kit has not changed, just the medium used to connect with the donor. I look forward to see how the Development field changes and adapts in the future.
Meghan Burke will be graduating with a Master’s degree in Arts Administration in June. She hopes to find a job in development in the Chicago area. She enjoys Motown music, craft beer, and art museums.
