Art Biz Voice: To Give or Not to Give, Simple Guidelines

Dear Mr. Trump,

I’ve been away from my blog this week working on some of my charity work.  I really feel that charity work is incredibly important but of course not at the expense of the business. I look at charity work as an integral part of my work ethic and my business plan. 

Because I am an artist I am in a unique place to build my brand while helping some worthy causes I believe in. I can help them fund raise while building their reputations and also build what I call foundational care for daily expenses. I occasionally will help fund raise  for animal charities, many of whom are sanctuaries and rescues. I also try to occasionally work with charities that help people in crisis as well.

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Sometimes these sanctuaries and rescues fail, usually, because of poor planning and too much repeat dependence on fund raising for their daily expenses. When they fail there comes a huge rift between them and the public trust.One misstep in planning and animal care due to a bad economy can lead to a spiraling decline in donations. The animals in their care suffer because of lack of donations. No one wants to be associated  with failing animal charities or animal charities that raise huge sums of money only to euthanaize the majority of the animals they bring in. It is even worse when the leaders of these charities have suddenly stopped all fund raising efforts because they simply didn’t know what to do or they have lost interest because it is so overwhelming to them.

As a result of the change in the giving practices, I think, mostly due to the tight economy,  I have put together a set of guidelines for all the charities I consider working with. I of course adapt them slightly for newly created organizations.

What I consider before I give to or work with a community

1. Persons involved in The Charity already support my business.

2. The Charity has good business practices, including foundational support for every day expenses.

3.The Charity is highly visible with regular community access and education. It has a good reputation for service and available programs that reach out to the community.

4. The Charity has  active highly visible fund raising programs through out the year  that maintains a steady flow of nurtured and new support for the organization. The face( generally a person) of the organization is active in fund raising and building community support continuously.

5. The Charity has a transparency policy with public financial accountability. This means proof the money is being spent on what it is collected for.

6. The Charity not only nurtures givers, it nurtures and values its volunteers. This includes a reward for effort program and training program  for volunteers.

7. The  Charity sees my work as valuable and protects the investments my collectors. They not only understand that how they present the work during fund raising determines the value they also know how to get top dollar and increase the value of my work to benefit themselves.

8.  I agree with the objectives of The Charity and how they are implemented. Their work ethic, how they carry it out and the pride they take in their events and location, all play a part in their reputation. If  I disagree with their objectives, I don't want my name associated with their organization. If the actions of  The Charity are completely different from the objectives or they lack professionalism and polish then I don't  offer to support them.

Its so much easier to support people who appreciate your efforts.


Have a great weekend
~Linda

ArtBizVoice: In Mentorship Language is Everything

Dear Mr. Trump,

 As an artist, I speak the language of Artists. We sometimes speak little; sometimes in long flowery phrases of description, that translate into color and brush strokes. As a Journalist and Writer, I speak the language of a reporter, asking too many questions and trying to build pictures in my head of details and minutia, that I can share through the written word.  As a business person, I understand a growing vocabulary each day; however. I still have conceptual trouble trying to  think outside of my emotions and into practical successful business practices. When I translate business language into a picture its easier to understand.

This is where I think we artist’s always run into trouble. We are conditioned to solitude, with extreme explosions of creativity, that demands focus in order to do our best work. If we work totally alone we actually develop a language set that only we understand. If we are lucky, we also have an assistant who understands it too.

The small amount of time we have outside of the studio requires, at least for me, direct concise answers to our questions so that we can let the information process in our brains. Then we can come back into the conversation at a later time and correct the problem or adapt to a business process we didn’t understand before.

Convincing some business people to give us the non-idioms, strait talk version of a concept in “every day people” language is sometimes very difficult. Especially, if the person talking expects us to understand what they are saying the first time and dismisses the us if  we don’t understand.  It can be even worse if the business person is trying to impose their preferences on a very creative person who’s skills sets run to non-conformity, especially if it seems to be conformity for conformity’s sake. Artist's often understand the nuances of business but have little knowledge of the lingo.

This is one reason I think that mentorship is really important. A good mentor realizes the creativity, out  of the box thinking and exuberance of the artist .  A good mentor speaks in direct simple terms that  answers each question while still being factual and tactful at the same time. A good mentor is going to recognize the process the artist uses and help them translate good business practices into it. A good mentor will not only give practical help, they will also learn from the person they are mentoring.

Understanding that creative emotion can translate into good successful business, can have a healthy out come, without the frustration of communication breakdown, because people don’t understand one another. All that it really takes is the desire to make it happen and a mentor with the ability and willingness to view things from a new perspective he or she had not thought of before. (Artist tend to be trained that way already)

My thoughts and prayers are with all of those in the North East today who are still without power after the snow.

Blessings,

~L

ArtBizVoice: My Audience and What they Need.

Dear Mr. Trump,

I took a couple of days off writing to ponder my purpose again. It’s a luxury I have at the moment because I have a number of projects going. I did take a break because someone questioned the wisdom of my using this format as a way to reach out to people like myself and to find a possible mentor.

The people I am trying to reach are people who are creative, don’t really understand the nuances of being an entrepreneur, they have no mentors who understand the challenges they face as sometimes they are the first in their families to go into business. My target for these blog posts are people who recognize your name because you have a media presence that most in business do not have.

My writing these letters to you gives people who need the information a key into the locked door of the business world they might not find any other way. You have name recognition to those on welfare, stay at home moms, disabled, people who have lost their jobs. They understand that you are an entrepreneur and a successful business man living the dream. They see the result of your education, experience, the people who mentored you but they simply don’t know how to get from where they are to becoming successful like you.

The questions they have are not answered by The SBA, SCORE or most business associations or state funded employment councilors because many of those councilors have never lived the challenges.

The people I’m trying to share with don’t have access to mentors, educators and others who have learned how to navigate the zero dollar start up business and operate it on a shoe string.  These are creative people, many of them living in poverty, many of them reach out to people like myself who have had experiences and came before them. Their only access is what they see on TV and what books they find when they shop at a store like the Dollar Tree or a Thrift store. Fortunate is the one who finds one of your books in either of these places or in a public library.

In this day and age people need practical help, not pat answers from people who haven’t been there. I heard on my local radio station this week that the number of first time entrepreneurs is the fastest growing sector in the economy this quarter. I think people are seeking it because of so many who have lost their jobs and industries over the last 4 years. People need this help. If they cant find work, they need to create their own job. They need to know what is possible, why and how to get there even in spite of their insecurities.

So, Mr. Trump, until you tell me not to write to you like this, I am going to continue to use the format to reach out to people and share what I know, what I have learned and where I have found to get the answers.

Thanks for being there.
~L