Is it OK for me to sit this one out?
Dear CP, I founded a small business in the art world several years ago, and I’m committed to contributing a percentage of my annual revenue to causes that align with my values. I’m a longstanding donor to a national arts nonprofit based in the city where I live, and as part of my annual contributions this year, I’m sponsoring a paid fellowship for a young arts professional through this organization. I recently received an invitation to the organization’s annual fundraising event, followed by direct outreach from a board member encouraging me to attend. (By the way, attendance requires a further contribution to the organization.) I believe the work this organization does is significant in ways that align with my values, but I don’t want to go to this event. I’ve attended many times before, and I’ve never found it to be enjoyable or productive. I’m also disappointed that the art world seems to be going straight back to doing all of the same things we used to do before Covid. Are big benefit events even relevant any longer? Why don’t organizations just use donations for their programs rather than these big events that are so exclusive and wasteful? And although I seem to be one of the few remaining people who is still nervous about Covid, I also don’t think it’s wise to be in a room full of unmasked people for several hours. Is it OK for me to sit this one out, or would you advise that I adjust my mindset, purchase my ticket, and show up?
Since this is an advice column, I’m going to address your last question—your most direct request for advice—first, and then I’ll offer a few thoughts on your first two questions, which are somewhat more… philosophical and programmatic.
I’m impressed by your commitment to tithing, whether it’s religious or secular. It sounds like you take this commitment seriously, and serious commitments require boundaries. That’s going to look different for everyone. Some donate money to causes to increase their social capital (and “protect” their wealth) behind a veil of beneficence. Others feel a moral imperative to support others once their own needs are met, regardless of public recognition. It sounds like you identify with the latter group. You’ve sponsored a fellowship through this organization, which sounds like a substantial contribution to this nonprofit’s programs. Based on what you’ve shared with me in this letter, it sounds like you’ve upheld your financial promise to yourself and to this organization. You do not sound like you expect anything in return, such as being thanked publicly or entertained at the organization’s fundraising event. In my opinion, this is reasonable. Add in Covid, and it seems to me that you sitting this one out is justified; cases are on the rise again in many cities around the nation, and we know from CDC guidelines that large indoor events can indeed lead to outbreaks.
My recommendation is that you politely decline the invitation to the event, letting the organization know that you have their support but are not inclined to attend such events due to Covid protocols. If you have the means and would like to make an additional gesture of support to the organization, you could cover the cost of a ticket for someone who wants to attend and who is comfortable with the Covid circumstances but who does not have the resources to purchase a ticket on their own.
As for your other questions: I understand that they are somewhat rhetorical, but I think they’re interesting, so I’m going to weigh in with a couple of thoughts. First: Are big benefit events relevant any longer? In my opinion they are both more relevant than ever and more irrelevant than ever. Our community is all about in-person experiences: encountering and witnessing and participating with art; intellectual engagement with others’ ideas expressed at walkthroughs, lectures, and panel discussions; and social exchange with folks in our community with whom we often have complex relationships that oscillate between the professional and the personal. We were denied much of this in-person, experiential participation for a very long time, for a very good reason. Gathering, from this perspective, seems more relevant than ever. On the other hand, we are facing racial, social, economic, professional, and environmental problems that have remained unaddressed for far too long. Benefit events embody some of these issues in ways that are just so glaring that it’s somewhat shocking (though not very surprising) to me that organizations are going right back to business as usual with these events. The issues they highlight render them irrelevant, in my opinion, but they’ll remain relevant as long as people keep showing up to them without asking questions about what the organizations are doing to address systemic inequities. If those questions are asked and addressed, maybe our support structures for the arts will undergo substantive transformation.
Next: Why don’t organizations just use donations for their programs rather for these big events that are so exclusive and wasteful? Most museums and arts nonprofits rely on fundraising events for a portion of the revenue they need to generate to support their operations. Institutions and organizations also use these events to raise awareness about their work, build their brands, and build community by recognizing honorees at gala events, for instance. I think it’s important to remember, too, that the history of the arts in America is also the history of economic and social mobility. Many of our arts organizations were founded by a handful of extraordinarily wealthy individuals, and fundraising events have always played a role in the social circuit of America’s wealthiest citizens. Even as art organizations have become more “public” over time, the concept of benefit events is so deeply entrenched that they are perceived as necessary rather than optional. Nell Edgington at Social Velocity has another perspective on how nonprofits might reconsider and reconfigure revenue streams by shifting the development mindset from fundraising to financing.
We know that the financial efficacy of these events is debatable. Vice president of of the Center for the Future of Museums Elizabeth Merritt is quoted in an article by Tayler Defoe in Artnet saying, “The fact is that many museums have annual ‘fundraising’ events… that don’t actually make a profit once you count in the staff time needed to run them.” I agree with you that these events are exclusive; they are so by design, so as to raise as much money as possible. And I also agree that they can be wasteful, using all kinds of resources that are already too scarce. Having worked at two museums over the course of a decade, I can say from personal experience that they are incredibly draining on staff, demanding nearly year-round work, not only from development teams but from a variety of staff across the institutions. And along with art fairs and global shipping, our industry’s insistence on benefit events contributes to the climate emergency. My take on it is that the art world loves to hate and hates to love an art world party. Working behind the scenes to develop governance; increase staff fulfillment and retention; build community; and influence policy that would make museums truly public institutions is a lot less glamorous than museum directors, philanthropists, and the occasional celebrity smiling for cameras at high-priced invitation-only events.
As you can probably tell from my responses to your questions, I am not convinced that we are doing our best as a society to support the arts. I’m critical of the structures we currently have in place. And yet, my husband and I recently purchased tickets to one of these very events. It’s not one of our city’s highest-priced events, but it’s still a reach for us. But we want to give back, and we know enough about the organization and its governance that we believe that our contribution will be used in ways that align with our values. We are taking a “yes, and” approach to what we give back, and it sounds like you are, too. Yes, we can bring critical conversations, and we can support the causes that support our communities.
