Leading for a Legacy

Money! From small projects to giant ones, the ability to raise money in the cultural nonprofit sector is crucial to growing and thriving. But, how do you go about it?

In this episode we talk with Paul Johnson, the founder and president of Creative Fundraising Advisors, about how directors and other leadership should start with vision as a means to solid fundraising practices. Paul Johnson has over three decades of experience in development, and in just the last five years he and his team have raised over a billion dollars for their clients. Through examples including the evolution of the Art of the Islamic Worlds project at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and a major campaign for St. John's College, Paul reflects on the ways working with communities, listening to communities you serve, and focusing in on where you want to go, are all key to successful campaigns.

We end on a cliffhanger, so be sure to catch the follow up episode with Paul coming soon.

How do you celebrate wins? What is an exercise or a task that can be done with your team to explore personal differences or to talk about identity? How can leaders connect with peers?

We may have taken a little break, but we're back! This week we head back to a quick fire conversation with Lori Fogarty, Director and CEO of the Oakland Museum of California, for a conversation with practical insights for leaders at every level.

As Lori shares in this episode: "I have never in my entire career been on such a steep learning curve as I am this moment... I feel I'm a student always."

What happens when you decentralize authority, blend departments, and challenge traditional structures in museums? How can we rethink what it means to put museum resources to work in service of our communities? And, who should have a voice in shaping the future of an institution?

This week I talk with Lori Fogarty, Director and CEO of the Oakland Museum of California. We get into her personal leadership style, how she has worked to reshape the structure of the organization, the hard work of really examining your diversity and equity practices and some of the amazing projects her team has been working on during this time of political and social unrest.

What happens when two cultural nonprofits with a shared history (and shared audiences, donors, and larger communities) decide to join forces? And, what does this transition look like in the context of an ongoing pandemic? In this episode, we talk with Nat Sheidley, President and CEO at Revolutionary Spaces in Boston, Massachusetts, about how he led his team through a merger of the city's Old State House and Old South Meeting House. From developing board task forces to really understanding where a new mission and vision could take the organizations once they came together under one umbrella, Nat and his team are delivering innovative approaches to history and have committed to exploring what "We the people" can really mean.

Learn more about Revolutionary Spaces at revolutionaryspaces.org.

What should you ask an assistant to take off your plate? What should new leaders think about when building a board? I'm back with Alice Greenwald, president and CEO of the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, for a short quick fire episode. If you missed our longer interview head back to episode one.

How would you go about building a new museum in a politically heated moment and aimed at telling the story of one of the nation's greatest tragedies? How would you rally staff and board to make the endeavor a reality? Join me as I talk with Alice Greenwald, CEO and President of the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, about what it took to imagine and realize the museum - located in the footprints of the original World Trade Center in downtown Manhattan, seven stories below grade. From the importance of working with communities to a vision of creating experiences through storytelling, as well as ongoing adaptations during the pandemic, we explore how Greenwald's leadership style has evolved and lessons she's learned along the way .