Twice a month, WolfBrown shares its consultants’ thoughts and insights via its What On Our Minds newsletter. In the February 8 edition, senior consultant Jane Culbert explores a new report commissioned by the Duke Charitable Foundation highlighting  “bright spots” in today’s nonprofit sector. Three Knight Arts grantees were singled out in the report and Culbert’s column: The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Trey McIntryre and the Opera Company of Philadelphia. Click here to read Cublert’s piece, click here for a link for the study and read below for an excerpt.

Culbert writes:

“Even more interesting than the report are the opening remarks that Holly Sidford (one of the report’s authors) gave at the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation conference last April. She describes three of the “bright spots” from the performing arts that were identified through the research: the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, whose new mission is to develop “a passionate audience for the orchestral experience,” Trey McIntyre, a dance company centered around creative community engagement, and the Opera Company of Philadelphia, which focuses attention on American composers and performers. Each of these organizations has identified and implemented more dynamic modes of interaction with their constituencies. To my mind, considering specific examples brings the theoretical practices to life! While the kind of organizational change they represent is not easy and cannot happen overnight, the principles described can be adopted and new ways of thinking can be developed that may help organizations overcome at least some of the difficulties they face.”