New book offers guidelines for managing, sustaining nonprofit theaters
Arts and culture are big business: In 2022, nonprofit arts and culture organizations generated more than $150 billion in economic activity, supporting millions of jobs and generating billions in tax revenue. How can nonprofit arts leaders turn their creative passions into sustainable business successes? A new guide for managers in the arts, as well as for teachers and students of arts administration, provides real-world strategies to help develop the entrepreneurial mindset necessary for leading and sustaining nonprofit arts organizations.
The book, Entrepreneurial Arts and Cultural Leadership: Traits of Success in Nonprofit Theatre, was coauthored by a researcher at Carnegie Mellon University and the founder and leader of a top U.S. theater company.
"More and more theatres and performing arts organizations are claiming to be looking for new business models," says Brett Ashley Crawford, teaching professor of arts management at Carnegie Mellon's Heinz College, who coauthored the book. "In our book, we outline what is needed for nonprofits to succeed and thrive."
Nonprofits worldwide are facing big challenges, including shifting audience patterns; lower responses from donors; and changing priorities in foundations, corporations, and government support systems. Using as a case study Bethesda, Maryland's Imagination Stage, one of the top U.S. theater companies for young people, the authors examine the leadership traits that drive innovation, adaptability, and long-term viability in the arts.
In their book, they offer insights on how leaders of nonprofit theaters can navigate financial instability, advocate for equity and inclusion, and implement sustainable business models. Among the topics addressed:
- Traits of success in the world of nonprofit theater
- The importance of entrepreneurship in arts leadership
- Considerations related to theater staff and board members
- Approaches to partnering with the community
- Advocating for the arts and the vision of the organization
- Balancing risk and opportunity
"We hope this book can help leaders and organizations adapt to the ever-changing economic and social conditions of the world today," says Bonnie Fogel, founder and longtime leader of Imagination Stage, who coauthored the book.
More information:
Summarized from the book, Entrepreneurial Arts and Cultural Leadership: Traits of Success in Nonprofit Theatre, by Fogel, B (Imagination Stage), and Crawford, BA (Carnegie Mellon University). Copyright 2025 The Authors. Published by Intellect. All rights reserved.
Provided by Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz College
