Past Workshops
Monthly Workshop Series
Linking Money to Mission – A Workshop for Nonprofit Arts Organizations
Led by Jennifer Dickinson and Jina Paik, Nonprofit Finance Fund
This introductory workshop on nonprofit finance is designed for Executive Directors, other senior staff, and Board Members of New York City based, nonprofit arts organizations. The workshop will engage participants in a discussion about how to incorporate financial goals into planning for a vibrant and viable future.
Using real-life examples, the workshop will help participants develop a stronger understanding of nonprofit accounting, their organization's current financial dynamics, and to work toward financial planning processes that consider underlying business models, and the full cost of providing healthy programming.
About the Workshop
The goal of this workshop is to help arts leaders develop and use financial information to make better (and often difficult) decisions; to better communicate financial information to supporters, funders, and board members; and to familiarize participants with the range of services available through Nonprofit Finance Fund. Topics covered include:
- Review of key concepts in nonprofit finance
- Interpreting your financial statements to reveal the business models underpinning your programs
- Learning how the choices you make impact your organization’s financial health and viability over the long term
- Articulating your organization’s financial resource needs internally and to stakeholders
Nonprofit Finance Fund is pleased to present Linking Money to Mission with the generous support of Morgan Stanley in conjunction with Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.
Who can attend?
Executive directors, senior staff, and/or board members of New York City-based, arts nonprofit organizations can register. Two attendees per organization is strongly encouraged, preferably by staff and board members. Twenty-five organizations will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.
Workshop is free, but space is limited and registration is required. &&Registration will be available on Tuesday, January 10th, at 12PM.&& To access the registration link and for more information, please visit our website.
Date & Time:
Wednesday, January 25, 2012; 10AM - 1PM
Location:
Lower Manhattan Cultural Council
125 Maiden Lane, 2nd Floor
This event is at capacity.
To keep up to date on all LMCC opportunities and events, including upcoming workshops, please sign up for This Month, our monthly email newsletter.
Panel Discussion: Artist & Entrepreneur
Artists are becoming increasingly recognized as entrepreneurs. But how are artists actually using business tools and practices to start their own artistic enterprises and advance their own artistic goals? This event will feature real-life experiences and strategies of three artists, and a moderated discussion on related challenges, lessons and rewards.
Featured artists: Matthew Deleget, Stephanie Diamond, Caroline Woolard
Moderated by Amy Whitaker
Date & Time:
Thursday, October 27, 6:30-8:30PM
Location:
Lower Manhattan Cultural Council
125 Maiden Lane, 2nd Floor
Event is free, but RSVP is required.
This event is at capacity.
To keep up to date on all LMCC opportunities and events, including upcoming workshops, please sign up for This Month, our monthly email newsletter.
Workshop: Building and Cultivating Relationships with Individual Donors
Led by Dara Silverman, Fundraising Consultant
Good fundraising is all about real connections, conversations and relationships, while fundraising from individuals is becoming more important than ever. Individual artists and small grassroots organizations may face particular challenges in knowing how to start. This workshop is designed to help participants learn how to strengthen and grow the base of relationships for themselves, their arts organization, or art project for today and years to come. Ideas will be shared to participants on relationship building, fundraising, templates for tracking current and prospective donors, and tools to share with their team or board for successful fundraising.
Two non-sequential workshops will be offered, each accommodating 30 participants. The first workshop will be for individual artists and the second for representatives of small arts organizations.
Dates & Times:
Workshop for Individual Artists:
Monday, September 26, 6:30-8:30PM
Workshop for Small Arts Organizations:
Tuesday, September 27, 6:30-8:30PM
Location:
Lower Manhattan Cultural Council
125 Maiden Lane, 2nd Floor
This workshop is at capacity. To keep up to date on all LMCC opportunities and events, including future workshops, please subscribe to our mailing list.
About Dara Silverman:
Dara Silverman is a consultant, organizer and trainer who has worked to build movements for economic, racial and gender justice over the past 20 years. She was the Executive Director of Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ) from 2004-2009. Prior to her work at JFREJ, Dara worked with United for a Fair Economy, Neighbor to Neighbor and on various local and national campaigns across the country. Her work has been published or featured in the New York Times, Tikkun, Zeek, Heeb, Curve, the San Francisco Bay Guardian and Righteous Indignation: A Jewish Call for Justice and co-authored The Love and Justice in Times of War Haggadah.
Dara has extensive experience developing and planning campaigns, grassroots and individual donor fundraising, strategic planning, and board development. She is currently consulting with the Clean Air Coalition of Western New York, Families for Freedom, the New York Foundation, the Excluded Workers Congress, the Grassroots Institute for Fundraising Training (GIFT), and countless individual activists and artists.
TNT: Training, Networking, and Talks is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the New York State Council on the Arts, and The Joan Mitchell Foundation.
Workshop: Grantwriting Basics for Artists
Led by: Kay Takeda, Director, Grants & Services, LMCC
Individual artists face significant challenges in fundraising, whether the focus is on projects or opportunities to support their artistic development. One of the biggest challenges includes writing clear and informative grant proposals. This 90-minute workshop will cover the basic components of most grant proposals, providing tips and exercises to help make future proposals more effective.
Grantwriting Basics for Artists is offered each summer as part of a three-month focus on fundraising technical assistance, intended to help artists & arts professionals to leverage their abilities to prepare successful grant applications.
Location:
Lower Manhattan Cultural Council
125 Maiden Lane, 2nd Floor
Workshop is free, but space is limited.
This workshop is at capacity. For more information about upcoming LMCC workshops and events, please subscribe to our e-newsletter.
Workshop: Budgeting 101
Led by: Haowen Wang, Program Manager, Grants & Services, LMCC
A budget is a planning tool. Yet for many artists, the process of building a budget is unfamiliar, and can seem complicated or confusing. In this workshop, participants will learn how to construct a line item budget that represents anticipated expenses and income for a sample artistic project. The session will also include a review of basic budgeting terms and concepts, and address the importance of balancing and reconciling actual costs to your budget. Budgeting 101 is offered each summer as part of a three-month focus on fundraising technical assistance, intended to help artists & arts professionals to leverage their abilities to prepare successful grant applications.
Date & Time:
Thursday, July 21, 2011, 6:30PM-8:00PM
Location:
Lower Manhattan Cultural Council
125 Maiden Lane, 2nd Floor
Workshop is free, but space is limited.
This workshop is at capacity. For more information about upcoming LMCC workshops and events, please subscribe to our e-newsletter.
The Funding Ecosystem: What You Should Know Before You Start Fundraising
Led by Kay Takeda, Director, Grants & Services, LMCC
This workshop reviews basic information that artists need as they begin to research and apply for grants. The session will review types of funding sources, frequently used terms in fundraising, what happens once your application is submitted, and processes to follow and understand from the initial inquiry through receipt of a grant. The goal of this workshop is to prepare artists to understand and better navigate the range of funding resources available to the field.
The Funding Ecosystem is offered each summer as part of a three-month focus on fundraising technical assistance, intended to help artists & arts professionals to leverage their abilities to prepare successful grant applications.
Date & Time:
Wednesday, June 29, 6:30-8PM
Location:
Lower Manhattan Cultural Council
125 Maiden Lane, 2nd Floor
Workshop is free, but space is limited. RSVP is required.
This workshop is at capacity and registration is now closed. Please subscribe to our online newsletter for information about upcoming workshops.
Create Your Own Artist Website With WPFolio & WordPress
Led by Michael Mandiberg, artist, designer & educator
This workshop will provide artists with the basic skills to create, update & maintain a personal website with WPFolio, a free and open source website theme on WordPress. Step-by-step instructions will be provided to install and configure a portfolio website while participants follow along on their personal laptops. At the end of this two-hour workshop, participants will be able to leave with a basic working portfolio site, ready to be updated with future contents.
WPFolio is built by media artist Steve Lambert and a team of open source developers and designed for artists like you.
Dates & Times:
Workshop 1: Wednesday, May 25, 6:30-8:30PM
Workshop 2: Thursday, May 26, 6:30-8:30PM
Location:
Lower Manhattan Cultural Council
125 Maiden Lane, 2nd Floor
Workshop is free, but space is limited.
This workshop is at capacity and registration is now closed. Please subscribe to our online newsletter for information about upcoming workshops.
Making the Transition to Being a Teaching Artist - A hands-on workshop
Led by Annie Montgomery and Michael Wiggins, Teaching Artist Group:
Teaching Artists new to the K-12 arts education field are faced with countless questions: Where do I look for work? What should my resume look like? What's the best way to write a lesson plan? How much should I expect to be paid? In this interactive workshop, two veteran teaching artists address these essential questions as well as provide practical steps, approaches, and strategies to developing a teaching art practice. Through interactive dialogue, role-play and discussion of best practices in resume writing, lesson planning and classroom management, participants will be armed with the essential tools and information they need to enter the field. This workshop is a follow-up to last April's panel discussion on becoming a teaching artist.
Workshop Date & Time:
Tuesday, April 26, 6:30-8PM
Location:
Lower Manhattan Cultural Council
125 Maiden Lane, 2nd Floor
Workshop is free, but space is limited.
This workshop is at capacity and registration is now closed. Please subscribe to our online newsletter for information about upcoming workshops.
Work Sample Dos and Don'ts
Led by LMCC's Grants & Services team
In order to access funding, residencies and other professional opportunities, artists are often required to submit work samples for consideration. Who reviews work samples? How are they reviewed? How important is formatting? Context? Our interactive workshop will cover these issues and provide a series of examples from a range of artistic disciplines that will allow participants to consider what makes a work sample compelling and why.
Date & Time:
Thursday, March 24, 2011, 6:30PM
Location:
Lower Manhattan Cultural Council
125 Maiden Lane, 2nd Floor
Promote Yourself! An Introduction to Public & Media Relations for Artists
Led by Heidi Riegler, Founder & Principal, RIEGLER MEDIA | MARKETING
As an artist you create art, but if you want your art to be seen or heard, you have to think about how your work will reach its audience. Understanding public and media relations is an essential part of a successful communications campaign that will garner press coverage and visibility for your art project and for yourself. In this free, three-part workshop, participants will learn how to develop targeted PR and media plans, craft written press materials, and reach out to the media.
Session 1: Public & Media Relations Basics
An overview of the key aspects of public and media relations, and a discussion of the dos and don'ts of working with media. This lecture will be led by a PR professional working in the arts and draws on the perspectives of various media specialists, including journalists, and critics. A resource packet will be provided, containing reference materials, educational handouts, and useful tips to continue developing skills.
Session 2: PR/Media Plans, Press Releases & Pitches
A follow-up, hands-on unit for 20 participants selected by lottery for the full three-session intensive only. The unit focuses on how to write press materials, develop effective press releases and pitches, and create a traditional and social media plan for your own project. Come prepared with a one-page description of you and your project.
Session 3: Honing Your Message
The final hands-on unit for 20 participants selected by lottery for the full three-session intensive only. The unit features individual PR planning consultations with the instructor as well as group exercises to hone press releases and verbal pitches that artists have prepared after Session 2.
Date & Time:
January 26, 2011, 6:30 – 8PM
February 16, 2011, 6:30 – 8:30PM
March 2, 2011, 6:30 – 8:30PM
Location:
Lower Manhattan Cultural Council
125 Maiden Lane, 2nd Floor
Uptown/Downtown: A Conversation with Performing Arts Presenters
Moderated by Sydney Skybetter, Choreographer and Producer of DanceNow NYC
Panelists: Laura Greer, The Apollo Theater; Kate Peila, Dance New Amsterdam; Jay Wegman, Abrons Art Center; and a representative from Harlem Stage
Join us for a lively panel discussion with the program directors of four Manhattan-based performing arts venues to discuss a variety of topics such as curatorial interests, identifying and supporting emerging artists, the requirements for a successful artistic partnership, and balancing the complex concerns of artists, institutions, the field, and the public. Other topic discussions include the future of presenting performing arts and how crucial relationships with artists will evolve. This panel will include a live Q&A, which will also be accessible virtually.
Date & Time:
Monday, November 1, 2010, 6:30-8:30PM
Location:
Dance New Amsterdam, 280 Broadway, 2nd Floor Entrance on Chambers Street
Working With A Fiscal Sponsor: A Panel Discussion
Moderated by Mary Six Rupert, Consultant, Dancer & Dance Educatof
Panelists: Kevin Augustine, Lone Wolf Tribe; Diane Debicella, Fractured Atlas; Elena M. Paul, Esq., Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts
A fiscal sponsor is an organization that agrees to act as a non-profit umbrella for an individual or group, receiving tax-deductible donations and grant funds on their behalf. What opportunities does fiscal sponsorship open up for artists and emerging organizations? How is fiscal sponsorship structured and are there any best practices in working with a fiscal sponsor? This discussion will gather diverse perspectives from a legal expert, a sponsorship provider, and a sponsored artist to provide practical recommendations and to clarify common misunderstandings of fiscal sponsorship.
Date & Time:
Wednesday, October 27, 2010, 6:30PM–8PM
Location:
Lower Manhattan Cultural Council
125 Maiden Lane, 2nd Floor
Making Temporary Public Art & Performance: What Artists Need to Know
Led by Erin Donnelly, Special Projects Consultant, LMCC and Independent Curator
As luxury towers rise, storefronts vacate, and new public spaces are designed, community and street life have become more important than ever. Artists have the opportunity to connect with civic life through the creation of temporary public art. What kinds of resources are available to guide you in making temporary public art in New York City? What essentials must you plan for in order to realize your project? This talk will introduce such resources as well as address such logistical and legal matters as securing locations, obtaining permits and insurance.
Date & Time:
Wednesday, September 22, 2010, 6:30PM–8PM
Location:
Lower Manhattan Cultural Council
125 Maiden Lane, 2nd Floor
TNT: Training, Networking, and Talks
Working With A Fiscal Sponsor: A Panel Discussion
A fiscal sponsor is an organization that agrees to act as a non-profit umbrella for an individual or group, receiving tax-deductible donations and grant funds on their behalf. What opportunities does fiscal sponsorship open up for artists and emerging organizations? How is fiscal sponsorship structured and are there any recommended best practices in working with a fiscal sponsor? This discussion will gather diverse perspectives from a legal expert, a sponsorship provider, and a sponsored artist to provide practical recommendations and clarify common misunderstandings of fiscal sponsorship.
Date & Time:
Wednesday, October 27, 2010, 6:30PM–8PM
Location:
Lower Manhattan Cultural Council
125 Maiden Lane, 2nd Floor
Making Temporary Public Art & Performance: What Artists Need to Know
Led by Erin Donnelly, Special Projects Consultant, LMCC and Independent Curator
As luxury towers rise, storefronts vacate, and new public spaces are designed, community and street life have become more important than ever. Artists have the opportunity to connect with civic life through the creation of temporary public art. What kinds of resources are available to guide you in making temporary public art in New York City? What essentials must you plan for in order to realize your project? This talk will introduce such resources as well as address such logistical and legal matters as securing locations, obtaining permits and insurance.
Date & Time:
Wednesday, September 22, 2010, 6:30PM–8PM
Location:
Lower Manhattan Cultural Council
125 Maiden Lane, 2nd Floor
Budgeting 101
Led by: Haowen Wang, Program Manager, Grants & Services, LMCC
A budget is a planning tool. Yet for many artists, the process of building a budget is unfamiliar, and can seem complicated or confusing. In this workshop, participants will learn how to construct a line item budget that represents anticipated expenses and income for a sample artistic project. The session will also include a review of basic budgeting terms and concepts, and address the importance of balancing and reconciling actual costs to your budget.
Date & Time:
Tuesday, August 31, 2010, 6:30PM–8PM
Location:
Lower Manhattan Cultural Council
125 Maiden Lane, 9th Floor
The Funding Ecosystem: What You Should Know Before You Start Fundraising
Led by: Kay Takeda, Director, Grants & Services, LMCC
This workshop reviews basic information that artists need as they begin to research and apply for grants. The session will review types of funding sources, frequently used terms in fundraising, what happens once your application is submitted, and processes to follow and understand from the initial inquiry through receipt of a grant. The goal of this workshop is to prepare artists to understand and better navigate the range of funding resources available to the field.
Date & Time:
Tuesday, July 20, 2010, 6:30-8PM
Location:
Lower Manhattan Cultural Council
125 Maiden Lane, 9th Floor
Grantwriting Basics for Artists
Led by: Kay Takeda, Director, Grants & Services, LMCC
Individual artists face significant challenges in fundraising, whether the focus is on projects or opportunities to support their artistic development. One of the biggest challenges includes writing clear and informative grant proposals. This 90-minute workshop will cover the basic components of most grant proposals, providing tips and hands-on exercises to help make future proposals more effective.
Date & Time:
Tuesday, June 15, 2010, 6:30-8:00PM
Location:
Lower Manhattan Cultural Council
125 Maiden Lane, 9th Floor
TNT: Training, Networking, and Talks is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. TNT is also supported by New York State Council on the Arts and The Joan Mitchell Foundation.
