6 good reasons why artists should work with local nonprofits

When you're starting out as an arts entrepreneur, charitable giving may be low on your list of priorities.  After all, it's hard enough to find the time and money to grow your own business.  Why would you give them away?

This past Friday, I had lunch with my local Inter-club Council, where folks from several dozen nonprofits pitched their upcoming events.  As I enjoyed my egg salad sandwich and listened to the list of concerts, bowl-a-thons, silent auctions, spaghetti dinners, house tours, and other fundraising events, I couldn't help noticing how often the arts were part of the draw.

Here are just a few ways helping others could help your arts business:

• Create name/brand recognition.  This is especially true if you continue to support a particular charity regularly over time.  Your name/brand becomes associated with that cause or event, and people who feel strongly about it will feel good about supporting your business.  

• Show them what you can do.  If you produce tangible art objects, donate a few of your best items to silent auctions.  People will remember and recognize your work at fairs, in galleries, and online when it's time to shop for gifts--especially if you've included a stack of business cards.  If you're a performing artist, volunteer to participate in a benefit concert.  People who enjoy your show will be more likely to buy tickets to your next one.  (You can also sell your CDs and have people put their names on your mailing list.)

• Generate foot traffic.  If you have a brick-and-mortar business, one good way to get people into your store is to donate gift certificates to silent auctions.  If someone pays good money for a $25 certificate, chances are they will make a point of visiting your venue before it expires.  And while they're there, they will probably buy more merchandise than the certificate is worth.  They may even bring along a friend, and they will probably tell others about their experience (so make it a positive one!).

• Network with community leaders.  The people who run charitable organizations are often well connected in their communities.  By meeting them, you could be opening doors to all sorts of unexpected opportunities.  Look for an organization whose mission you're also passionate about, and consider joining and actively participating in it, to the extent that your schedule allows.

• Get a warm, fuzzy feeling.  For better or worse, artists often have a love-hate relationship with money.  Yes, you want to make a living doing what you love (or you wouldn't have started a business), but not at the cost of compromising your principles.  Working with nonprofits offers a chance to give back, to make a difference in your community, and to focus on something besides the bottom line.  What's more, you'll have an appreciative audience for your work.

• Save money on advertising.  Rethink the time and money you've budgeted for advertising and move some of it to charitable giving.  After all, which business would you rather patronize--the one whose ad shows up unwanted in your Facebook feed, or the one that's owned and operated by someone you've sold raffle tickets with, someone who shares your passion for helping others, someone you know and trust? 

There's no shortage of good causes out there, and they all could use a hand.  Find one that's a good fit for you, and ask how you can help.

Oh, and if you're looking for a place to let the good times roll on Fat Tuesday, come out to Lily's Seafood in Royal Oak.  I'll be the one in the butterfly mask handing out Mardi Gras beads and selling raffle tickets.

Art, imagination, and Anthropologie

Brushstrokes on canvas dominate this window display at the Anthropologie store in Somerset Mall outside Detroit.  The single outfit is balanced by text that emphasizes aesthetics and values. (Photo by Denise Vultee)

As artist/entrepreneurs, we use our imaginations to envision new works and bring them to life.  The resulting creations are our "products," but they're not just widgets; they're a part of who we are. And it can be frustrating when the public doesn't share our visions or recognize the value of our creations.

We sometimes forget that, often, what our potential clients and customers need is not so much a product as an experience. And the more we can do to create experiences that help them satisfy their own need for creative self-expression, the more they will see the value in what we are offering.

Case in point: Anthropologie.

The consumer as artist

Anthropologie has a reputation for inspiring passionately loyal customers--this despite its high prices, and the fact that handmade and one-of-a-kind items vie for display space with mass-produced Chinese imports.

The obsession, it seems, is mutual: Anthropologie managers can tell you all about their ideal customer, right down to the books she reads and the music she listens to.  They refer to this customer as their "friend," but a better description might be "collaborator" or even "co-creator."

When Anthropologie was founded in 1992, its approach to retailing was distinctively nontraditional, even quirky.  A decade later, designer Ron Pompei recalled:

"We wanted to create an experience that would set up the possibility of change and transformation, where the visitor's imagination was just as important as that of the designer.... People would start to connect the dots in their own way and tell themselves a personal story."

The strategy appears to have paid off: The chain now boasts 187 stores in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. that are helping to keep its parent company, Urban Outfitters, afloat.

#AnthroWindows

Most recently, Anthropologie's focus on the customer's imagination can be seen in this month's collection of themed window displays, which the brand's official blog describes as "a celebration of late winter’s painterly palette, reimagined as graduated colour wheels, radiant swatches and artist’s studios."

Props like unfinished canvases and vintage tools subtly invite passing shoppers to enter a fantasy world in which they themselves can become artists--or where they can at least get a privileged glimpse into the magical spaces where art takes shapes.

The "painterly" theme continues in a second window, with multiple canvases and a weathered easel flanking a pair of outfits.  (Photo by Denise Vultee)

Shoppers who linger to admire these gorgeous displays will notice the following message, tucked away in the corner and rendered in fonts that mimic hand printing and cursive handwriting:

WHY COLOR? because it makes THE WORLD BIGGER, unveiling all that IS POSSIBLE.  #ANTHROWINDOWS

The implication: All the pretty window dressing is in the service of a much bigger (if vaguer) cause than mere commerce.  And by using the convenient hashtag, shoppers can become part of that cause by sharing their own unique experience of the (highly photogenic) scene in front of them.  (As of this writing, there are more than 3,500 Instagram posts using the "#AnthroWindows" hashtag.)

The takeaway for arts entrepreneurs?  Don't sell a product; sell an experience.  Let your customers do some of the work--especially the work of imagination.