Sunsetting a nonprofit
The nonprofit arts organization was designed to be durable, not indelible.
“To live in this world
you must be able
to do three things:
to love what is mortal;
to hold it
against your bones knowing
your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go.”
—Mary Oliver, from “In Blackwater Woods”
Every now and again, a responsible nonprofit needs to question its own existence. Does its particular combination of people, stuff, and money still serve the purpose that inspired the enterprise? Does that original purpose still matter or make sense? If the organization’s resources were released back into the world, could something beautiful grow?
These are difficult and distressing questions. But if you deeply care about your mission, you have to be courageous and clear-eyed about the means by which you achieve it. The organization, itself, is among those means.
Some organizations never have this discussion because they assume that nonprofits are forever. It’s not a surprising assumption, since so much of the last 75 years of nonprofit policy and practice has been focused on stability – “encouraging small organizations to become larger and large organizations to seek immortality” according to sociologist Paul DiMaggio (Stern 2003).
Some organizations dissolve or disappear without much discussion – they run out of cash or capacity, or they run out of people to carry the torch.
But there are also examples of arts nonprofits that decided to dissolve, and took steps to do so with care.
Patrick’s Cabaret in Minneapolis chose to exit with grace in 2018, when it realized its operating model was no longer sustainable.
Experimental New York theater company SITI Company announced a two-year plan to shut down in 2020 after 30 years, with final productions in 2022.
ArtPlace America began its organization with a commitment to sunset in 10 years, and then met that commitment (see Cynova 2023 below for an audio interview with SITI Company and ArtPlace America on this topic).
This isn’t a conversation for every staff or board meeting. That would be depressing. But it is worth serious interrogation every few years, or at key transitions in your organization’s lifecycle. Even if you answer “yes” to the “should we continue to exist” question, you might discover significant changes that make your work matter more.
From the ArtsManaged Field Guide
Function of the Week: Program & Production
Program & Production involves developing, assembling, presenting, and preserving coherent services or experiences.
Framework of the Week: Nonprofit Lifecycle
All nonprofit organizations have natural lifecycles, from a grassroots idea to peak vitality to a turnaround (or termination). A few different frameworks approach this reality, and the strategy that lives around it.
Sources
Cynova, Tim. “Sunsetting Organizations.” Work. Shouldn’t. Suck. Podcast. February 15, 2023.
Le, Vu. “We Must All Think about Sunsetting, Not Just Foundations.” Nonprofit AF (blog), February 21, 2021.
Stern, Mark J. “Culture and the Changing Urban Landscape: Philadelphia 1997-2002.” Working Paper. Social Impact of the Arts Project. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania School of Social Work, March 2003.
Stevens, Susan Kenny. Nonprofit Lifecycles: Stage-Based Wisdom for Nonprofit Capacity. 2nd edition. Long Lake, MN: Stagewise Enterprises Inc, 2002.
Photo by Igor Kasalovic on Unsplash