INSIGHTS & IDEAS
The Catalyst Lab
Perspectives on audience-centered strategy, cultural impact, and the future of arts institutions, drawn from Jim’s 30+ years inside and alongside them.
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The Record Says Ticket Buyer. The Person Is Someone Else.
The next article in a series about why the strategies that used to work don’t work the same way anymore, and what that means for…
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We Promise Transformation. We Measure Satisfaction.
Another article in a series about why the strategies that used to work don’t work the same way anymore, and what that means for every…
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The Fundraising Conversation Nobody’s Having
Last year I gave $100 to an organization in crisis. They were in emergency fundraising mode. Facing a real threat. I believed in what they…
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Auto-Renewal Won’t Save Subscriptions
“Run it like a business.” If you’ve worked in nonprofit arts long enough, you’ve heard this. From board members who came up in the corporate…
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The Half of the Subscription Problem Nobody Fixed
A subscriber opens the renewal notice. It arrives around the same time every year. Same format, same language, same urgency. Nothing about how the current…
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Why Audiences Are Skeptical (And Why That’s Fair)
This is the sixth article in a series about why the strategies that used to work don’t work the same way anymore — and what…
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The Effort You’re Already Making (and Why It Isn’t Working)
This is the second article in a series about why the strategies that used to work don’t work the same way anymore—and what that means…
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The Budget that Changed Everything (Except the Playbook)
You’re sitting in your office on a Tuesday afternoon, staring at next year’s draft budget. The numbers don’t work. They haven’t worked in three years,…
