Get Organized

If your marketing only works when you overextend yourself, that’s not a strategy, it’s a signal. This piece explores what it really takes to build a culture of marketing inside small nonprofit arts organizations so the work doesn’t depend on one person holding everything together.

We’re in week four of the 14-week Alignment Series, looking at the real pain points small nonprofit arts organizations run into and the opportunities sitting right beside them, especially when it comes to how we talk about marketing with the folks leading the organization.

Many nonprofit arts teams spend a lot of time explaining why their organizations don’t grow the way corporate businesses do. Not because they lack strategy, but because the ecosystem works differently. Revenue comes from multiple streams moving at different speeds. Audiences behave more like communities than customers. And growth often happens in waves, not neat quarterly lines. When we understand that, the conversation about marketing—and success—starts to change.

Marketing problems in nonprofit arts organizations are rarely just marketing problems. When programming, leadership, and mission priorities aren’t aligned, marketing teams get tasked with translating internal chaos into a clear public story. The result? Muddy messaging, confused audiences, and marketing blamed for a problem that started long before the email was written.

In large institutions, someone sets the strategy, and someone else implements it. In small and mid-sized arts organizations? You are interpreting everything.

Small arts organizations don’t fall because they lack passion. They fall because they’re fighting every battle like it’s the final episode. And right now, I’m seeing four patterns that are quietly costing teams money, trust, and well-being. Let’s talk about them.

Arts marketers are facing shrinking budgets, rising expectations, and growing pressure to communicate in polarized times—often without institutional support. Drawing on Arts Marketing Association research reported by Arts Professional, this article argues that organizational confidence, not individual resilience, is the missing infrastructure needed for ethical, sustainable arts marketing.

If you’ve ever worked in a small arts nonprofit, you already know what it feels like to be Elphaba before she ever touches that broom—doing the impossible with no applause. Balancing rehearsals, fundraising, newsletters, social posts, and board reports feels a lot less like “running a theatre company” and more like trying to keep Oz spinning with bubble gum and borrowed glitter.

After several seasons observing the human species (and binging Third Rock from the Sun for inspiration), I’ve come to a groundbreaking realization: audience segmentation, as Earthlings practice it, is deeply flawed—but not useless.

Don't miss out on the most loyal, event-attending, art-loving generation out there: Generation X.

If marketing has ever made you whisper, I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Congratulations. You are running a nonprofit.

In the grand desert of nonprofit work, marketing often feels like an unrelenting sandstorm—shifting priorities, endless to-do lists, and the ever-present question: “What are we even posting this week?” A content calendar is your stillsuit, designed to conserve precious energy and keep you alive in the face of chaos.

By following this workflow, you’ve automated outreach, built engagement, and created a sustainable marketing pipeline—all in about 6-8 work hours.

Picture it. It’s 2025, and you’re a performing arts nonprofit with four part-time employees. You’re about to launch a world-premiere musical theater production for children, Papa’s Pagris. You have seven months until opening night, a tiny marketing budget, and about a million things on your plate. How do you get eyes on your pre-production efforts? And, most importantly, how do you get butts in seats?

Okay, you’ve identified your overarching message, you know your audience, and your mission statement is solid. You’re ready to take the marketing arena by storm! Except… life happens.

In "Planning for Success Throughout the Year," Tanesha Ford, founder of For de Arts, outlines a "holistic marketing" framework designed specifically for small arts nonprofits. Rather than treating marketing as a series of isolated tasks, Ford encourages organizations to view their annual calendar as an interconnected ecosystem where early actions fuel later successes.

All nonprofits must have a mission, right? It’s the guiding principle that directs everything an organization does.