Marketing Moments | Small Org, Big Magic

“Defying Gravity: What Wicked Can Teach Small Arts Nonprofits About Using AI Without Losing Their Soul”

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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.

Using AI tools to create nonprofit marketing content

Too many tasks. Too few hands. And an audience waiting for magic.

That’s where AI can step in—not as a replacement for your artistry—but as the broom that helps you rise a little higher.

Because you’re not asking for a wizard. You’re asking for some workflow.

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Think of AI as Glinda’s Spellcraft, Not the Wizard’s Illusion

AI tools (ChatGPT, Canva Magic Write, Copilot, etc.) aren’t here to make you fake it ‘til you make it like the Wizard behind the curtain. They’re here to amplify what you already have—your mission, your storytelling, your impact.

For small arts nonprofits, AI can:

✨ Draft your first pass of a press release (you edit for accuracy + voice)

✨ Turn your mission into email copy that speaks to real humans

✨ Generate headline ideas when your creativity is as drained as Fiyero’s character arc

✨ Segment audiences so your emails don’t shout into the void like a lonely chorus girl

No illusions. No smoke machines. Just support.

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“Elphaba Energy” Tasks AI Can Actually Take Off Your Plate

If you’re a team of one (or one and a half on a good day), use AI for:

📌 Content Creation:

Blog posts, newsletters, social captions—AI is your first draft writer so you don’t start at zero.

📌 Audience Insights:

Who’s opening your emails? Who’s donating? Who’s quietly slipping out at intermission? AI helps make sense of it.

📌 Message Personalization:

Different messages for donors, families, schools, and press—because “One Short Day” doesn’t speak to everyone the same way.

📌 Proofing & Editing:

Goodbye typos, hello “we look like a real institution.”

This isn’t cheating. It’s survival. It’s capacity. It’s the spellbook you deserved years ago.

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AI + Storytelling = A Broom That Actually Lifts into Big Magic

In Wicked, what makes the magic powerful isn’t the spell—it’s the intention. Same with AI.

Use it to tell stories that matter:

• A student who found their voice on your stage

• A senior who danced for the first time in decades

• A playwright who saw themselves reflected in a new world

Let AI get the words on the page. You supply the heart.

Because even the best prompt can't simulate lived experience. It can only hold the ladder while you climb.

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Practical Tips (So You Don’t Fly Into a Wall Like NessaRose’s Chair)

Use AI well by:

✔️ Starting with goals (What’s this content for?)

✔️ Giving context (Your tone, audience, values)

✔️ Editing for accuracy (AI hallucinates like Dr. Dillamond on a bad day)

✔️ Keeping your human voice (No Wizardry behind a curtain)

Treat AI like a scene partner, not a puppeteer. You still lead.

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Before We Close the Curtain

Using AI won’t make you the Wizard.

It won’t turn your nonprofit into Broadway overnight.

But it will give you back time—and time is where magic happens.

It’s where strategy happens.

It’s where mission happens.

It’s where art happens.

And small arts nonprofits deserve that.

You deserve that.

🎶 No one mourns the wicked—but they remember the ones who learned to fly.

What’s the first job you’d hand off to AI if you could?

Tell me in the comments. Let’s build your spellbook together. 💚