Social Networking and Arts Support in Phoenix

In search of a united arts fund in Phoenix.

A 6/15/09 Columbus Dispatch article summarizes a recent trend in the Arts:

The use of social media as a marketing tool is fast becoming a key means for cash-strapped organizations not only to spread the word about offerings but also to heighten their “cool” quotients and attract Web-savvy patrons who might otherwise view the groups as stodgy or impersonal.

In Phoenix, a social media experiment spearheaded by two local businessmen — MyArtsCommunity.org — was an ambitious pilot project. It aimed high, with hopes of filling in an expanding support gap for the Arts in Arizona.

The main goal was to ignite grass-roots support for 16 local arts organizations. Targeting the under-30 crowd with a concentrated, 6-week social networking blitz, the program was accentuated with television ads and billboards.

Just a little helps

The organizers asked for small donation amounts. From the MyArtsCommunity.org website:

With a nominal donation of $10, $25, $50 or $100, you can participate in the Valley’s largest arts and cultural organizations at a whole new level and help these valuable local assets endure these difficult times. 100% of your donation goes to the organization you select.

On one hand, just getting the program together was truly a success in itself. Mike Cohn, one of the two local businessman behind the effort noted in a 4/30/2009 Arizona Republic article:

At one level, the experiment’s a success because we’ve gotten charities to collaborate on something they’ve never done before,” he said. “Normally, charities are out competing for funds, and now, they’re all driving their donors to this one Web site. So, that collaboration itself is unique.

This umbrella approach has worked for other charitable organizations, the United Way being the most notable example.

Disappointing results

Unfortunately at the end of its six-week run the results were underwhelming. From a 6/14/2009 Arizona Republic article:

Organizers are still hoping for a strong finish, but as of Wednesday, more than five weeks in, only 387 people had made donations through the Web site, and the total raised, $22,258, had been fattened by a handful of large gifts.

The setup costs for the program were around $100,000 and in the end, the organizers lost a substantial percentage of their investment.

What happened?

This was the question asked in the 6/14/2009 Arizona Republic article. Their main points:

• The economy. In tough times young people are more concerned with meeting basic needs and less concerned with philanthropy.

• Too short of a time frame. (For such a ground-breaking project, six months might have been a more realistic time frame than just six weeks.)

• The organizers underestimated the amount of time and effort involved in cultivating a grass-roots social media movement.

Observation and opinion

1. As a tech-savvy blogger, web developer and musician in the local scene, I had never heard of MyArtsCommunity.org until I read of its demise in the local newspaper. While I am above and beyond the program’s target demographic, I should have heard of this before — but had not.
2. Their nicely-produced video — which can be seen on their blog and Facebook pages only — cannot be embedded on outside sites. This seems a bit counter-intuitive towards the end goal of a viral campaign.Part of what makes an item “viral” is the ability to share it with others via blogs and social media. In a preliminary search on YouTube (where videos are easily shared and can be embedded in other sites), I did not find it.
3. In discussing this with my wife, she remembered seeing an advertisement in hindsight. Her observation was that their catch phrase — “I Create For You, Now It’s Your Turn to Perform” — struck her as odd.The slogan’s proposition appeared unbalanced somehow. “I already bought a ticket,” she wondered. “Isn’t the performance what I paid for already? Why is my turn – again?”
4. The slogan has a subtext of civic responsibility and perhaps even a little guilt. Is this tone a bit out-of-touch? Does civic duty or guilt strike a chord at all with the Generation Me crowd? I would postulate that it does not.

Right stuff, wrong time

These observations aside, the MyArtsCommunity.org pilot program was a bold experiment in Phoenix for social media fund-raising. Their effort is to be applauded.

It’s just too bad that it coincided with one of the worst budget crises in our state’s history.

While the end results were less than expected, we can only hope that it might pave the way for more great ideas like this. Ideas that aim to think outside of the box and capitalize on the social media wave are desperately need here in Phoenix.

(I would love to help if anyone is listening … hint hint …)