And I just ended my part-time, five season
relationship with the Los Angeles
Philharmonic/Hollywood Bowl as a telefunder beseeching
others to give.  (I have a full-time job by day in the
for-profit world, and I was just simply tired and
needed a break after 12 hour days, 4 days a week, and
8 hours on the fifth.)

I need to tell you folks, the lack of charitable
giving is pandemic.  It is not related to just
museums, it's seen in many organizations.  There are,
of course, very generous people and wonderful
philanthropic organizations.

But we're living in the time of I, Me, Me, Mine.
Things I heard on the phone in trying to raise money
so that Southern California children could have the
opportunity to learn about quality music, since so
many schools no longer have music programs, and
children are being robbed of the opportunities you and
I once had for cultural enrichment:  "I give you
enough money when I buy my tickets."  They want to
hear a world-class orchestra, but they don't want to
pay the prices it takes to keep one!

Our ticket buyers are great.  They keep the art form
alive on an immediate basis, but they don't perpetuate
it.  It's a pure case of WIIFM.  What's In It For Me?
"I buy tickets, I hear a concert, the musicians get
paid, enough said!"

We don't have the money in our schools for the arts
because people didn't want to pay property taxes for
the schools.  They don't want to give to charities.

One should pretty much think of work in an NPO as
going to work as a Buddhist Monk.  You don't do it for
the money, and you can expect to live in less than a
glamorous lifestyle.

You simply have to do it because you believe in what
you're doing, and you enjoy what you do!

I'm in a transitional phase career wise.  I left a
24-year job in the for-profit world and put one foot
on both sides of the profit employment market since
last December.  The full-time job pays over 300% of
what the nonprofit job did per hour.

But guess me which one I loved more?  The for-profit
pays the bills while I dust the cobwebs and target my
path (including preparation for same in places like
the Museums List and the Charity Channel).  But life
on the development side of life, in spite of misers
you find, is absolutely wonderful!  It feels good
because you know that, for the period of time you are
there, you are helping others to come to learn to love
what you do!



--- Beth-Anee Johnson <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> >We can all wish for more pay, but I think most of
> us are at the mercy >of a
> >society that cares less and less about arts and
> humanities and >more and
> >more about math and science...
> >
>
> Speaking as someone who works in science, as both an
> educator and a
> researcher, science is not where the money or
> concern is located.  We are in
> a continual fight for funding and awareness.
>
> Beth-Anee Johnson
>

=====
Indigo Nights
[log in to unmask]


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