In an economy that favors rapid, consistent, and expensive growth, arts organizations are pressured to either grow or fold. Simply maintaining annual programming year over year has become almost a death wish for arts projects because year over year services, products, and real estate are becoming increasingly more expensive. So growth, instead of being an intentional one-time endeavor, becomes an annual consideration. But how does an arts organization do so when it consistently operates on a “catch-up” structure rather than a generative one?

While I strategically wait until the last moment to act on the tasks piled on my plate, the work produced under pressure feels more authentic than the work assembled gradually over time. With my end products being good enough and receiving positive response, is procrastinating truly my handicap?

It’s no secret that grant writers and non profit leaders are always thinking about new funding opportunities. As a grant writer myself it has become second nature to think first about a program’s viability and long-term impact and secondly about the funding potential.

But how do you plan for and qualify new funding opportunities? Especially when you read the dreaded “by invitation only” seen on big name or regional funders who give transformative gifts.