Mobilizing Online Communities Offline: A Case Study
photo by Arielle Sherman
If you follow any kind of arts management blog or read any arts-related paper, you’ll know that arts organizations today are all about technology. From Facebook pages to blogs to iPhone apps to tweeting during performances to mobile giving, it seems that virtual communities have become the primary communities for these organizations. Technology – and social media in particular – has of course opened arts and cultural organizations up to a whole new audience and put the world at their fingertips…but where do we draw the line? Can we get so wrapped up in the thrill and ease of technology that we forget the mission of our organizations? As arts administrators, we need to decide when technology is an opportunity and when it is a threat.
I have spoken in previous posts about digital giving and its potential for creating exclusivity. I explored the unsustainable aspects of fundraising through social media, the disconnect it creates between the planners and the beneficiaries, and the assumption it makes that all donors have access to and knowledge of technology. What I did not explore was how digital giving might detract from the emotional aspect of fundraising – that warm and fuzzy feeling you get from seeing a fundraiser evolve and flourish right in front of your eyes. The majority of arts is still rooted in physical experience, from dance to live theatre to knitting to painting. How can arts organizations recreate the emotion of this physicality online without compromising the arts’ integrity? And how can they recognize when the best option may in fact be to go back to more traditional media?
Although it appears that I am skeptical at times, I do remain optimistic about digital giving for nonprofits. However, I also maintain that neither online communities nor physical communities can stand on their own anymore. In order to foster online communities, arts and cultural organizations must first foster their physical communities, or vice versa. In this post, I discuss one particular fundraiser I recently experienced that succeeded in mobilizing its online community offline – and still managed to give me that warm and fuzzy feeling inside.
From Dusk ‘til Drawn at the Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum
This summer, I have had the privilege to work as a Marketing & Press Intern at the Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum (CAF). This July, we hosted a fundraiser called From Dusk ‘til Drawn. The premise of the fundraiser was simple: we invited artists of all ages and skill levels to come to CAF between the hours of 6 p.m. on a Friday and 6 p.m. the next day. While we had over 20 “marathoners” – out of over 100 artists who registered – who stayed for all 24 hours, artists and attendees could come for as short or as long as they pleased. All the artists had to do was draw (loosely defined to include all media). As soon as a piece of art was finished, it was priced by the artist, mounted on the wall, and put up for sale. Half of the proceeds went to the artists, and half went to CAF.
Turning Online Communities into Physical Communities Through Fundraising
Before From Dusk ‘til Drawn, we advertised via a Facebook event to reach out to our social media community that may not have any actual ties to CAF other than a seeming interest in what we do. We utilized online community calendars and our community blog to get the word out. We tweeted updates and countdowns. We posted pictures of the process – of our installers setting up the gallery and our staff and interns beginning to decorate for the event. By getting our online community involved in the evolution of From Dusk ‘til Drawn, we made it no longer just another event that CAF was putting on; instead, it became an event that people felt they had part in planning, even if only through their laptops.
During the actual event, we made sure someone was taking pictures at all times. We caught moments of artistic inspiration and watched as drawings evolved from a single pencil mark to a $300 original artwork. We documented the physicality of the event – from artists laying out their yoga mats and easels to artists munching on doughnuts to stay awake at 5 a.m. Essentially, we aimed to make people jealous. The goal was to get them off their couches and into CAF. Pictures were posted at least every couple of hours on both our Facebook and Twitter accounts in addition to our live-tweeting the progress of the event from start to finish.
Why it Worked
We did not focus our social media marketing on the money-making aspect of a fundraiser; we instead focused on the community aspect of a fundraiser. The energy at From Dusk ‘til Drawn was palpable, and there was incredible work being done. And talk about community art – there were 12-year-old amateur artists sitting next to artists who have sold their work for thousands of dollars and have exhibited at LACMA. Artists were watching each other work. Artists were even collaborating on pieces. Inspiration filled the gallery. Artists were using all materials – from pencils to paints to magazine cutouts to seaweed and oil to even iPads. There was also a community drawing wall where anyone, including non-registered artists, could grab a pencil and draw something. By selling this priceless offline experience online, we created an arena for the two worlds to collide.
This is just one case study, but I know that many organizations are looking to bring community back to the forefront of their projects by using social media. While having an online presence is more important than ever for nonprofits, it means nothing if the organization does not know what to do with that online presence. Now that we have so much media technology, it’s time to start thinking, once again, about the non-media all around us.
__
Arielle Sherman is a California- born and raised Arts Management graduate student adjusting to a not-so-sunny life in the Pacific Northwest. You can find her on Twitter @arielle_rose1 or via e-mail: arsherman@gmail.com.
