News Article

As companies and groups continue to tighten their budgets, nonprofit fundraising for the arts could suffer.

Since February 2009, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts president Michael Kaiser has been touring the country on his Arts in Crisis tour to convince potential donors and audiences to continue investing in the arts, the New York Times reports. Periods of economic hardship, Kaiser tells his listeners, are when arts groups should be offering their most exciting, innovative programming.

Kaiser's success in the field lends credibility to his message. The Times reports that since assuming control of the Kennedy Center in 2001, Kaiser has more than doubled donations, running a surplus every year.

“I’m creating - it’s not about me so much - but I’m creating the sense that there is a field out there, that there is something for people to talk about,” Kaiser explained to the paper.

Part of Kaiser's crusade involves shining the spotlight on smaller groups. The Kennedy Center recently hosted Ballet Across America, featuring nine dance companies from across the country. They performed some of the nation's most creative work with the fewest resources, the Washington Post writes.