Governance

There And Back Again, Performing Arts Edition

Tuesday, April 28th, 2020Tuesday, April 28th, 2020 by Drew McManus

“Overnight we went from being a producer of live performance events to a digital content provider.” Those words were from a colleague back in March around the time it became clear the pandemic was more than a few weeks of disrupted event activity. And while those words are uneasy, he was saving the really dark part for effect. “And we have no f**king idea how to do that.” Don’t worry, this …

Good Governance In The Age Of Teleconference Meetings

Sunday, April 5th, 2020Monday, April 6th, 2020 by Drew McManus

Scheduling board and committee meetings is a chore under normal operating conditions. Add the pressures of shelter-in-place orders along with the sorts of heavy agenda topics most boards are facing, and you have ideal conditions for making shortsighted decisions based more on frustration and fear than stewardship. Having said that, there are a few pointers to help keep your board and committees on track and above reproach: Record Every Teleconference Meeting …

Why The “If You Aren’t Playing, We Aren’t Paying” Rationale Just Doesn’t Work

Monday, March 30th, 2020Tuesday, March 31st, 2020 by Drew McManus

As coronavirus shutdowns continue, we’re seeing some genuinely positive interaction between employers and musician employees working toward mutually agreeable solutions to the sensitive issue of payroll. Outside of those scenarios, I’m seeing one of the most derogatory old-school stereotypes emerge as justification for cancelling musician pay entirely: musicians only work 20 hours per week. This twisted notion assumes that musicians are only paid for the time they are on stage rehearsing …

The Latest Trend In Hiding Compensation Within The Nonprofit Sector

Monday, January 20th, 2020Tuesday, January 21st, 2020 by Drew McManus

There’s a thought-provoking article by Sarah Pulliam Bailey in the 1/17/2020 edition of the Washington Post that examines a growing trend among evangelical organizations to shift from a traditional nonprofit status to what the IRS defines as a “Church” status. The impetus for this is a desire to obfuscate executive leadership compensation. While both status allow donors to deduct charitable gifts, the Church option provides the ability to hide compensation while …

A Decision Is Not Always The Same Thing As Resolution

Thursday, December 5th, 2019Thursday, December 5th, 2019 by Drew McManus

The beleaguered Grand Teton Music Festival (GTMF) continues to dodge PR blows related to an executive leadership decision to dismiss three musicians. It turns out, the organization scheduled an emergency session of the full board that took place on Tuesday, 12/3/2019. While the musician dismissals were a primary focus, the more pressing issue the full board needed to face was the accusation by GTMF Music Director, Donald Runnicles, that the organization’s …

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