Booz Allen Helps New York Foundation for the Arts Craft a "Second Act"

Functional changes and a new strategy will empower more of NYFA’s constituents, enhance its growth, and maintain its fiscal stability.

Founded in 1971, the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) is the nation’s oldest and largest private organization supporting artists and their work. While most funding for the arts goes to established organizations, NYFA focuses on individuals, currently sponsoring more than 300 artists’ projects and 50 emerging organizations through $10 million in annual support.

From acquiring a studio, to writing a screenplay, to getting a job in the performing arts, most upcoming New York artists have either been directly assisted by NYFA or know someone who has. But not long ago, NYFA was facing its own challenges.

“NYFA had tremendous assets and a fabulous reputation among the artist community, but it had been living under the original charter and did not have a clear and compelling vision for the future,” says Booz Allen Hamilton vice president and NYFA board member Karl Kellner. “It was pulled in many directions.”

Among its most pressing issues, the organization needed to reinvigorate its programs and services; focus on fundraising from a more diverse range of sources; refresh board engagement and board/staff relations; and deepen its technology investments. In a major commitment of support, Booz Allen helped NYFA develop a 5-year vision and new strategic goals to support its mission. Kellner calls it “NYFA’s next act.”

The Booz Allen team provided pro bono services that included assessing NYFA’s external environment and the needs of its constituents and stakeholders, determining NYFA’s internal capabilities, and identifying new capabilities the organization would need in the future. The analysis and research produced recommendations upon which NYFA could base its functional and operational decisions.

Michael Royce, NYFA’s executive director, says his organization has already benefited from Booz Allen’s involvement. “We’ve re-engaged our board, injected tough discipline into managerial oversight, and built a new foundation from which the board and staff are learning from each other. It is very rare when a nonprofit such as ours—especially one related to the arts—has access to the strategic guidance of a major general management consulting firm. NYFA is a whole new organization, thanks to Booz Allen.”

Some of the recommendations would enable NYFA to increase the number and amount of financial awards to artists, generate long-term stability for fellowships, and maintain its fiscal and organizational stability.

But Booz Allen benefited from the experience as well, says consultant Chase Behringer. “Because we all believe in NYFA’s social mission and committed to making it work, partnering with the NYFA staff was a joy. NYFA’s greatest strength by far is its people.”

Extensive Impact among Artists in New York—and Beyond

The tremendous scope of NYFA’s regional and national impact is best explained in numbers. The state Artists’ Fellowship program administered by NYFA has awarded $23.9 million to over 3,600 state artists in 16 disciplines. Recipients include subsequent winners of the Pulitzer Prize, Tony Award, Academy Award, Guggenheim Fellowship, and MacArthur Fellowship. NYFA’s grants and sponsorships award more than $6 million each year.

NYFA Interactive (www.nyfa.org) serves more than 120,000 visitors monthly, with over 3.8 million visitors in FY 2007. NYFA Sources—a free, searchable online database of funding and resources—serves 10,000 artists each month in the visual, performing, media, and literary arts.

A new NYFA strategic plan would, therefore, have far-reaching impact. Booz Allen’s strategic consulting services ensured the plan included interviews with peer organizations, the board, and SMEs, and analyzed market trends and key competitors. The team facilitated group discussions with board and staff members to generate ideas and ensured the needs of NYFA’s constituents were addressed.

The plan also meant instituting a change of perspective throughout the organization. Says associate Leea Nash, “We showed NYFA how a nonprofit can generate revenue and grow while maintaining its vision. Having a compelling business strategy can be the best way for an organization to serve constituents, its bottom line, and its social mission.”

“Booz Allen’s most valuable contribution to NYFA was its objective internal and external assessment of our organization,” says Royce. “Because of that, we now have a framework with which to fully capitalize on our strengths and the ability to monitor our success in both identifying new opportunities and measuring progress. This will be critically important for us in remaining relevant and competitive.

“Without the knowledge and tools that Booz Allen helped us attain, our organization would have remained vulnerable to the shifting winds,” he adds. “Now we will first buttress the winds with a wall of solid infrastructure and exciting, sought-out programming, and then funnel the winds into productive outcomes, no matter where they may be blowing from or going to.”

Improved Networking and Development Options for Creative Careers

NYFA’s new strategy represents some significant changes from how the organization had been operating. For example, one option being implemented is a greatly enhanced Research and Information Portal, says Nash.

The national Web portal will expand NYFA’s core business by implementing new IT capabilities, growing its online presence, aggregating information such as classified ads, and supporting social networking.

In addition, NYFA will rework its geographic approach by serving artists nationwide through the Web, grants, and sponsorships, while providing New York-based artists with local programming. It will invest in marketing, develop fee-for-service offerings, and build partnerships with other organizations to extend its service offerings.

“NYFA will also address the increased competition for donors,” Behringer adds. “Donor dollars overall are decreasing and donors want a more personalized, hands-on approach. NYFA plans to create new relationships with donors that target its marketing efforts and make use of networks.”

Another option called the One-Stop Resource for Artists will enhance NYFA’s core business by organizing and clarifying much of what the organization is already doing with even more development and networking opportunities for artists.

Says Royce, “I am fully confident that the principles developed with Booz Allen for moving forward will benefit us tremendously in terms of real estate decisions, collaborations in the marketplace, programming, future funding opportunities, and culture and morale.”

Although Booz Allen’s involvement in NYFA’s project officially ended October 2007, Nash says the firm will continue to bring its perspectives and best practice knowledge to the NYFA project as needed to ensure the integrity of the strategy.

A Few Names You May Recognize

Thousands of artists have received support from NYFA since its inception, including:

Tony Kushner – 1987 NYFA Fellow, Playwriting. Won the 1993 Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award for “Angels in America: Millennium Approaches.”
Zana Briski – 1998, 2004 NYFA Fellow, Photography. Wrote and directed the 2005 Oscar-winning documentary, “Born into Brothels.”
Spike Lee – 1985 NYFA Fellow, Film. Used NYFA funding to finish editing the film, “She’s Gotta Have It.”
Kimberly Peirce – 1998 NYFA Fiscally Sponsored Artist. Used NYFA sponsorship to create a trailer for “Boys Don’t Cry,” which she co-wrote and directed.
Julie Taymor – 1985 NYFA Fellow, Performing Art. Brought “The Lion King” to Broadway and earned 6 Academy Award nominations for the film, “Frida.”
Billy Collins – 1986 Fellow, Poetry. America’s Poet Laureate from 2001 – 2003.
Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio – 1985, 1987, 1998 NYFA Fellows, Architecture. First architects to win the MacArthur Prize.

story posted March 20, 2008