Banning Bouldin – Founder and Artistic Director of New Dialect
This week, I asked colleagues around the country to share about the decision to get official nonprofit 501(c)(3) status for their company. Thank you to Jo Kreiter, Amelia Rudolph, Banning Bouldin, and Keira Heu-Jwyn Chang for their generosity of spirit and support of the field!
From Jo Kreiter, Artistic Director of Flyaway Productions (San Francisco, CA):
Two thoughts:
- If you have a long term vision for building your work, then becoming a legal nonprofit is a good choice.
- Require that all board members are donors, right from the start.
From Amelia Rudolph, Artistic Director of Bandaloop (Oakland, CA):
Use Nolo Press to create your bylaws and articles of incorporation, then hire a lawyer just to get you over the finish line to submit.
First year board suggestions include trying to get a professional in the arts community on your board, or someone who has an understanding of the climate and community that you are practicing in. If you know a lawyer, ask them to be on the board.
Remember, you can always use a fiscal agent at the beginning. It is a great way to test the waters as filing for nonprofit status and managing it is a commitment.
From Banning Bouldin, Artistic Director of New Dialect (Nashville, TN):
1. Before you even begin the process of filing, reach out to other arts organizations with a long standing history of serving your community. Set up meetings with Executive Directors, Artistic Directors, and Development Directors who are willing to share with you and interview them about their experience. You will need mentors who have more experience in the field than you do and can learn so much from the lessons they've learned over the years.
2. When I first realized I would need to incorporate and file for 501(c)(3) status for New Dialect, I reached out to a organization called the Arts and Business Council of Nashville (ABC). ABC pairs legal and business professionals with individual artists and arts organizations to provide guidance on everything from developing a business model, applying for 501(c)(3) status, filing Annual Reports, Arts Board matching (they have helped us secure 2 of our 12 Board Members), and more. Many cities across the country have organizations like ABC that work to provide arts nonprofits with the business expertise they need to launch and grow sustainably. I HIGHLY recommend researching the service organizations available in your city/county before applying to become a nonprofit. We pay $100 annually in membership fees to ABC and receive free legal, accounting, and business services. This has saved New Dialect $1000s.
3. I don't recommend filling the Board with close friends and colleagues to get started, no matter how much easier or more comfortable it may seem. For as long as you're running a nonprofit, you'll be reaching out to and meeting new people, who may or may not share your passionate enthusiasm for dance. Be willing to step out of your comfort zone right away, and draw the support of friends and colleagues around you in other ways (you will need them!). Your Board should be comprised of individuals who believe with you in the value of your mission, and who bring completely different skill sets and areas of expertise to the table. Our Board is made up of accountants, development directors, lawyers, philanthropists, people with marketing experience, teachers, and entrepreneurs; the diversity of our Board is invaluable to me, in that it helps me to see our plans from multiple vantage points and to form strategies to accomplish our goals that I would not have been able to envision surrounded by people who think just like I do. Of course, if you have friends who fit both descriptions, then all the better!
From Keira Heu-Jwyn Chang, Executive Director of Kate Weare Company (New York City):
A few thoughts -
- Make sure you're choosing board members who will return to you as much in donations, ambassadorship, services and networking as they will cost you in time and energy. And even if they can do, make sure you have the bandwidth for that exchange.
- Don't rush into a board status relationship. It's much harder to get out of if you find the relationship isn't a fit. Vet potential members as donors and advisory board members for as many months or years as you need to to be sure.
- Understand why the person wants to be on your board and whether that's compatible with the reasons you want them. Major donor and volunteer are equally important roles they could play without having the responsibility and power of a board member.
- We never used a lawyer. Read carefully, call the IRS when you have a question and you can save yourself expense.
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Life as a Modern Dancer 
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