OUR VIEW: CCCA’s demise clouds future of the arts

When leadership and finances are in dire straits, the result can be disastrous.

A deficit in both sadly brought the curtain down Monday on the Columbia County Council on the Arts.

The shock was felt in Columbia and Greene counties. Columbia County Council on the Arts Executive Director Cynthia Mulvaney resigned in May last year.

One of Mulvaney’s jobs was to write grants. When she left, she took several council board members — and her grant-writing skill — with her.

“I don’t think New York state is funding the arts councils unless they have someone full-time writing grants,” CCCA Board President Fran Heaney said Monday.

Founded in 1965, the Columbia County Council on the Arts sealed its reputation in its early years by attracting such stellar groups as the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Duke Ellington Orchestra and the Beaux Arts Trio to perform in Columbia County, according to the council’s website.

By the late 1980s the artistic climate in Columbia County changed. The number of local arts organizations increased dramatically. As a result, CCCA evolved into a service organization.

The CCCA’s primary constituency is its membership. Of the membership, about 650 list themselves as artists, writers, sculptors and filmmakers.

When the CCCA folded Monday, it boasted a membership of more than 800. The CCCA served a thriving arts community in Columbia County until the end.

No doubt, the CCCA’s legacy will carry on through the work of the organizations it helped spawn over the years — the Hudson Opera House, Time & Space Ltd. and FilmColumbia, to name only a few. A heavy task now falls on them: keeping the arts alive and well through a time of upheaval.

Posted in Opinion, Editorials on Wednesday, February 22, 2017 12:00 am

http://www.registerstar.com/

Restore Opportunity Now (RON) Campaign Updates

Restore Opportunity Now (RON) Campaign Updates  

As you may know, NYCON is supporting and participating in the Restore Opportunity Now campaign.  

Restore Opportunity Now is a statewide effort calling for crucial investments and systemic changes to strengthen New York's nonprofit human services sector. From streamlining and legitimizing state contracting so that it is in line with fair federal rules, to revisiting existing contracts amid state-wide wage increases, there are plenty of mutually beneficial ways the state can continue to help the nonprofit community positively impact quality of life for all New Yorkers.

The proposed  Executive Budget, while acknowledging the importance of human services, unfortunately provided little in the way of strengthening the organizations and the sector responsible for lifting families out of poverty. 

If you haven't already, we encourage those who support these goals to maximize our voices by joining the more than 340 organizations in the campaign. Click here. 

We also encourage you to inform your board about the Restore Opportunity Now Campaign and ask them to send their own letter to Governor Cuomo in support of the initiative (also send a copy to restoreopportunity@gmail.com for a bulk re-delivery to the Governor). Please see sample language here.

Questions about this campaign? Contact Peter McCarthy, Policy Associate at NYCON at 1 (800) 515-5012.

Help Restore Opportunity
NOW: TAKE ACTION

!

Attend An Upcoming
Press Conference

Consider attending one of these press conferences calling on the Governor and the Legislature to take action!

Syracuse, 1/25 at 12PM 

Southwest Community Center
401 South Ave., Syracuse.
RSVP to Loretta Zolkowski at

lzolkowski@hslccny.org

Albany, 1/31 at 11AM
Capital Building (likely stairs outside Senate Chambers.) RSVP to Mallory Nugent at restoreopportunity@gmail.com

NYC, 2/1 at 1PM
Ivan Shapiro House at
459 West 46th Street.
Please RSVP to Nicole Bramstedt  at nbramstedt@urbanpathways.org.

Binghamton, 2/1 at 1PM 

Southern Tier Independence Center, 135 East Frederick St., Binghamton- RSVP to Maria Dibble at  mdibble@stic-cil.org

Museum Association of New York Annual Conference - Registration opens 1/30/17

GET READY to Register!

Museum Association of New York Annual Conference

April 2-4, 2017, Saratoga Springs, NY

Early Bird Registration Opens MONDAY!   Are you ready to join MANY for another amazing conference? Registration opens MONDAY, January 30th! Take advantage of Early Bird rates and take the pressure off! You know you're not gonna want to miss this conference...   This time we're heading to Saratoga Springs, land of health, history, horses and hospitality! We will be holding sessions and events in at The National Museum of Dance and historic Gideon Putnam hotel in Saratoga Spa State Park. Two days learning and two nights of fun await us in Saratoga Springs! Monday and Tuesday sessions will take place at The Gideon Putnam, surrounded by the natural beauty of the Saratoga Spa State Park.   Check out the website for this year's Registration rates

 

 

REGISTRATION RATES

 

 

Sunday Opening Reception at The Saratoga Springs History Museum Our opening reception will take place at the Saratoga Springs History Museum & Canfield Casino in beautiful Congress Park!   Enjoy cocktails and light appetizers while you visit the exhibits and step back in time at the enchanting Canfield Casino.

 

 

Place Your Bets  in Your Racing Best!   Monday's Networking Event is not to be missed! Check out the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame as they host us for cocktails and appetizers. Don your fanciest hat, Derby suit or racing silks!

 

 

Conference Lodging   Conference attendees get a discounted rate of $125/night at The Gideon Putnam in Saratoga Springs. Conference rates are good for 3 nights post conference, so make a trip out of it! Call TODAY! Click here for hotel and reservation details.

 

 

questions about the conference or want a chance to sponsor/exhibit?  email dana@manyonline.org or visit the Website

A Month of Giving Thanks

	November 2014 A Month of Giving Thanks  There's always a lot of talk about how our culture has lost sight of the true meaning of the holidays. With one of our favorite, Thanksgiving, approaching fast, we wanted to take the opportunity to list some of the things we're thankful for. Of course that list includes all the donors and funders that pump life into the sector. But we know firsthand that nonprofit work can be hectic and tiring, and rarely glamorous. We get to spend our days helping nonprofits achieve their goals, reach their constituents, and make the world a better place--as a result, we get to see up close all the work that each of you does, and to be inspired by it.  So, to each of you who has chosen to work for a nonprofit, who has plugged names into a database, stayed late to post event photos to your organization's Facebook page, or spent hours crafting an email that perfectly encapsulated your mission, thank you. Thanks for all the work you do. And we're especially thankful for every chance we get to help you with that work... back to top Upcoming Trainings FREE! Five Data Don'ts for Nonprofits November 13, 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm Eastern.Program data can be very useful--from being able to prove the effectiveness of your programs to providing information to funders. However, there are a few missteps it is important to avoid. In this free class, we will go over five data don'ts that will help you make the most of your information while avoiding common pitfalls. Read more or register >> Visualizing Your Data Through Dashboards November 20, 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm Eastern. $40.00  Your senior staff and board of directors can benefit from the ability to view high level metrics for your organization, but it’s not obvious how to easily pull such a thing together. We'll outline what has worked for other organizations to define the metrics that should be tracked, strategies for compiling data from different systems, and then possibilities for putting it all together into a visual dashboard. Read more or register >> Digging Into Program DataWednesdays, December 3 - 17, 1:00 - 2:30pmEastern. $95.00 In our increasingly data-driven world, nonprofits need to be able to measure and monitor the effectiveness of their programs more than ever. It’s difficult to improve program services or reach without first understanding what's working and what isn't. Gathering the right data is key.  From how many meals served at your soup kitchen or the number of students in a mentoring program who graduate high school to the percent of your target population without access to affordable housing, being able to track such numbers can help you identify the improvement or impact of your programs or organization. Read more or register >> You received this email because you signed up for Idealware updates. If you are no longer interested in hearing from us, click here to unsubscribe. Idealware | One Pleasant Street, Suite 4E | Portland ME | 04101			SUBSCRIBE If you have received this email second-hand, you can subscribe on the Idealware website. Subscribe Now » DONATE TO IDEALWARE Have Idealware reports and articles saved you time? Money? Allowed you to make better decisions? If so, please donate what they are worth to you and help keep these resources coming. Donate Now » CONNECT WITH US Follow us on Facebook or Twitter to get more software resources, links, and news about Idealware.