“Creating Social Capital.” Behind a Corporate Funder’s Support for Theater (2024)

Last August, I spoke with Bruce Whitacre, executive director of the New York City-based Theatre Forward, about his organization’s first round of Advancing Strong Theatre grants, which seek to boost equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) initiatives across the nonprofit theater world by building “sustainable, authentic relationships” with community organizations. Funding was provided by the Schloss Family Foundation, Citi, Bank of America, the Theatre Forward Board, and a cadre of individual donors.

The grants, which were open to 19 eligible Theatre Forward member theaters, came as funders were shifting toward a model of giving that “creates equitable access for all,” to quote William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust Executive Director Dr. Dorian Burton. In late 2018, Theatre Forward announced the program’s inaugural winners: Seattle Repertory Theatre,San Diego’s The Old Globe, the Dallas Theater Center, and Minneapolis’ Guthrie Theater.

In November of last year, Theatre Forward launched the next phase of its program, thanks to an infusion of funding from Bank of America, rebranding Advancing Strong Theatre grants as the Bank of America ACTivate Awards. The awards will support theater programs that accelerate change in the areas of EDI and expand the audiences and communities engaged with theater throughout the country. The first series of new grants will be made in early 2020; a second round is slated for 2021. Each grant will be up to $50,000.

“The program was successful, and as we understand the importance of this work, we wanted to ensure the program would continue,” Bank of America’s global arts and culture executive Rena DeSisto told me. “This is a well-thought-out, systemic program that we believe will continue the work that needs to be done around creating social capital in communities that is within everyone’s reach.Bank of America will be the exclusive funder of the grant awards for the next two years, and perhaps beyond.”

Meanwhile, an enthusiastic Whitacre said, via email, “For a corporation, not a large foundation or individual patron, to step up in such a significant way reawakens all our hopes that the corporate sector will look to the arts as exciting and effective collaborators in better serving communities.”

“Lives are Being Changed”

Reflecting on Theatre Forward’s work thus far, Whitacre expounded on how the program has impacted surrounding communities. “Individual lives are being changed,” he said. “Community partners, organizations such as libraries, literacy centers, shelters and social service organizations, are citing improvements in health, engagement and activity, and confidence.Many of these cities are large and sprawling, creating physical barriers to access theater, which we are breaking down through tours, transportation services and other efforts.”

In our previous chat, Whitacre noted that one of the big obstacles to cultivating a more diverse audience community was the fact that cast members, ushers, staff, boards and leadership at theaters have been “historically more homogeneous than diverse.” He was pleased to report that “organizational efforts to change their workforce and audience compositions to better match their communities are slowly making headway. Changing the demographics of a theater and its leaders and audiences can be a slow process: Staff turnover is relatively low, board composition changes slowly, and audiences are adapting to participation by individuals who may look different from them, and who experience theater in different ways.”

We then turned to the perennial question of measuring impact. “Quantitatively,” Whitacre said, “we know that the four programs in Advancing Strong Theatre reached over 10,000 individuals in four communities. But that number barely reflects the qualitative impact on individuals, community partners, theater leaders and staff, and participating artists.”

Understanding the inherent limits of a purely quantitative approach to measuring impact, Whitacre described how Theatre Forward gathered input from participants, community partners and the theaters themselves. “Our evaluation showed an overwhelmingly positive impact of these programs on individuals, communities and the theaters through their shared experiences of the joys of deeply experiencing theater and the collaborations on which each program is based,” he said. “We also noted that theaters are adapting new practices to enable them to better connect to these new communities, such as flexible production scheduling, shifting of program schedules, and local neighborhood ticketing.”

A Few Subtle Changes

As with the original Advancing Strong Theatre grants, the Bank of America ACTivate Awards are open to Theatre Forward’s 19 eligible theaters focused on building sustainable relationships with community organizations. If selected, grants of$50,000 or morewill be awarded to programs focused on equity, diversity and inclusion initiatives. As with the inaugural round, funded programming can include free-to-public performances, professional tours to community centers,acting workshops, storytelling workshops,potluck dinners and open mics.

Whitacre mentioned a few tweaks to the new ACTivate Awards. First, Theatre Forward is extending the project timeframe from 18 months to two years to allow more time for execution. Second, it is adding a cash award to support advancing equity, diversity and inclusion work within the theater. And third, Theater Forward is adding a category of exploratory grants for theaters that are beginning conversations with potential community partners.

“One of our learnings over the past two years is that theaters need capacity funding to initiate this work,” Whitacre said. “It takes time to identify, cultivate and collaborate with a community organization.”

As for how Theatre Forward will engage with applicants, Whitacre said, “We ask them to explore carefully the needs and desires of the groups they want to engage, that they design together with those groups the program that will be funded, and that the theater and the community organizations work together as part of a long-term strategy. The work with the community partners must be equitable—each organization should be fulfilling its mission through the collaboration, and they should treat each other fairly.”

“Be Strategic With Your Ask”

Bank of America, Whitacre said, “has stood by the arts throughout a long period of reduced corporate participation in general.” A 2018 report by Steven Lawrence, senior research affiliate at the New York-based TCC Group, titled “Arts Funding at Twenty-Five:What Data and Analysis Continue to Tell Funders about the Field,” underscores one key reason for this tepid support. “Many funders,” he wrote, “especially corporate and community foundation officers, report that making the case for arts support is getting harder in the face of pressure to address mounting human service and social service needs.”

Theater Forward’s success suggests that organizations that bridge the worlds of arts engagement and “human services and social services needs” can secure critical funding from corporate donors, who, writes American Theatre’s Stuart Miller, increasingly expect a “socially transformative good” that provides measurable impacts in neighborhood life and fosters youth development.

The Miami-based philanthropist Daniel Lewis alluded to this idea after his Lewis Prize for Music recently awarded $1.75 million to 10 creative youth development programs using music to address community disparities. Arts organizations that devote themselves to addressing issues of systemic inequality through a more holistic approach to arts education can position themselves for “new sources of funding.”

To that end, DeSisto told me that Theatre Forward’s work aligns with Bank of America’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, principles that are “essential to our ability to serve our clients, fulfill our purpose and drive responsible growth.” BofA supports more than 2,000 nonprofit cultural institutions each year in the arts and culture space. Beyond sponsorships and partnerships, the program also includesArt in Our Communities, the Bank of AmericaArt Conservation ProjectandMuseums on Us.

BofA’s Arts & Culture programming is part of the company’s broader Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) efforts.Its ESG principles “help define how Bank of America delivers responsible growth and guide our role in society through how we deploy our capital and manage environmental and social risks and opportunities,” DeSisto said. “Our ESG focus reflects our values, ensures we are holding ourselves accountable, presents tremendous business opportunity, and allows us to create shared success with our clients and communities.”

Advice for Arts Organizations

This idea of alignment with corporate principles is critical for arts organizations looking to “make the case” to equity-minded funders, DeSisto told me. “First and foremost, it is important to understand the synergies and strategies of the companies that organizations are approaching for funding.Too often, nonprofits unknowingly reach out to companies whose business or philanthropic priorities don’t align with their own.Instead, nonprofit leaders should look at how their programming aligns with a company’s objectives or past history of giving, and focus on those as ways to make the ask resonate with the decision-makers.In short: Be strategic with your ask, and listen to what the company is trying to achieve.A nonprofit may be justifiably proud of what they are achieving, but they also need to listen.”

Since there’s money on the table, organizations may feel inclined to fast-track diversity and inclusion efforts, but Theatre Forward’s Whitacre suggests a more measured approach. At a strategic level, he suggested that troupes first position ideas like equity, diversity and inclusion “in the context of all aspects of the theater’s work, from play selection, casting and staffing, to core mission statements to community-based programming and administrative practices (hiring, training, organizational culture).”

Things can get a little more tricky at the operational level. Take the areas of diversity training and what Whitacre calls “audience responses to expanded theater engagement by communities that are new to the art form.” Regarding diversity training, he says, “If applied inauthentically and inconsistently, some diversity training strategies can do more harm than good within an organization because they can generate resistance, confusion and a sense of unfairness.This has not been a factor within our cohort of funded projects so far, but it is an emerging issue across the institutional spectrum, from corporations to arts organizations.”

Whitacre also notes that a theater’s pivot to more inclusive programming or greater community outreach may clash with the sensitivities of some longtime patrons. “Theaters are making great efforts to be more welcoming and inviting, and this can also mean adjusting the expectations of their longtime audiences,” he said.“Audience interactions with new attendees have not always been positive in some theaters.While this has not been a prevalent factor among these grantees, we are hearing accounts throughout the country of traditional audiences sometimes reacting negatively to new audience members from diverse communities who may be more vocal in their response to a play, or who may not be fully versed in, or who don’t buy into some concepts of theater etiquette, and so on.”

Fortunately, neither of these challenges are insurmountable. “Authentic, balanced and sustained efforts are needed to address this larger process of change going on in our culture, which we know is experiencing great tension right now around these issues in all kinds of areas: politics, policing, education, economics, and so on,” Whitacre said.

Perhaps most importantly, Whitacre encourages theater organizations to “embrace a larger view of their community roles. This is not about adding ticket buyers or subscribers to a theater database,” he said.“It’s about, as Braden Abraham, the artistic director of Seattle Rep says, returning to the roots of why communities founded these theaters in the first place: to engage theater professionals in civic life. I hear phrases like ‘we are a service organization, and we serve the community through theater,’ or, ‘we give theater and we get back authenticity.’These kinds of statements reflect a significant shift in how theaters see themselves.”

“Creating Social Capital.” Behind a Corporate Funder’s Support for Theater (2024)

FAQs

How would you create social capital? ›

It's about having strong positive relationships embedded in positive social structures with a lot of people from a variety of backgrounds and positions. You increase your social capital by talking, connecting, giving, caring, sharing, valuing, and trusting.

What is an example of social capital in a company? ›

Examples of bridging social capital in the workplace might include cross-functional teams, where members from different departments work together on a project, or lunch-and-learn sessions, where employees from different teams can learn from each other and share best practices.

What is social capital provide an example that supports your definition? ›

What Is An Example of Social Capital? Social capital allows one to leverage information or resources among one's social connections. Asking a friend to borrow their car in a pinch, or finding out about a job opportunity from an old college classmate are both examples of social capital.

What is the social capital theory of SCT? ›

Social capital theory contends that social relationships are resources that can lead to the development and accumulation of human capital. For example, a stable family environment can support educational attainment and support the development of highly valued and rewarded skills and credentials.

What are the four types of social capital? ›

There are four types of social capital: bonding, bridging, linking and identifying. These unique classes may appear differently in key impact areas such as education, employment, income, opportunities and civic engagement.

What builds social capital? ›

To build social capital means to improve social structures and social attitudes, values and behaviours. Building social capital means different things at different levels. At the individual level building social capital involves the actions and intentions of the individual.

What is corporate social capital? ›

Social capital in business is about connections between people at work. It's the trust, knowledge, and cooperation that emerge from these relationships. Social capital theory says that these networks have real, tangible benefits. They help solve problems and get information out faster.

What are three social capitals? ›

These actions build aspects of social capital such as networks, trust and reciprocity, and shared language and understanding, i.e. all three dimensions of social capital: structural, relational, and cognitive. An individual can invest in personal relationships to build their social capital.

What is social capital in the workplace? ›

Social capital—or the presence of networks, relationships, shared norms, and trust among individuals, teams, and business leaders—is the glue that holds organizations together. When teams feel connected, they tend to get more work done and do it faster.

What is a lack of social capital? ›

Low social capital could be described as any situation where there is a lack of social structure and organisation, and or where people are prone to act antisocially. Simply put social capital is the productive benefits of sociability.

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Potential downsides of social capital include: fostering behavior that worsens rather than improves economic performance; acting as a barrier to social inclusion and social mobility; dividing rather than uniting communities or societies; facilitating rather than reducing crime, education underachievement and health- ...

How to enhance social capital? ›

5 Tips for Building Social Capital and Networks
  1. Connect with people you know. Use email or LinkedIn to reach out to anyone you've worked with or volunteered with. ...
  2. Ask for introductions. ...
  3. Keep in touch. ...
  4. Engage in online conversations. ...
  5. Reach out to people who interest you.

What are the benefits of social capital? ›

Individuals benefit from social interaction through better mental health, subjective well-being and even some physical health outcomes. From an economics perspective, individuals value social capital as an amenity, just like they value good schools or low crime rates. That can make living in the community desirable.

What are the principles of social capital? ›

Social capital arises from the human capacity to consider others, to think and act generously and cooperatively. It relates to social relationships and social structures. It involves people knowing each other and having positive relationships based on trust, respect, kindness, and reciprocity.

What are the characteristics of social capital? ›

Social capital revolves around three dimensions: interconnected networks of relationships between individuals and groups (social ties or social participation), levels of trust that characterize these ties, and resources or benefits that are both gained and transferred by virtue of social ties and social participation.

How you might increase the social capital of a community? ›

Want to Impact Your Community? Start by Building Social Capital.
  1. Have a dinner party and ask everyone to bring a guest.
  2. Gather a group of friends and go volunteer.
  3. Learn the names of St. ...
  4. Help rake a neighbor's yard or shovel his or her snow.
  5. Start a health or exercise group.

What are some examples of social capital in a community? ›

Here are a few suggestions to get you started: offer to mow a neighbor's yard, volunteer to serve on a committee, hold lunchtime discussions at your workplace, organize a community garden, sing in a choir, or have a neighborhood barbeque. Each one of us in our own way can be a builder of social capital.

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