Attention artists and arts organizations across New York State: the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) has posted guidelines for its 2019 funding cycle! Before I share Fractured Atlas’s timeline, let’s go over some important details about the application process and eligibility: The application is made up of three major parts: 1) a Sponsored Request Form (SRF), 2) Grants Gateway project and budget information, and 3) supporting materials. Fractured Atlas must submit all documents on behalf of our fiscally sponsored projects through our own Grants Gateway portal, so we appreciate you adhering to our internal timeline to give us time to review your materials thoroughly and submit them on your behalf. Due to the volume of requests we handle every year, Fractured Atlas fiscally sponsored projects will only be permitted to submit one application (regardless of NSYCA’s two-request limit). If you applied in the Individual Artist category (IND) last year, you must sit out this year. Your grant application must be for activities that take place between January 1 — December 31, 2019. Applying for a NYSCA grant is a multi-step process.

Resource scarcity leads us to borrow, and that pushes us deeper into scarcity. Why? Because when we have scarce resources we tunnel (i.e., we focus on the here and now, the fires, what needs to get done right now). Tunneling leads us to neglect. Tunneling today creates more tunneling tomorrow, and leads us to borrow — in a borrowing from Petra to pay Paula and eventually needing to pay back Petra with significant interest scenario — so that we’re using the same physical resources less effectively, placing us one step behind.

Welcoming a new addition to the family can elicit all the feels, excitement, anxiety, joy, and wonder (like what is a nose frida and why is everyone raving about them?). There will be lots of changes in store both at home and at work, so the more you can prepare yourself and your team for the new unknown the better. I’ve been at Fractured Atlas through the birth of both of my kiddos, and was the first person to use our company’s family leave benefit in its entirety. Below are some of the things I’ve learned that may help you and your team prepare for leave.

From time to time, we feature one of our fiscally sponsored projects who have been successful at using our program to advance their art/cause/career. Today, we’re featuring Time to Tell.

If you haven’t yet heard of Void Academy, we’re excited to make the introduction. Void Academy strives to make an impact in the art world by providing free and affordable resources to help artists sustainably fund their work and make a living. Their first free online course Fundamentals of Crowdfunding offers insights into the history of crowdfunding, how to set yourself up for success before you launch a campaign, and more. It is a valuable guide for any artist looking to use crowdfunding as a tool to fund their work. (And keep reading to learn how Fractured Atlas members can access other Void Academy courses at discounted rates.)

There are a lot of resources out there to help fundraisers think about, plan for, and execute a year-end appeal. But if you’re not a full-time fundraiser or someone who thinks about this stuff all the time, then you may find yourself getting anxious once you start reading any of the extensive how-tos available online. (Especially since many will tell you that you should have started planning 2–3 months ago.) Today, I’m giving you permission to accept what you can do for a year-end appeal with limited time, money, and resources. But first, what’s a year-end appeal? In general, a year-end appeal is a letter that reminds your donors and patrons of the important work that you do while encouraging them to send a contribution by the end of the year. As you may already know, making a charitable donation by the end of the year can be compelling for tax purposes, but it’s possible that some of your donors have access to a matching gift program through their employer that may also have a year-end deadline. In addition to these financially-motivated reasons, most donors give because they truly believe in the mission of an organization or project, and many make donations to celebrate the holidays.

Why People Ops Can’t Wait Until Tomorrow This piece details a core belief of mine, and why, especially if you’re a leader in the cultural sector, I believe you should share it too. Strategic HR — or People Operations — is a senior-level management competency that needs to be embedded in every decision we make in our organizations.

The Education/Experience Proxy is what I call the phrase organizations include near the end of their job postings: “High School Diploma Required,” “Bachelor Degree Required,” or “Masters Degree Preferred.” Please nix it. It’s a lazy proxy used to approximate experience or ability that’s making it harder for otherwise talented people to be a part of your candidate pool. It neglects people who learn differently, or have different life experience, from being considered for positions.

Photo by Arif Wahid on Unsplash Today, we’re announcing the creation of a new entity to advance Fractured Atlas’s mission of democratizing access to the arts and advancing human creativity: Exponential Creativity Ventures, a new investment enterprise that will make early stage investments in start-ups that are innovating at the intersection of technology and human creative capacity.

Learning with Others to Improve Ourselves Learning new things with other people is fun! After publishing an extensive list of HR resources and announcing the launch of our Strategic HR Bootcamp in January, a colleague recently asked me where I turn for my own professional development training. Here are some of the highlights I’ve enjoyed for structured learning: