January 2009
by Helmut Anheier

The main point is that non-profits have to be proactive and inventive when responding in the medium term to the fallout of the current crises. Yet what can be done to prepare for future crises? Such measures include:

• Exploring institutional innovations for the non-profit field as a whole: e.g., dedicated financial institutions for non-profits including insurance funds, forms of capital markets etc., as well as smart public private partnerships with profit/reserve options.
• Establishing a Public Trust Fund for non-profits to smooth eligible organisations through a period of fiscal uncertainties, budget shortfalls etc. Of course, there are different ways to build and run such a trust fund (tax-based, community foundation model).
• Developing a membership base that can be mobilised politically for advocacy purposes as well as economically for resource generation.
• Seeking non-profit liaison or focal points in key government areas for arts and culture, and creating ‘cultural listening posts’ as an early warning system.
• Investing in more and more effective non-profit advocacy in the field of arts and culture, and strengthening the watchdog function of non-profits.

Sociologists and economists have long argued that crises are the necessary correctives, part of an ongoing process of the ‘creative destruction’ that has shaped much of the modern world, with globalisation as the latest development. If this is the case, the crisis offers perhaps as much in terms of opportunities as it does in terms of challenges. It will lead to the demise of some institutions and the rise of others. Some non-profits will flourish while others become moribund. Old leadership and elites will be replaced, at least partially. New funding patterns and ways of organising are likely to emerge.

Responding to a crisis requires both a reduction of uncertainties and capitalising on opportunities. Above all, mastering the crisis demands a proactive stance on the part of Europe’s cultural leadership – not by asking for old wine to be served in new bottles (as the American car giants or European banks and manufacturers have been doing), but by embracing what cultural policy stands for: making space for creativity and innovation and preserving past achievements for the benefit of all.

1. How can the cultural sector survive the financial crisis?
2. How is the arts and culture sector responding to the crisis?
3. How should non-profits rise to new challenges?
4. Six tips for weathering the storm
5. Preparing for the future

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