A Curious Case of Outsourcing

several arts orgs in ohio are outsourcing key back-office functions to an association. marketing. ticket sales. fundraising. the struggling orgs are thrilled to have someone take on “all the stuff that artists don’t really like to do anyway.” um, what? first off, marketing is frontline, mission-critical ops — not back office. not surprising that they’re cash-strapped. secondly, trust marketing to an association? most pros would agree that they’ve no clue! lastly, does it matter if you don’t “like” marketing? is upside down more fun?

[audio:https://ericstownsendmarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/npr_podcast_arts_outsourcing.mp3|titles=Arts Outsourcing|artists=NPR reporter Leann Hanson]