“Overworked and underpaid”: the specifics of performing arts nonprofit organizations

In other countries such organizations are traditionally owned and funded by the government. In US, on the contrary, performing artists (dancers, actors, musicians) and their managers are left to fate and favor of donors and foundations. Unlike other educational nonprofit organizations (Teach for America) performing arts companies do not try to expand their volume but to maximize their impact by employing better artists and creating thoughtful performances. The performing arts companies do not try to advocate for policies and do not have a global agreement on the ways to run business most effectively. It must be mentioned, that performing arts nonprofits take the model of operations from training programs in educational institutions and care them into the world of business. Therefore, the flexibility and adaptivity of many performing arts nonprofits are quite limited to the standard set of practices.