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Request a Volunteer Consultant
- Are you an arts manager who could benefit from a fresh perspective on your organization?
- Are there areas of administration or marketing where you feel you've hit a wall or lack the expertise to move forward?
- Are you willing to invest time and energy to lead your organization through a project, with the help of an experienced business professional?
If so, Business Volunteers for the Arts (BVA) is available to help.
BVA trains business professionals to work as volunteer consultants with arts and cultural organizations, matching volunteer expertise with well-defined consulting projects to improve operations and strengthen the professional skills of arts managers.
what bva offers
BVA volunteers are business professionals who typically have a minimum of 5 years of management experience and an interest in bringing their skills to a nonprofit cultural environment. Before being placed with an arts organization, volunteers attend BVA Leadership Training to understand the unique operational structure of nonprofit cultural organizations and to consider how they can best apply their consulting skills in a nonprofit environment.
Most BVA consulting projects fall into one of the following areas:
- Strategic planning
- Business planning
- Accounting/financial management
- Marketing and public relations
- Human resources
- Special events planning
BVA volunteers dedicate 5-10 hours per month to a consulting project. Many professionals become involved with arts organizations beyond their BVA projects, so BVA is a powerful way to build lasting relationships with individuals from the business community.
Is a BVA placement right for your organization?
BVA is available to all nonprofit arts and cultural organizations in the Greater Philadelphia Region, from small to large, from emerging to well-established. Arts and cultural organizations requesting BVA support should be willing to invest time in a project. In most cases, the executive director will need to be involved from the outset, with other staff or board members supporting the project as needed. BVA projects typically last from 3 to 12 months.
For more information about the types of projects BVA volunteers support, see the examples cited under The BVA Experience.
how to apply
Apply online by completing a Project Application. Once we receive your application, we will contact you to schedule an assessment interview to determine how a BVA volunteer can best provide assistance to your organization.
fee
Arts and cultural organizations pay an administrative fee to the Arts and Business Council when a BVA volunteer is placed. The fee is:
- $75 for organizations with operating budgets under $1 million
- $125 for organizations with budgets $1 million or more
Questions?
Please emailEileen Cunniffe, director of Business Volunteers for the Arts, or call 215.790.3621.