The “Art” of Business

This past week in ISM, I narrowed my focus down to more closely look into the nonprofit side of social entrepreneurship. I focused on building my contacts and connections with professionals who worked in the nonprofit space and found many differences in the overall goals and missions of their respective companies. Just by exploring this side of my topic, I have gained so much new insight with different perspectives and opinions that continue to expand my knowledge. My second interview was with Ms. Tammy Meinershagen, Executive Director of Frisco Arts. Interviewing Ms. Meinershagen was truly a dream as I have known about Frisco Arts for quite some time now and have been so heavily involved with the arts for the majority of my life. One of the largest takeaways from this interview that helped me in my nonprofit research was understanding the idea that in order to operate a successful nonprofit, you need to “think like a business.” You cannot effectively manage a nonprofit like Frisco Arts without proper business knowledge. All the techniques, principles, and strategies of a for-profit business apply as nonprofits and for-profits are more similar than different. It was so interesting to receive this insight from Ms. Meinershagen as I was so fascinated by how she was able to incorporate her passion for the arts in an effective nonprofit business.