During the current financial crisis, while I am obsessing about financial matters (I obsess well), I am reminded by Marie Mattson, my Vice President of Development, that what we are here to provide people – our audience and donors – education, entertainment and inspiration. Our constituents need us now more than ever to be there to provide diversion.

It will take a great deal of discipline to make my audience and donors enjoy their interactions with the Kennedy Center even as we are worrying about whether we can afford them.

Many of us have a natural tendency to want to share our worries with others; somehow we feel that by sharing our burdens we are also sharing the responsibility for addressing them. Obviously this is not true or helpful. In fact one of my rules for a turnaround is that you have to provide a relentlessly positive picture of the importance of your organization even as you are dealing with all of the problems. Threats of deficits or even bankruptcy do not encourage donations.

The same applies now – to all of us. We must ensure that our interactions with our constituents are as fun, uplifting and inspirational as we can.

In fact, as donors cut back in the current financial situation, the competition for funding only increases. The happy productive organization virtually always trumps the depressing, whining one.

If we want to compete well for funding, we must demonstrate that we have a plan for dealing with reduced revenue, that we are continuing to provide important service and that we are a comfortable organization with which to deal.

This is how we will hold on to those who provide us revenues and it is our only real hope for rebuilding successful thriving arts organizations when financial conditions improve.