Next week I will be hosting a dialogue for the LA advocacy organization, Arts for LA, about how to cultivate individuals of wealth and family foundations to support the arts. Much of my work lately has centered around an approach to supporting kids and their families called Strengthening Families or SF, for short. SF is an evidence-based approach to promoting child well-being by applying what are called “protective factors” to the design and implementation of programs and services aimed at at-risk and underserved kids and their families. The evidence base for this approach has been developed by The Center for the Study of Social Policy with the support of the Doris Duke Foundation and Casey Family Programs.

Protective factors are those things that to most of us of a certain age and class came naturally: safe neighborhoods where we could walk to school, parks where we could play, front stoops where we could visit with the neighbors, bowling leagues where our parents shared recreation, and school bands where we could be part of a melodious team. You get the idea. These are the factors that help kids to grow healthy, curious, and engaged in their communities. And they are things that help parents to rely on each other when they are overwhelmed by the struggles of supporting a family and raising children.

So what does all of this have to do with how to cultivate support for the arts? Art and culture are huge protective factors that help to create strong families and communities. When they describe the importance of their programs to donors, arts organizations can help them to understand the relationship between their mission and the broader goal of promoting positive long-term outcomes for kids and stronger family and community connections. Many donors enjoy being engaged with their communities and want to improve the economic and social circumstances of their beneficiaries. But they often do not understand the role that arts organizations, as opposed to say, community clinics or charter schools, play in creating strong families and communities. When I meet with the arts leaders, this will be my primary message: that the arts are a protective factor that promotes strong kids and families and that, in turn, has a huge long-term positive impact on creating strong communities for everyone.