“Artful” Business Volunteering

Get on the path to “artful” volunteering.

Prepare yourself to be a volunteer management consultant with one of the region's dynamic arts and cultural organizations—assist a museum, historical site, musical performance group, theater or perhaps a community art center right in your own neighborhood.

To get underway apply for the next Business Volunteers for the Arts (BVA) training class. The training will be presented by Chamber affiliate, Arts & Business Council of Greater Philadelphia, on two consecutive Thursday evenings, June 3 and 10, from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. and will give you insights into the strengths and impact of the region's cultural sector and the management needs of the sector's 1,000 organizations.

Most of all, the training will prepare you for a pro bono BVA consulting assignment tailored to your specific skills and interests.

No Two Are the Same

BVA consulting projects are guaranteed to be challenging and varied.

The only constants—you will interact with creative professionals and you get to choose the type of artistic organization you want to assist and the kind of project you want to undertake. You might find yourself guiding a business planning effort, developing a public relations plan or updating a cultural organization's financial management practices.

The possibilities are endless...well almost.

A Win All Around

And it's true, volunteering goes far beyond being just an altruistic gesture on your part.

The Council's experience over the past 30 years has shown again and again that BVA volunteering can benefit your career or help you with a job search or building your business. That's because BVA:

• Boosts your network by introducing you to people from many different fields and positions
• Develops new skills that you may not have ever put into play
• Sharpens your consultation and project management expertise

Is BVA Right for You?

Do you have the right professional background to become a BVA volunteer? You'll need a minimum of five years management experience and expertise in strategic or business planning, marketing, public relations, human resources, financial management or special events planning. Entrepreneurs, employees and owners of small businesses are well suited to BVA too.

An interest in arts and culture is a great attribute as well.

So what is the next step? Register for the June training.

Not sure yet? Contact Eileen Cunniffe at ecunniffe@artsandbusinessphila.org or 215-790-3621 with your questions and concerns.

Most of all, we hope you'll consider BVA. We are confident that you'll find BVA is a great way to broaden your career and experience some of the intrinsic rewards that come from being an “artful” volunteer.

The Arts & Business Council gratefully acknowledges Ernst & Young for its generous sponsorship of BVA and the participation of many Ernst & Young employees as BVA volunteers.