Creative Partners

Creative Partners is an experimental fundraising partnership that began in 2013 among three small and mid-sized Chicago-based arts organizations including eighth blackbird Performing Arts Association (music), Lucky Plush Productions (dance), and Blair Thomas & Company (theatre). Creative Partners employs two full-time development staff who raise funds on behalf of each organization, provide back office support, and handle the ticketing and marketing for the three organizations. eighth blackbird serves as the fiscal agent for the collaborative and Julia Rhodes, artistic director of Lucky Plush Productions, supervises the Creative Partners staff. This grant supports the activities of Creative Partners.

This grant will support Creative Partners, a partnership among three small and mid-sized Chicago-based arts organizations – eighth blackbird Performing Arts Association (music), Lucky Plush Productions (dance) and Blair Thomas & Company (theatre)— to share a common development staff of two people. MacArthur funds will be used in part to support the salaries of a shared full-time Development Director and Development Assistant and purchase and install the necessary databases and technology to manage donor information.