Named a global innovator transforming the art industry

Founder Melissa Cowley Wolf was named to the Artnet inaugural Innovators List  —“a group of 51 entrepreneurs, artists, dealers, and others who are lighting the way toward the future with vision, chutzpah, and grit.”…

American Alliance of Art Museums (AAM) Annual Convening

At the Annual Convening in Baltimore, Melissa spoke on “Fundraising from a Place of Strength”.

Art Museum Development Association (AMDA)

Melissa spoke on Next Era Philanthropy (and taught yoga!) at the 2024 AMDA Annual Conference at The Huntington.

THE m.o. podcast: executive coaching for nonprofit and arts leaders

Melissa discusses the evolving role of philanthropy in the arts, how wellness practices can transform leadership, and her thoughts on the critical intersections of art, policy, and public engagement.

Essential Reads on Family Offices by Globe Law and Business

Melissa contributed to the publication, an essential resource featuring insights from the world’s foremost experts on the most pressing topics facing family offices and their advisers today…

IPM NPFX PODCAST: The Intersection of Organizational Wellness and Impact, with Shaun Leonardo and Melissa Cowley WolF

How can we expect nonprofits to go out and make the world a better place if the organizations themselves are not well? Listen to help nonprofits improve their internal health and increase their impact.

IPM NPFX PODCAST: Tips for 2023 Year-End Fundraising (and How to Prepare for 2024)

Melissa Cowley Wolf [17:56]: “Strategize from a grounded place in times of uncertainty and crisis, listen to your audiences to inform donor cultivation, let those you serve tell their stories.”

Brooklyn rail New Worlds: June Critics Page Discussion:

Melissa and contributors to the June Critics page speak with editor, Allison Glenn…

IPM NPFX podcast: The Future of Museums: A Crisis of Relevance | with nico wheadon and Melissa Cowley Wolf

Author nico wheadon and Melissa Cowley Wolf discuss how cultural institutions can redefine themselves to stay relevant and better fulfill their duty to the public good.

MUSEUM METAMORPHOSIS

by nico wheadon

Melissa Cowley Wolf contributed to the roundtable discussion, “Museum as Stakeholder: How to Retool the Funding Landscape and Invest in a Social Change Ecosystem” with Ruby Lerner, Shawnda Chapman, and nico wheadon.

Changing arts podcast: Next Generation Arts Donors: Melissa Cowley Wolf

Tom talks with Melissa Cowley Wolf about the expectations and current trends among the next generation of arts funders, the impact this can and should have on donor engagement, board development, and the role of the 21st century fundraiser.

The Art Elevator podcast with larissa wild

Melissa and host Larissa Wild discuss: Strategies and approaches to solve for the funding crisis in the arts; Ways to recognize what’s important to the new generation of patrons of the arts; How to tie donors, audiences, and patrons into stories in a meaningful, inclusive and compelling way.

TRG 30 | TRG ARTS

Jill Robinson, CEO, TRG Arts, is joined by Zannie Voss, Director, SMU Data Arts, and Melissa Cowley Wolf, Founder, MCW Projects, for a conversation about the next generation of arts philanthropy. Together they share data and insights about the changes that were underway pre-pandemic, what the data is saying now, and what is required of arts leadership for the future. Watch here.

conversations about art podcast with heidi zuckerman

Melissa and Heidi discuss creating intimacy through technology, building communities, increasing private giving to the arts, telling stories about what matters, political art, trust, relevancy, urgency, and the essentiality of art and artists, generational shifts in understanding philanthropy, impact giving, optimism and positivity, nomadism, practice, synchronicity, and how freedom and justice are at the essence of a life well lived! Listen here.

INSIDE PHILANTHROPY

Billionaire Donors May Prevent a Museum Meltdown, but Which Institutions Will Be Saved?

“For both large and small institutions, those that have done the hard, innovative and honest fundraising and community engagement work pre-COVID—and not relied mainly on earned revenue—feel optimistic and are taking the time to retool their programs to best align with this moment,” Melissa Cowley Wolf told me…

INSIDE PHILANTHROPY

“Remake the Model.” Philanthropy and the Arts After Coronavirus

By Mike Scutari

In order to address what Melissa Cowley Wolf and Sean McManus called a pre-coronavirus “crisis of relevance,” organizations need to “collectively remake the model into one that better engages next-generation donors. It is these donors that are yearning to redefine our system, and it can be remade in their image.”…

ARTS FUNDERS FORUM LAUNCH, miami, fl. 12.3.19

Call to Action: Melissa Cowley Wolf, AFF Director

Coming together to shape the future of cultural philanthropy.

ARTNET OP ED

Arts Funding Is Facing an Existential Crisis

I’d like to propose three recommendations for how the sector must change in order to rebuild from the current crises and create new, sustainable models that will ensure a robust cultural sector for generations to come.

INSIDE PHILANTHROPY

The Arts Sector is Being Decimated by COVID-19. What Are Funders Doing in Response?

I reached out to funders, nonprofits and arts advocates, asking them how philanthropy can make the greatest impact in the present moment. Three key themes emerged. First, “donors are doing much of what we would hope for: asking institutions what they need,” said Melissa Cowley Wolf and Sean McManus ... 

FINANCIAL TIMES

Where is the money for culture in the US?

As donations decline, the Arts Funders Forum is trying to find new ways of enticing people to give. An afternoon conference held by the AFF in Miami this week, to launch what they hope will be a growing community of donors and philanthropists, was inspiring but sobering. 

American Theatre

TCG Fall Forum: A Deep Dive Into a New Playbook

In the breakout session “New Rules of Engagement: Fundraising in a Multi-Generational Context,” Melissa Cowley Wolf, founder of MCW Projects, cited studies showing that millennials …

THE HONEY PUMP: THE EXPERTS

Episode 7: Melissa Cowley Wolf on Cultural Philanthropy and Rising Generations

With The Experts we aim to grant access to articles and interviews with prominent figures in the arts ecosystem.

THE MALTA ARTPAPER

The Holy Grail

With funding becoming ever-more competitive, and more essential to cultural institutions and artists alike, we talk to international arts funding and philanthropy expert, Melissa Cowley Wolf about arts advocacy and revenue streams…

THE ART NEWSPAPER

What will cultural philanthropy look like in the 21st century? A new forum aims to find out

The first thing the organisers did was draw up a database of donors, directors, and other artworld insiders to get, as the forum’s director Melissa Cowley Wolf describes it, a 360-degree view of the sector. Of the more than 500 cultural professionals they surveyed, 78% said they were either “somewhat concerned” or “very concerned” about about philanthropic trends…