I am Starting a Non-Profit Choral Organization - Part 2: What is the Purpose?

My name is Sam and I just dropped $600 to follow my dreams of starting a non-profit choral organization. I keep a Burger King job application on my piano to both remind me that I don't have to put myself through the stress and to motivate me to work harder. I teach high school students and sing as a tenor in a high-intensity church choir twice a week. I am an artist. I believe in pushing the boundaries of my art. It just so happens that the medium is choral music.

A phrase has been haunting me for weeks now. Its found on the Form 202 - Certificate of Formation - Nonprofit Corporation, under Article 5 - Purpose:

"The nonprofit corporation is organized for the following purpose or purposes:"

What in the world am I supposed to write in that? The purpose is to make people love choral music, to make them feel something when they go to our concerts, to have our concerts make a difference in the world. Then I put myself in the shoes of a government employee and figured, if I were them, I would probably fall out of my chair laughing reading that. I needed a strong statement. One that would carry a solid message about who we are and what we want to accomplish.

Before I go any further, I need to share with you something that my brother, @jbrukh, shared with me when I began thinking about this adventure. Its brilliant. Here it is:

https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action

The video makes sense. The development of a successful company is all about WHY you do what you do. Its not about your product, its about why you believe that product exists. Now lets apply that concept to the choral world:

A choir conductor who stands in front of his chorus and talks about his accomplishments (product) is a choir conductor with no choir. Who in their right mind wants to sit and hear someone's accomplishments for an hour? If I don't know their WHY, I don't care how many accomplishments a conductor has produced.

A choir conductor who stands in front of his chorus and talks about the bigger picture of what the PURPOSE (or the why) of the music is, is a choir conductor that wins a Grammy. Because its no longer about ego. And there are few that have accomplished this. Craig Hella Johnson is one of those people that has music pouring out of his soul at all times; not a cent of ego. Take a look at this video:

I wanted to send a message through my company's purpose that told people the why. I thought long and hard about this. Lets take a look at how I expanded the original 3 statements:

Before: To have our concerts make a difference in the world
After: To be a unifying force in the community through creative concert programming and profound choral music

People need to love the product before they take out their wallets and pay for it. We need to create and perform music that is so good, its going to make an audience feel empowered, strong, and inspired. How do we do this? Good musicians, creative programming, relevant music, and community outreach.

Before: To make people love choral music
After: To enrich choral music in society through educational outreach, offering free admission to students and teachers of music, and inspiring the next generation of professional choral artists

Outreach into the community = more opportunities to spread awareness of the choral art, interest in the organization, and inspiration for the future of our profession.

Before: To make them feel something when they go to our concerts
After: To provide a forum for world-class musicians to practice their art in an ensemble setting

It is so imperative to have the best of the best musicians available in order to create the highest possible art. The best musicians are able to function quickly and improvise in creative environments. More creativity = more spontaneous music-making. This is the quality that separates good choirs from the best.

All of a sudden, my creative ideas that spanned thousands of miles in my head were being cut down to 3 sentences on paper. Then those 3 sentences had to be limited to one word: the name of the company. More on that next time!

A big thank you to my brother, @jbrukh, for inspiring me to pursue my dreams. Thank you, Steemit community, for giving me encouragement to keep writing about this. You guys are awesome.

If Craig Hella Johnson's Ted Talk interested you, check out his choral music video with his Grammy award-winning professional choir, Conspirare: