From the beginning, NAS made a deliberate choice about how our work would be funded. Rather than charging participants the full cost of a program, we built our programming primarily through philanthropic support so that arts and culture leaders, especially those working in under-resourced environments, could participate free of charge or at highly subsidized rates.

We cultivated a small number of deeply aligned foundation partners willing to invest in long-term leadership development in a field that has historically received limited sustained support.

While this was the values-aligned choice for us and the field, it meant operating very close to the IRS threshold that determines whether an organization qualifies as a public charity. Over time, relying on a small number of funders made meeting that threshold increasingly difficult. Ultimately, we no longer passed the public support test, which required a shift in classification to private foundation status. However, being classified as a private foundation doesn’t change our non-profit status or our fundamental mission.

Private foundations are still nonprofit organizations, but they operate differently from public charities, and are governed by different norms and restrictions. NAS was designed to operate as a public charity. After consulting extensively with our legal team and board, it’s clear that the design that worked in our old tax status won’t work in our new one. It impacts our ability to fundraise from foundations, and in turn, run programs as we have and many other aspects of our work.

Given that, we can’t sustain our current model for long with our new tax classification. But we have worked closely with our lawyers, board, staff, and funders to ensure we can continue our operations this year while fully complying with our new private foundation status.

To sum it up: we can do a whole lot of good in 2026, but our current approach isn’t sustainable, meaning fundamental changes to the nature of our organization are in store in 2027 and beyond.

Yes. NAS is fully operational throughout 2026.

We are delivering on all current program commitments, welcoming new cohorts, honoring grant agreements, and investing an additional $1 million directly into our community of arts and culture leaders this year.

Thanks to our legal team, board, staff, and funders, we are able to do all this in full compliance with our new tax status as a private foundation. While doing so for the long-term isn’t sustainable, we currently have the funds, the team, and the community to make 2026 a deeply meaningful year.

It means that NAS as we know it – the team, the programs – cannot continue as we have been beyond 2026. That doesn’t mean the work can’t continue. It’s just that our new organizational structure (private foundation) can’t hold that work in the way it has been.

We are actively exploring what options might be on the table, including transitioning programs into their own entities, mergers, sunsetting – there are many possibilities.

Not directly, but there is a connection.

We’ve known for a long time that we were operating on the margins of public charity status, and that at some point this change might come. We’ve been paying close attention and trying to keep our funding base broad enough to pass the public support test each year.

In 2025, funding priorities for many foundations in the U.S. rightly changed. As a field, we experienced collectively the devastating budget cuts, the fear of political targeting, and more. While we at NAS risked tipping into private foundation status, others risked losing funding entirely or worse.

Given that, as we became aware that we likely wouldn’t pass the public support test late last year, it didn’t feel right nor was there a clear enough path to raise the funds needed to prevent this outcome. We already had all the money we needed to support our team and run our programs throughout 2026. We would never run an emergency fundraising campaign to prevent a change in tax status when so many others faced true emergencies. Especially when doing so might have only pushed off this outcome for a few years.

So we hold two truths at once: our change in tax status is not a direct result of the U.S. administration, and was always a possibility. At the same time, the current political landscape and resulting shift in field funding priorities did influence the timing and how we chose to show up to this change.

Charging higher participant fees or shifting to a fee-for-service only structure would fundamentally change who NAS is and serves.

Our model was built on the belief that leadership development in the arts should be accessible, especially to those working in under-resourced environments. Charging full-cost (or even reduced-cost) fees would narrow access and undermine the values that have guided our work for four decades.

We explored alternatives over the years, including individual fundraising. In the end, our choices were guided by values, making sure NAS’s structure, effort, and resources matched the impact we wanted to have.

We shared our plans in brief above, but here’s a bit more about them and why:

1. We’re going to deliver on all existing programmatic commitments. This one is self explanatory: everything we said we’d do and have been funded for will still proceed as planned.
2. We’re investing more into our community. You don’t need us to tell you that these are challenging times. As we face the uncertainty of 2027 and beyond, we recognize that we have a unique opportunity now. We have an incredible team, a wonderful community, and access to substantial financial resources we’ve raised over the years. After extensive conversations with our staff and board, we decided this is the moment to do more, not less. To lead with abundance, to leverage our resources generously, to honor our deep commitment of caring for our community. That’s why we decided to invest an additional $1M back into arts and culture leaders.

   With our new private foundation status, there are constraints on how this money can be spent, but many ways to put it to good use. Our intention is to re-invest in our community, to offer the alumni of our many programs over the years the opportunity to reconnect and continue learning with and from one another. Because that’s what we do, and that’s so much of what the world needs right now: good people coming together to care for themselves and one another as we work collectively towards change.

   We’re finalizing our plans for these funds now, and will share updates in our monthly newsletter (if you’re not signed up, you can do so here)

3. There’s so much that we’ve learned over the years and we want to share as much of it as we can. We’ve always tried to live our learnings out loud, but we’re a small team, and we often prioritize doing the work over talking about it publicly. We don’t often publish or speak at conferences, we’re not active on social media.

   As we sit with the uncertainty of what’s ahead, it feels important to share what we’ve learned to the benefit of the field. We’ve been supporting arts and culture leaders for decades – we’ve learned so much about what’s needed, what works, and what doesn’t. We have meaningful data, powerful stories, and much to say that we don’t want to get lost in the transitions ahead. So once again, stay tuned to our newsletter. It’s the best place to follow along on this journey.

4. And of course, we’re going to explore how the work will continue in 2027 and beyond. We know that our new private foundation structure can’t sustain our current programming, but that doesn’t mean the work isn’t sustainable. As mentioned above, there are so many possibilities, and we’re excited to explore them.

Over the past 43 years, NAS has supported more than 5,000 arts and culture leaders internationally, supporting these individuals and their organizations through growth, transition, and uncertainty.

Through fellowships, coaching, cohort-based programs, and alumni networks, NAS has helped leaders build trusted peer relationships that extend well beyond formal program timelines. Ideas seeded in one place have circulated across regions, disciplines, and communities through these networks.

Because our work has been an investment in leaders, the true impact of NAS’s work is felt through them: the way they lead, the work they do in their communities, the ripple effects of their choices and contributions to the field. We are confident that our community of leaders will go on to do incredible things for decades to come, and we know their work will inspire others as well, such that the resonance will continue long after this chapter of NAS ends.

We reflect on what so many organizations are facing right now: big, existential questions, uncertain futures, and the reality that not all work can or should continue indefinitely. These are difficult moments for any mission-driven organization, and thinking carefully about how we show up for our communities is critical.

We are actively exploring what options might be on the table, including transitioning programs into their own entities, mergers, sunsetting – there are many possibilities.

This is just the start of the conversation. Throughout the year, we’ll continue sharing updates, insights, and reflections to support leaders and the field as this work evolves.

From the beginning, NAS made a deliberate choice about how our work would be funded. Rather than charging participants the full cost of a program, we built our programming primarily through philanthropic support so that arts and culture leaders, especially those working in under-resourced environments, could participate free of charge or at highly subsidized rates.

We cultivated a small number of deeply aligned foundation partners willing to invest in long-term leadership development in a field that has historically received limited sustained support.

While this was the values-aligned choice for us and the field, it meant operating very close to the IRS threshold that determines whether an organization qualifies as a public charity. Over time, relying on a small number of funders made meeting that threshold increasingly difficult. Ultimately, we no longer passed the public support test, which required a shift in classification to private foundation status. However, being classified as a private foundation doesn’t change our non-profit status or our fundamental mission.

Private foundations are still nonprofit organizations, but they operate differently from public charities, and are governed by different norms and restrictions. NAS was designed to operate as a public charity. After consulting extensively with our legal team and board, it’s clear that the design that worked in our old tax status won’t work in our new one. It impacts our ability to fundraise from foundations, and in turn, run programs as we have and many other aspects of our work.

Given that, we can’t sustain our current model for long with our new tax classification. But we have worked closely with our lawyers, board, staff, and funders to ensure we can continue our operations this year while fully complying with our new private foundation status.

To sum it up: we can do a whole lot of good in 2026, but our current approach isn’t sustainable, meaning fundamental changes to the nature of our organization are in store in 2027 and beyond.

Yes. NAS is fully operational throughout 2026.

We are delivering on all current program commitments, welcoming new cohorts, honoring grant agreements, and investing an additional $1 million directly into our community of arts and culture leaders this year.

Thanks to our legal team, board, staff, and funders, we are able to do all this in full compliance with our new tax status as a private foundation. While doing so for the long-term isn’t sustainable, we currently have the funds, the team, and the community to make 2026 a deeply meaningful year.

It means that NAS as we know it – the team, the programs – cannot continue as we have been beyond 2026. That doesn’t mean the work can’t continue. It’s just that our new organizational structure (private foundation) can’t hold that work in the way it has been.

We are actively exploring what options might be on the table, including transitioning programs into their own entities, mergers, sunsetting – there are many possibilities.

Not directly, but there is a connection.

We’ve known for a long time that we were operating on the margins of public charity status, and that at some point this change might come. We’ve been paying close attention and trying to keep our funding base broad enough to pass the public support test each year.

In 2025, funding priorities for many foundations in the U.S. rightly changed. As a field, we experienced collectively the devastating budget cuts, the fear of political targeting, and more. While we at NAS risked tipping into private foundation status, others risked losing funding entirely or worse.

Given that, as we became aware that we likely wouldn’t pass the public support test late last year, it didn’t feel right nor was there a clear enough path to raise the funds needed to prevent this outcome. We already had all the money we needed to support our team and run our programs throughout 2026. We would never run an emergency fundraising campaign to prevent a change in tax status when so many others faced true emergencies. Especially when doing so might have only pushed off this outcome for a few years.

So we hold two truths at once: our change in tax status is not a direct result of the U.S. administration, and was always a possibility. At the same time, the current political landscape and resulting shift in field funding priorities did influence the timing and how we chose to show up to this change.

Charging higher participant fees or shifting to a fee-for-service only structure would fundamentally change who NAS is and serves.

Our model was built on the belief that leadership development in the arts should be accessible, especially to those working in under-resourced environments. Charging full-cost (or even reduced-cost) fees would narrow access and undermine the values that have guided our work for four decades.

We explored alternatives over the years, including individual fundraising. In the end, our choices were guided by values, making sure NAS’s structure, effort, and resources matched the impact we wanted to have.

We shared our plans in brief above, but here’s a bit more about them and why:

1. We’re going to deliver on all existing programmatic commitments. This one is self explanatory: everything we said we’d do and have been funded for will still proceed as planned.
2. We’re investing more into our community. You don’t need us to tell you that these are challenging times. As we face the uncertainty of 2027 and beyond, we recognize that we have a unique opportunity now. We have an incredible team, a wonderful community, and access to substantial financial resources we’ve raised over the years. After extensive conversations with our staff and board, we decided this is the moment to do more, not less. To lead with abundance, to leverage our resources generously, to honor our deep commitment of caring for our community. That’s why we decided to invest an additional $1M back into arts and culture leaders.

   With our new private foundation status, there are constraints on how this money can be spent, but many ways to put it to good use. Our intention is to re-invest in our community, to offer the alumni of our many programs over the years the opportunity to reconnect and continue learning with and from one another. Because that’s what we do, and that’s so much of what the world needs right now: good people coming together to care for themselves and one another as we work collectively towards change.

   We’re finalizing our plans for these funds now, and will share updates in our monthly newsletter (if you’re not signed up, you can do so here)

3. There’s so much that we’ve learned over the years and we want to share as much of it as we can. We’ve always tried to live our learnings out loud, but we’re a small team, and we often prioritize doing the work over talking about it publicly. We don’t often publish or speak at conferences, we’re not active on social media.

   As we sit with the uncertainty of what’s ahead, it feels important to share what we’ve learned to the benefit of the field. We’ve been supporting arts and culture leaders for decades – we’ve learned so much about what’s needed, what works, and what doesn’t. We have meaningful data, powerful stories, and much to say that we don’t want to get lost in the transitions ahead. So once again, stay tuned to our newsletter. It’s the best place to follow along on this journey.

4. And of course, we’re going to explore how the work will continue in 2027 and beyond. We know that our new private foundation structure can’t sustain our current programming, but that doesn’t mean the work isn’t sustainable. As mentioned above, there are so many possibilities, and we’re excited to explore them.

Over the past 43 years, NAS has supported more than 5,000 arts and culture leaders internationally, supporting these individuals and their organizations through growth, transition, and uncertainty.

Through fellowships, coaching, cohort-based programs, and alumni networks, NAS has helped leaders build trusted peer relationships that extend well beyond formal program timelines. Ideas seeded in one place have circulated across regions, disciplines, and communities through these networks.

Because our work has been an investment in leaders, the true impact of NAS’s work is felt through them: the way they lead, the work they do in their communities, the ripple effects of their choices and contributions to the field. We are confident that our community of leaders will go on to do incredible things for decades to come, and we know their work will inspire others as well, such that the resonance will continue long after this chapter of NAS ends.

We reflect on what so many organizations are facing right now: big, existential questions, uncertain futures, and the reality that not all work can or should continue indefinitely. These are difficult moments for any mission-driven organization, and thinking carefully about how we show up for our communities is critical.

We are actively exploring what options might be on the table, including transitioning programs into their own entities, mergers, sunsetting – there are many possibilities.

This is just the start of the conversation. Throughout the year, we’ll continue sharing updates, insights, and reflections to support leaders and the field as this work evolves.