His Mama named him Kennedy, I'ma call him Kennedy!

What happens when a nonprofit isn't really independent?

In this episode of Philanthropy N The Black, host Celly Cel dives into one of the most fascinating nonprofit governance stories in America: the Kennedy Center. Officially known as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Kennedy Center operates through a unique public-private partnership that combines nonprofit fundraising and programming with federal ownership and oversight.

After President Trump replaced members of the Kennedy Center's board, became chairman, and supported efforts to reshape the institution's future, questions emerged about who really controls a nonprofit when government funding, federal law, and political appointments are involved.

In this episode, we explore:

• What the Kennedy Center is and why it was created
• The public-private partnership model that governs the institution
• How the Kennedy Center is funded through ticket sales, philanthropy, sponsorships, endowment income, and federal appropriations
• Why federal law makes the Kennedy Center different from a typical nonprofit
• The role of the Board of Trustees and political appointments
• Trump's influence on fundraising and federal support for the Center
• Why the building cannot simply be renamed by board vote
• The legal distinction between naming programs, endowments, and federal monuments
• What every nonprofit leader should learn about governance, ownership, and control

This isn't a Republican story or a Democratic story. It's a nonprofit governance story.

Because when government owns the building, appoints the board, and writes the laws, the question isn't who raises the money.

The question is: who really has the keys?

Subscribe for more nonprofit news, information, and entertainment that helps keep NGOs in the black financially, socially, and morally.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

What's good, my peoples? This is your boy Selly Stell with another episode of Philanthropy in the Black. We are about to get busy because we're trying to help nonprofits stay in the black, not only financially, but socially and morally, through information, education, experience, and a little bit of entertainment. Gotta throw that flavor in there. So welcome, welcome, welcome, my people. What'd it do, my nonprofit brothers and sisters? Listen, we are going to get into something that happened over the last few weeks. And if you're able to see the screen, if you're watching on YouTube or uh on the website, you'll see this sign behind me. It is about the what I like to call the debacle of the renaming of the Kennedy Center. And you can't see it if you're listening, but you know, it's the tarp up over the naming as they are putting up and taking down the name. I mean, it's just it just went on and on and on, right? Until, of course, these judges uh stepped in. But here on Philanthropy in the Black, this topic, I like to always give y'all the disclaimer, is not about Trump. And more, it more or less has to do with you and I, you know, brothers and sisters in the nonprofit space. We need to understand a few things. And here it is when government money, assets, and authority are involved, you lose a little bit of your independence. We're gonna keep it gutter, keep it gangster, keep it gutter, word to OG, nope, nope, word to monster. We're gonna keep it uh gutter, keep it gangster. Listen, that's the truth. That's the truth of it. The more you have people in your house, and we're gonna get back to what I mean by in your house, the less independence you have, and you have to remember that and understand that, right? The Kennedy Center is one of the best examples that I can think of currently of a public-private partnership. That's what this episode is about. This is about public-private partnerships, and the Kennedy Center is one hell of an example. Listen, it operates like a nonprofit, it raises money like a nonprofit, sells tickets like a nonprofit, but boogie boogie, but it sits on federal land, occupies a federally owned building, and is governed under federal law. That creates great opportunity and great risk. Word the Spider-Man. I know it's not the same thing, so don't come for me. So this episode is called His Mama Name I'm Kennedy. I'm gonna call him Kennedy. How public-private partnerships can help and hurt the nonprofit sector. And listen, this is so interesting and in real time, and it's teaching us something about leadership, partnership in a way that you know you don't have to go experience yourself. You can just watch this right here. And listen, before you start sending DMs or making those crazy ass posts on the comments under this information, this episode, this episode really isn't about politics, people. It really is about ownership, it's about governance, and that's huge. It's about one of the most important lessons we in nonprofit can learn. Because you're just because you and your organization raise its own money doesn't mean it you control your own destiny. Think about that. You raise money, but you don't control your own destiny in certain certain situations. And we're gonna get into that because the Kennedy Center situation is giving us this um what I like to call a masterclass in public-private partnerships. And whether you love Trump, hate Trump, or wish everybody would just shut the hell up, there are lessons here for all of us. So let's get into it. Let's let's go from I always like to go from micro, I'm sorry, macro to micro. So let's start with the obvious. People think the Kennedy Center is just the theater. I know you watch all of the ribbons and the performance and the shows. We all many of us learned about the Kennedy Center through that uh the Kennedy Center honors, which it will be an honors, right? Many of us learn, but it's not just the theater. Officially, it is called the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, right? That's a beautiful name. It flows, right? It's a performing arts center, just like ones you have in your city or community. Starting in the beginning, the facility opens in 71, but its roots go back much further. Like to like 58 when Congress authorized the creation of a um national cultural center. I mean, listen, that's that's dope. In 1958, Congress saw the need for a national cultural center. Now, it's Juneteenth. There's some other things they could have been doing, but you know, hey, they saw the need for a national cultural center. Okay, but when uh Kennedy was assassinated in '63, Congress renamed the project in his honor and designated it as a living memorial. And here's the thing: this living memorial is different from you know statues and monuments in other places in this sense because it is a continuous education and um performing arts space. So when you continue to uh educate, give tours, and do all those things, you know, it's a living memorial. It doesn't just stand there, it is people coming to visit and learn and take classes or learn more about it, and not just reading a plaque, but participating hands-on. So that's a living memorial. That designation later became federal law. In other words, the Kennedy Center isn't just a nonprofit arts organization, it's also a federal monument. As you know, that's important, right? And we'll come back to that. This public-private partnership, which fascinates me, um, represents one of the largest and oldest public-private partnerships in the nonprofit world. And I'll tell you how this works. So let's go left side, right side. Left side will be left side, chicken, chick, right side, okay, okay, left side. Okay, that's a little new or less mouse. But listen, left side, stay focused, McGee. Left side. The Kennedy organization produces performances. Alexa, cancel. She just answering question. The Kennedy Center on the left side, let's get back to it, produces performances. It runs educational programs, uh, conducts community outreach, raises philanthropic support, secures corporate sponsorships, right? Manages donor relations, right? Sounds like a nonprofit, right? That's because it is, people. It's a non-profit. That's the left side. Let's get to the right side. The government side. The federal government owns the building, it owns the land, and it provides annual appropriations, and finally, not finally, but it also, aside from annual appropriations, appoints board members. That's important. We'll get to that, and it establishes legal governance. So, in simple terms, the nonprofit runs the programs, the government owns the building. All right. We we together, we went from what it started as, how it got its name, and um how this public private public private partnership work. Because when somebody owns the house, you don't just get to decide everything that happens in it. It's it's just the truth. That's that part. Now let's get into what another I think another misconception about the Kennedy Center Senator is Kennedy Kennedy Center is, and that is that the Kennedy Center is fully funded by taxpayers' dollars. Shut up. It's not. We're not totally. That's not true. It's funding comes from multiple sources. I named a few. Let's go into it. Ticket sales. I'm talking millions are generated annually through performances and events at the Kennedy Center. Then you have individual donations, right? Major gifts, annual fund contributions, planned gifts, membership program. I ain't done. You got corporate sponsorships, right? Large corporations support programs, performances, special events. You also have an endowment, endowment income. So you have investments with your endowment, and you take that interest and you re uh up the help the operations of the program. Government appropriations is another class. Here we go with the funding. Congress provides federal funding, particularly for, did I say it? Particularly for building operations, maintenance, and capital improvements. You got that? The Kennedy Center raises hundreds of millions privately while still receiving that public support for a specific thing. Again, public-private partnership. And to be fair, these partnerships, while they amaze me, um, they can create enormous uh uh opportunity and benefits, right? For the government, the government gets to have a cultural institution, but doesn't have to support the damn thing all year, uh you know, and bearing the entire cost of programming and staff and all the other stuff, right? They get the cultural institution they wanted. On the other hand, the nonprofit gains prestige, visibility, and financial stability. Listen, having your infrastructure and improvements taken care of is damn near half the battle with nonprofits. It's great if you have wonderful programs that are working, but if your building is falling apart around you, what are we doing? What are we doing? So the government wins, the nonprofit wins, and you you as a donor, you and I as a donor, we feel like we're supporting a national treasure, something beautiful. Everybody wins. That is until governance becomes controversial. Then your lazy ass board members, they want to read the bylaws. Bylaws, they should have been indoctrinated with when they joined the board. They should have had to sleep with them and do a test and fill out a multiple choice. They should know the bylaws of your nonprofit in and out. They should know the bylaws, but it takes getting some heat under their ass for them to start looking at bylaws seriously. They just join the board. Some people don't even have a board onboarding process. That's another episode, and it's coming. She's coming, people. She's coming. So let me stay focused. Here's the part us nonprofit folks need to pay attention to. The Kennedy Center is not a typical nonprofit, right? We're getting there, right? Many trustees, these board members, we're talking about governance, they're political and appointees. Others serve because of federal law. Some are ex-official board members, meaning they hold some other office, right? The structure wasn't an accident. Because if you in my house on my land and I'm sending you money, I need to know what you're doing. And the best way to know what you're doing is governance. That bipartisan structure really worked for decades. Most um administrations left that center largely alone. Then came 2025. Then came 2025. Now we're gonna get into this. Um so we went from what it is, how it is, when it was established, to what this big public partner private public private partnership looks like. Now let's get into the takeover or to Jay-Z. If you know, you know. So the president exercised his authority over the board appointments and replaced multiple um positions, trustees, right? He then added new members. That's his political uh authority. He has that authority to do that because it's written into the bylaws and such. So he replaced a lot of people and then he added his own people. He added a different group of people, and those people subsequently then made him chairman. Let me repeat. He changed the governing board. Think about that. And the governing board then said, Hey, let's change the leadership. That, my friends, is governance. That's what that is. That's how nonprofit power truly works. It's in the governance. Sometimes the most important fundraising tool isn't a donor, it's a board vote. And we're gonna have a talk about the board in in a upcoming episode because if anything grinds my gears, traps my hide more than in the nonprofit world, it is board incompetence. Incompetence. Did I say that right? Let me take a sip. Give me a minute, people. We're gonna get to the to the ugly stuff. We are going to get into the naming controversy. I just needed to lay give you a lay of the land as a nonprofit uh professional or as someone interested in what this thing is really looking like. The name change. God damn it, this is a free country. You should respect his wishes and call the man Muhammad Ali. His mama named Clee. I'm gonna call him Clay. You got it. His mama called him Clay, so I'm gonna call him Klay. We're gonna talk about this Kennedy Senator because uh the Congress called him Kennedy. We're gonna call him Kennedy. Listen, the board voted to rename the facility. Keep that in mind. Wasn't easy, wasn't just done. There were critics who objected immediately. Supporters of this administration, they celebrated. They were happy. There were also lawsuits, and including uh representative, what's her name? Joyce Beatty of Ohio. I hope I said the last name right, Beatty, ex-official board member. She wasn't just anybody, she was on the damn board. The legal issue wasn't really whether a board wanted a new name. Let me say that. The legal issue wasn't really whether a board wanted a new name, the issue was whether federal law allowed it. Remember, public-private partnership. And that's where we as nonprofits have to pay attention. The building can't simply just be renamed, right? It just can't. If the Kennedy Center were a completely independent 501c3, the board could likely, likely vote tomorrow to rename the building. Many nonprofits do it all the time, particularly here in New Orleans. Um, many of our schools that became charter schools, they are at charter organizations. The building retained the old school name. The building did, but the name of the school itself, the students, the church, the things, all of that fell under different types of school names. So they kept some of the history of the former school and alumni, but they also changed the names quite literally in the internal programs, right? But hospitals do it, universities do it, museums do it. A donor can write a big check tomorrow at some nonprofit, and the building can get a whole new name because of the check. In this business, that's normal. But the Kennedy Center just isn't a normal facility, it's a federally designated memorial established by Congress. That's the good part and the bad part, depending on what part of you you side with. Federal law specifically identifies it again as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. And because Congress created the name, Congress generally must change the name. The board can't simply override federal statute. Listen, there was an organization here in New Orleans called the Kingsley House, probably for over 150 or so years. A few years ago, they changed their name to Clover. And I'm sure, you know, they talked to board members, they talked to staff, constituents, the people they served, donors. They didn't just change the name, but they could because it was just a real independent nonprofit organization. And that's not an easy thing to do to change your name after a hundred and something years and also your logo and all the other things to something new. But the board controls, because the board controls governance. But in this situation, Congress controls the monument. And as I said earlier with the high school example here in New Orleans, things can be renamed. If you can't name the building, your initiatives and programs can be changed. At nonprofits, your scholarships can be named, funds can be named, endowments can be scammed, uh named, performances. These things are ordinary nonprofit assets, I like to call them. Like they there are things that we do that we can get sponsored or name after a donor or someone we serve. They can change. The board has a lot of flexibility there, which is why discussion around these there's these new discussions around Trump um creating an endowed fund, um, which is legally different from renaming the building itself. One involves fundraising, the other involves federal law. That's a huge difference. And listen, the Trump administration, according to what I read in some of the research, they secured $260 million in federal support for major Kennedy Center improvements and capital projects. $260. That's huge. Again, this highlights the reality of public-private partnerships. When government money enters the picture, government influence usually follows. Others see it as political leverage. Either way, it comes with the territory. There's no such thing as free money. No such thing as free money, especially government money. Ask a grant writer who deals with federal grants or any damn grant at this particular point. The loopholes and hoopholes and do poles you need to jump through to get a few dollars and the reporting required. No free money at all. Now, here, you might get mad with me, right? You might be uncomfortable, you might stop watching him, you might unsubscribe. But the reality of the fact is Trump has proven to be a powerful fundraiser. Listen, whether you support him or not, whether you voted for him or not, the facts are the fact. His involvement generated donor interest and fundraising activity around the Kennedy Center. It did. It did. Some donors actually increased their donations. And listen, some people walked away from it. Even with this, uh, the what was this thing? This MMA deal and the 250. You know, some artists stayed, some artists decided not to appear. And that brings to this another thing for nonprofits leadership to understand specifically. Your decisions really do affect your revenue. Listen, every decision creates supporters and opponents. It's life. There's no neutral. You start talking about DEI, you lose some. You change the name of a program, you lose some. You hire the wrong CEO, you lose some. There's no neutral people. But I want to bring this home. We're going to wrap this thing up right here. Because this is not about Washington. It's about every nonprofit brother and sister listening to know this. When you enter a public-private partnership, there's some things you need to ask. There's a checklist, as I like to call it. So before you enter this, because you see the dollars and you see the sustainability in these partnerships, ask yourself or ask them, or ask together, who owns the asset? Who appoints the board? Who controls the bylaws? Who controls the funding? Listen, who can change the leadership? What happens when politics change? Because eventually, my brothers and sisters, they will. The answers to those questions determine who really has power. Not your mission statement, not that dusty ass annual report, not that fake strategic plan. Power lives in governance. That is a fact. Power lives in governance. The Kennedy Center isn't a story about Republicans or Democrats. It's a nonprofit governance story. That's what this, that's why we're talking about it on Philanthropy and the Black. It is a governance story. Public-private partnerships can create amazing institutions. They can build hospitals, museums, universities, housing developments, whole communities. But every partnership comes with a trade-off. Yep. You gain resources, but you surrender some independence. And the bigger the government role, the more complicated the trade becomes. So the next time somebody tells you their nonprofit is independent, I and D E P, you know the word. Ask them who owns the building. Ask them who appoints the board. Ask them where the money comes from. Because listen, his mama name of Kennedy, I'ma call him Kennedy. And until Congress changes that, we all gonna call him Kennedy. Listen, this has been another episode of Philanthropy and the Black. I hope you enjoy. Our goal is to help nonprofits stay in the black, not only financially, but socially and morally. Please share, subscribe, like. I appreciate the comments and the support. We're gonna keep this thing moving. Shout out to Sarah T. Reed. You see the shirt. Alumni Weekend 5316 is about to go down like full flat ties. Peace out.