PUPPETEERS OF AMERICA INC
Dedicated to the art of puppetry.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
We provide and preserve historical information, encourage performances and skill-building, and build a community of people who celebrate puppet theatre. We support puppeteers and advance the art of puppetry by presenting knowledge, providing inspiration and promoting preservation. Our mission is to support general and specialist education, and appreciation of the American Puppetry Arts.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
National Puppetry Festival
The National Puppetry Festival, organized and produced on the odd years, is where Puppeteers, enthusiasts, educators, friends, and the general public gather to celebrate the puppetry arts and experience the best of American Puppetry. Enthusiasts from all over the country and across the globe come to experience workshops, performances, exhibits, and people. The festival offers an extensive public program, access to artists and an academic symposium for educators focused on Education and Therapy in the puppetry arts.
Puppet festivals are inspiration made real. Imagination brought to life. Creativity shared, bonds made, and friendships forged that will last beyond the festival.
The Puppetry Journal
The Puppetry Journal is the official magazine of the Puppeteers of America. It is published four times a year to members of the organization. Each issue is about forty full-color pages.
In each Journal, we produce a mix of articles, photographs, columns and other features – a mix that documents contemporary puppetry and profiles the work of contemporary puppeteers, but also explores the legacy of our historic and fascinating art.
The Puppetry Journal has a 68-year history of providing an ongoing chronicle of American puppetry
Regional Puppet Festivals
Puppeteers of America has 8 administrative regions in the United States. On even-numbered years, we appoint a program director to produce a puppetry festival locally in their region. Smaller than a National Festival, these 3-day programs build skill and experience for regional performers and engage a wide variety of the public.
Where we work
External reviews
Photos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Total number of conferences held
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Regional Puppet Festivals
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
We re-established four regional puppetry festivals around the United States following the pandemic. We also increased public participation by offering a grant-funded adult short-form puppetry program.
Number of free participants in conferences
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
We have hosted a new digital programs for World Puppetry Day and a Digital Series: Meet Our Mentor which interviews contemporary puppet artists and explores who inspired them.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
-The goals for the end of the 2023 fiscal year is to add 300 members to our current membership and to raise $30,000.00 in donations.
-We wish to increase our free public programming by 50% at the National Festival.
-We want to expand our online offerings by at least two new series.
-We wish to incubate and support a diverse set of puppeteers for the future.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Our strategies are to connect with the public post-pandemic with our National Puppetry Festival. This large-scale event is meant to showcase the puppetry arts and our organization. We are also planning on bringing in support and grants to implement our digital humanities programming. All of this outreach will drive revenue and membership.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
PofA is a very strong organization with lots of volunteers. We have been building a digital support network to support the groundbreaking online programming we spearheaded during the pandemic. Zoom Webinar, digital festival attendance, and have experienced entertainment professionals to support and produce our in-person and digital programming.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
We now have zoom webinar, an activated Youtube, and support systems for both our National and the regional puppetry festivals. We have also modernized our operations and hired contractors to support new specialist roles.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
PUPPETEERS OF AMERICA INC
Board of directorsas of 01/17/2023
Dustin Curtis
Trivia Puppet Company LLC
Term: 2023 - 2022
Katrin Blucker Ludwig
Edna Bland
Dustin Curtis
Trivia Puppet Company
Adam Kreutinger
Liz Joyce
Goat on a Boat
Katie Williams
Chris Heady
Brandon Kirkham
Kalob Martinez
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Not applicable -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Not applicable
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
Equity strategies
Last updated: 01/17/2023GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.