I have not posted here in a few weeks as I was a little busy organizing a small benefit party and the final concerts of the season for The Chicago Ensemble, the classical chamber music group for which I serve as managing director. Although these times are trying, a major “recession” is a good (albeit painful) learning opportunity. We have been grappling with two competing needs: How to reassure our donors and patrons that we will indeed be having a 33rd season in 2009-2010; and 2) how to be creative in our choice of venue and programming. How can we reduce our already reduced budget while still providing a high-quality season that maintains the kind of experience our long-time patrons have come to expect? What can we do to boost our marketing efforts without incurring additional costs? And so forth. I know these are questions that nearly every arts organization is grappling with right now.
I am fortunate to have income from multiple sources, some more reliable than others, and the pay cut I have taken to help keep The Chicago Ensemble solvent is a sacrifice I am willing to make for a part-time gig (especially if it helps our artists make a living). However, not all arts administrators have the luxury of choice. I think the Illinois Arts Council can expect a mountain of applications for the Illinois Arts Jobs Preservation Grants Program, an extension of President Barack Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
It’s hard to think about marketing planning — or planning at all — if you’re an arts organization that is simply hoping to make it through this challenging fiscal year. Yet marketing is even more important now than it ever was (and it is ALWAYS important for most arts orgs). So when I was asked to participate in a March 24 workshop panel on marketing planning, sponsored by the Arts & Business Council of Chicago, I said, sure! As a consultant and as managing director of a classical chamber music group (The Chicago Ensemble), I figure I can bring multiple perspectives to the questions of marketing planning. The fact is, the fundamental aspects of arts marketing are the same in any market. It’s the budgets and the consumer dynamics that change, and that’s one of the issues we’ll be discussing. Another issue is that of flexibility and nimbleness. Some arts orgs have changed their spring programming or even cancelled programs to avoid budget shortfalls–creating a major challenge for marketers who had planned around an entirely different program line-up. So what happens next fiscal year? How do we plan for the unexpected?
Workshop is Tuesday, March 24, 9:30 am – 12:30 pm, at National-Louis University, 122 s. Michigan Ave. Visit the Arts & Business Council of Chicago website to register.
Tired of bad news? A dose of cheer from the arts management trenches
February 28, 2009
It’s easy to feel depressed by constant stories about our flailing economy–and the news can be especially bad for arts organizations sometimes. Yet, every now and then, an uplifting news item crosses my virtual desk. A few recent snippets:
Good News Item #1:WFMT. Chicago’s classical radio station raised a record-breaking $513,221 in its 11-day winter membership drive that ended last Monday. Strong work, classical music fans!
Good News Item #2: Nevada Opera. One might not think of Nevada as a hotbed of opera and opera fans, but recent events prove otherwise. About a month ago, Nevada Opera was on the brink of collapse and planned to close if it could not raise $100,000 in the next four weeks. Amazingly, community patrons stepped up and donated about $165,000, including a $50,000 challenge grant that was easily matched. While the org still has some debt, “La Boheme” opens in April.
Good News Item#3: Arts revenues are in better shape than we thought. Patron Technology and Target Resource Group conducted a nationwide December survey of arts orgs and learned that 47% of the 300+ responding orgs had exceeded their 4th quarter holiday budgets and 10% had met budget. Which is pretty good news considering that many orgs expected ticket sales to decline in lockstep with the Dow.
Good News Item #4: Asheville Lyric Opera. Facing a $24,000 budget shortfall, the Asheville Lyric Opera’s board was scheduled to vote at its next meeting on whether to cancel its March 27-28 production of “Rigoletto.” But by the time of the meeting, the company had received almost $22,000 in pledges–and so the show will go on. Fundraising is continuing, as well as very strong drive to sell tickets. Let’s hope they pull it off!
Hey, arts worker – those long hours you’re working aren’t a real job!
February 12, 2009
I’m not surprised, but nonetheless disappointed, that the proposed — and measly — $50 million for the NEA was not included in what appears to be the final stimulus program. I don’t need to repeat the insights of other commentators here, but anyone who is passionate about the arts cannot help but be deeply distressed that museums, theaters and arts centers were lumped in with casinos, golf courses and the like as being unworthy of funding (as in the heinous Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla) amendment that passed 73-24 on Friday).
On the one hand, arts marketers should take note that the arts are considered by many to be entertainment comparable to other forms of entertainment, and that’s a valid point. On the other hand, as the Chicago Tribune’s Chris Jones pointed out in his Feb. 9 column, why aren’t arts jobs considered to be real jobs that produce real economic value? Everyone I know in the field works long hours for low pay, with no prospect of a giant bonus, yet their work generates tremendous economic benefits for their communities. If the art sector is so incapable of producing economic value, then why do communities use arts centers and artistic activity to promote economic growth? And they do. Countless studies have shown this to be so and that this strategy works.
For the arts sector to have to argue for its value over and over again just makes me angry. I can’t persuade nonbelievers that the arts are inherently valuable. But we have the hard evidence that the arts provide far more than “enrichment,” and that the sector’s benefits can be quantified in economic terms. And, yeah, those are real jobs. Somehow that message hasn’t gotten through to Congress.
A night at the Lyric Opera – with Neil Steinberg?
January 24, 2009
Neil Steinberg may be one the best things to ever happen to the Lyric Opera, where publicity is concerned. His Jan. 19 column (“A night at the opera”) not only promotes 100 free tickets soon to be available through the Chicago Sun-Times for the Lyric Opera’s Feb. 18 performance of “Pagliacci” and “Cavelleria Rusticana,” but, just as important, addresses misperceptions of consumers who have never attended an opera. This kind of media coverage, whether in print or online, is pure gold for fine arts and very difficult to obtain. I call it “PR beyond the review” — promoting fine arts performances to people who don’t read reviews or read the arts section or follow arts coverage on the Web or pay much attention to fine arts at all.
Yet anyone who has seen an opera knows that it is not nearly as high-falutin’ as the ticket prices might suggest, and many operas require a severe suspension of disbelief. Dying of tuberculosis? No problem — you can still sing an aria (“La Boheme”). Ditto for dying of anything else, including lack of oxygen (“Adia”) or going insane (“Lucia di Lammermoor”) or being freshly stabbed (numerous) or perhaps hit on the head by a statue (“Don Giovanni”). Steinberg’s column covers such concerns as the dress code (casual is fine unless you like to dress up), the foreign languages (purists don’t like surtitles, but everyone else finds them helpful) and the length (it ain’t necessarily so long, with a few exceptions). Tickets prices can be steep, but where else can you get blood, sex, violence, ridiculous plots, incredible stage sets and fantastic music? Now if we could only convince Steinberg and non-arts columnists like him to cover chamber music…
Free arts marketing tools = good!
January 4, 2009
Returning from a festive family holiday break, I am trying to maintain a positive outlook for arts organizations this year despite the challenging fundraising environment. One thing that helps is that there are many free or low-cost Web tools available for arts marketers facing shrinking budgets. Here are a few that I have found:
WordPress.com — Free blogs like this one! With lots of handy back-end tools for managing posts.
BrownPaperTickets.com — This low-cost event listing and ticketing service gives you the option of charging consumers or your org for the ticket processing. The fee is less than $2 for a $25 ticket, which is a vast improvement over TicketMaster.
TechSoup.com — Registered 501(c)3s can obtain major discounts on major and minor software applications from leading providers, including Microsoft and Adobe.
NVU.com – NVU is a free HTML editor that is great for people like me, who occasionally build very simple websites, but are not accomplished programmers and have no software budget for things like Dreamweaver. NVU is Mac- and PC-compatible, easy to use and reasonably stable.
Yahoo Small Business Web hosting – Many affordable Web hosting services have cropped up over the last 10 years, but I prefer Yahoo because 1) even if the company is acquired, I will probably still have reliable service; and 2) it costs about $12/month for hosting and email services, and the service includes fantastic back-end administration tools for updating pages. It also includes a Web site-builder tool (but only for PCs). Some of the smaller Web hosting services have been acquired, merged, abandoned, etc., since the dot.com bust of 2001, so knowing that your Web service provider will still be in business next year is a great comfort. FYI, Google offers Web hosting and applications as well, but I found it was more than I needed (albeit priced competitively).
CombinePDFs – This is a free, small and easy-to-use application for combining PDFs into one document, and for removing, adding and reorganizing pages. Created by MonkeyBread Software.
CyberDuck – There are several free FTP programs out there, but I happen to use this one because it is very reliable and easy to use. And it is has a cute rubber ducky icon that is easy to spot when you are looking at a long list of applications.
Adobe PhotoShop Elements — PhotoShop is an amazing program, but not everyone needs the costly professional version. Elements is about $60 and includes everything you need to clean up and crop photos, or even do simple graphic design work for postcards or Web sites. If you are not a professional graphic designer or Web designer, but need to do simple design and photo work, Elements is great. (I found it easy to use, especially with the online help, but you can buy a reference book separately if you want to learn more.)
These are the important tools that come to mind. I’m sure there are other tools available and will be blogging about them if I come across any that are especially useful!
The evolution of corporate sponsorship
November 10, 2008
I attended the Arts & Business Council’s MetLife Foundation Forum on corporate sponsorship trends recently and it confirmed some ideas that have been percolating in my mind, and in the marketplace, too. The take-home message was that, while being a good corporate citizen still matters to many companies, many look to their philanthropic activities as an extension of their corporate brand (or their individual product brands, as the case may be). Corporate foundations, of course, are entities distinct from their corporate funders and generally have their own agendas that are entirely separate from that of the corporation. However, these days it’s not that unusual to see corporation foundations and corporate marketing staff in the same meeting with an arts org seeking a partnership. Cause-related marketing is nothing new, of course, but the concept is infiltrating the arts-corporate partnership arena to a greater extent than in the past.
Frankly, I’ve often thought it could be confusing to consumers to see a corporate foundation sponsoring an arts activity whose audience did not, at least to me, seem to be at all the target customer for the corporation’s products. (Having done some grantwriting since then, I have a much better understanding of the foundation mission now.) Coming from a background in business PR and marketing communications, this kind of thinking comes naturally, since I’m supposed to be thinking about how to further the business client’s agenda. I’ve always advised clients to seek philanthropic activities that tie into their brands. Whether that philanthropy comes from the marketing department or from a corporate foundation doesn’t really matter.
From the perspective of the arts organization, what this trend means is a shift in thinking. Thinking of the audience as an ideal group of prospective customers for a business is the new thinking — and next is the challenge of figuring out what kind of business would be an appropriate sponsorship partner.
Inspired and concerned — in one day
September 18, 2008
I had a long blog break recently while I attended the Duke University Nonprofit Management Intensive Program, a week-long immersion into all things nonprofit management. My 30-plus class peers came from the arts, environment, education and human services sectors in North Carolina and beyond — and what a passionate and inspiring group they were! I returned feeling very excited about things like the “strategy canvas” and “performance mapping,” the meaning of “debit” and “credit” and many other essential concepts. But reading this week’s news headlines has been a real downer. There’s nothing like a major Wall St. meltdown to underscore the importance of beefing up one’s management skills. The next several years will no doubt challenge every arts development and management professional to maintain financial stability. On the up side, there’s significant evidence that, when the going gets tough, the tough head to the theater or auditorium to recall the possibilities of transformation. Despite its gloomy headline, “Arts Groups Fret the Woes of Big Donors” from today’s Washington Post will cheer you right up if you read the entire article.
Who are your brand ambassadors?
September 6, 2008
I’ve just returned from another fabulous vacation (this one involving sea kayaking in the Apostle Islands National Seashore on Lake Superior). Catching up on my readin’ and writin’, I came across an article from the Chronicle of Philanthropy about Carol Weisman, a St. Louis board consultant. To recruit new board members for one of her clients, she asked her manicurist to wear a lapel pin stating “Ask me how I can stop child sexual abuse.” That manicurist and others in the shop agreed to wear the pins, which prompted so many questions from the salon’s influential clientele that Weisman’s client attracted 17 new board members. This was a brilliant and very simple idea, and I wonder how it might be applied in other situations. I’m envisioning a pin or t-shirt that asks an interesting question or makes a provocative statement that prompts questions, and possibly engagement with potential arts patrons, donors or board members. Hmmmm.
Goodman wants to know: What kind of subscriber are you?
August 19, 2008
Going through the mail bag, I discovered the Goodman’s season brochure and discovered an interesting approach to marketing the season’s offerings. As in typical, the brochure offers three tiers of subscriptions — all eight plays, five plays or three plays. What’s not typical is the way the shows are bundled: “The Ultimate Cultural Adventure” (all eight), “Theater on a Grand Scale” (five) and “Strong Women, Strong Voices” (three). As the title suggests, the latter includes a world premiere by Lynn Nottage (directed by Kate Whorisky); a world premiere by Naomi Iizuka (directed by Lisa Portes); and a new play by Chicago’s own Rebecca Gilman (directed by Wendy C. Goldberg). Seems this would appeal to the large proportion of theater patrons who are women. “Theater on a Grand Scale,” on the other hand, focuses on major productions, including Tommy Tunes Turn of the Century and Brian Dennehy in Desire Under the Elms. This approach is much more creative than simply offering number-of-show-based packages, and gives the potential subscriber a couple of themes that might draw their interest. As a matter of fact, I’m interested!
