Association of Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra Workshop Notes – May 2, 2014
LaCrosse, WI
Jill Quigley, AWSO Secretary
Session 1 – Chicken cues are for the birds – It’s time to do Development…The difference between fundraising and development.
Presenter: Mike Desmond, Exec. Dir. Of Boys and Girls Club of Greater La Crosse and Anne Snow, Founder and Executive Director of the Children’s Museum of La Crosse
The key to development is PEOPLE. He wasn’t taught to raise money. Get into the people business!
“Development”= bigger scope than “fundraising” Chicken cues are little fundraisers. They are staff & time intensive. They are often crisis driven/need money fast. “I need the $$ now.” vs. The $$ will come from places from more people; long-term.
Educate your board if they ONLY believe in Fundraising. Do a letter campaign: 1) letter to educate not to ask 2) no return envelope (or newsletter)
Long-term development plans create a circle of people; you can go back to those people, but not always, to ask.
Fundraising becomes Friend-raisers; creates a buzz (ex. Fun Run). Development takes time – still have to do some of the chicken cues.
“Conductor Wanna Be” (like the Battle of Baton) – a great event; can call to request full details from La Crosse Symphony for how to do this very successful event! (LSO raised $50,000 on their last one)
Development is an opportunity to spend time to meet and learn more about the people who will eventually support the organization. Development never stops – it’s all the time/all year long. Sometimes, a technique is to ask advice of potential donor (since they are used to always being asked for money; try something new).
If a person is not willing to ask for the $, just make the introduction to the person who is willing to ask. Plant the seed!
Best Advice: Keep good records – who’s been asked, thanked, followed up with; know how they want to be treated (warm & fuzzy, charts & visuals, etc.); every donor has a personality type; know them and how to approach them that will work best. Development the relationship, then ask how they can support your organization. Meet people multiple times, not only to ask for $$. Using people = only meeting to ask for $$.
Be out & involved in your community so people know you/trust you. They need to know you/trust you in order to want to give you $$.
Session 2 – Programming in a Post-Modern Age
Presenter: Alexander Platt, veteran music director of three Wisconsin orchestras
Conductors should have an artistic vision; work with an artistic advisory committee who share the conductor’s vision; they are ‘true stakeholders in the organization’ not Yes-Men!
LSO has a business person on the committee incl. a board member, music librarian and musician.
?How to make every concert a TRUE event! Invest in the “stars”/soloists/ can be a local person but don’t just have a local person ‘just because’
Don’t have every concert try to please everyone! “The spirit of moderation.”
Be theme-like without being thematic. Be interesting w/o being esoteric.
Idea for a concert – have excerpts of literature read between pieces that are suitable; show photos as part of a concert; have a military veteran speak as part of patriotic concert.
Celebrate a genre, not necessarily a theme.
“Great Overtures” – concert theme idea?
Session 3 – Developing a Young Audience
Presenter: Kate Roarty, Audience Development Manager at The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra
Club 2030 – marketing campaign that uses social media to seek out people in their 20s and 30s to attend concerts. Getting younger people involved.
Your audience should look like how your community looks.
1 - Focus Group (people in their 20s and 30s)
? ask basic questions like “Why aren’t you coming to our concerts?”
Answers given, the perceived barrier was tickets were too expensive.
2 – Promoted the idea of the 2030 Club to the people already attending their concerts. Asked them to spread the word; also promoted the Club via email to the emails they already had and were asked to “Forward this email to someone you know” – 2000 emails collected with only word-of-mouth promotion the first year.
3 – Sign-up was FREE, asked for E-MAIL address, given a CODE that allowed them to receive $10 best available seat for any concert!
Idea – do a media appeal to younger audiences wherever possible; offer prizes like gift certificates as incentives to share emails.
Goal for 2030 Club – spend very little money and make it easy and needs to support orchestra’s goals (incorporate into what we already do)
This isn’t a networking club; concerts and concert-related activities only!
Consistent Offer – being offered something valuable; not getting left-overs; not a rush line; can get these $10 tickets at any time!
Maintain the group – have email addresses; communicate with them only via email! Subject line example: Best Available. $10 Offer. Beethoven Concert. Email to special concert; suggest specific concert for them to attend.
Club 2030 Goodies: Club Season Subscribers $9/ $5 offer occasionally to sweeten the deal; bring a friend fro free.
Club 2030 Social Component – Happy Hours – after concert; whenever possible, invite guest artist/soloist from concert to attend/possibly invite 10-15 minute encore concert for Club members; free to Club members with ticket purchase – Exclusive Deal!
Club members take photos and video of these happy hours, post to their social media sites, more free promotion of Club 2030 by its own members.
Such a good deal & fun !
Almost 6000 Club members in 5 years.
Recently added a leadership council (volunteers) of 12 Club members; actively involved, provide insight, share goal to grow, brainstorming, not necessarily non-profit/arts people. Council members are invited to other functions like board meetings, special events, etc.
Minimal costs – some printing of postcards/fliers to promote the Club in various locations - PR – local newspapers, Facebook, universities (theatre, graduate students, music dept., on-campus groups), art & music festivals (hard to guess 20s/30s tho), coffee shops, cross promotions w/young professional groups, members promote to potential members. Also, website, emails, community outreach.
Possible grant idea? New Audience Development, Staff Person? Costs involved in promoting our own Club 2030. Council, grass roots outreach, social component, everyone feels good including sponsors, board, advertisers, etc.
As long as you have empty seats, you’re not losing income by displacing full price ticket buyers. Promotes regular audience attendance, not only one time a year attendance.
Happy Hours:
· Wine from local place/donated
· Partnerships being pursued to offer complimentary snacks
· Guest artist donates time (or they don’t offer this component)
· Some musicians from orchestra may visit as well.
· Event @ office (or free space)/no space rental/no catering fee
· Post-concert event is easily accessible for low or no costs. (not a drunk fest/1 or 2 drinks only)
Reality is group is more like 18-30 (children’s price ends at 18 – so can join the Club)
No age-out formal process – the honor system.
Next up – possibly have some sort of a concert at a bar; how to get Club members to become donors on some level ($10, next year $12, next year $15?); council member future board member or liaison to board?
Email tracking – mostly tracking the code – if it’s used, they know how many have used it; Club members can share the code with friends.
Session 4 – La Crosse Art Updates – The Challenge: Symphonies in Placemaking and community development
Presenter: Donald Smith, Chair of the City of La Crosse Arts Board, Past President of the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra, past AWSO Board Member, Immediate Past President of the Pump House Regional Arts Center
Symphonies need to be represented at arts festivals and at Arts Day each year.
Informed workshop attendees about a mural Our Town grant project going on in La Crosse. Invited everyone to the June 14h Art Festival that will incorporate storytelling, poetry, dance, film, all kinds of music, other cultures, etc.
No symphony has rec’d an Our Town grant; maybe AWSO organization could find something to work on together to work towards getting an Our Town grant that will benefit all – compositions? Soloists, opportunities?
Symphonies should help to create a sense of place through community collaborations – engage, revitalize, animate; partner with the city so the Symphony has a place/an identity/has a bigger piece of the pie as far as all of the arts in the community are concerned.
What role can the symphony play in…downtown development, riverfront re-development, how to translate sound to redevelopment; what can we do to make our city a better place to live, visit, learn?
What is essential/specific about your community?
Ex. Pre-concert Talk – instead of doing one talk by one person to a small group of people, do 200 talks to potential advocates.
Why do we do what we do?
IDEA OFFERED BY MEMBER – include music recordings in those “Little Libraries”
Visual art – artist takes their painting or sculpture with them; expensive for performance musicians to just go out and perform just anywhere; MSO does listening sessions all over the city; partnered with community businesses.
Video – people from the neighborhood; what is unique to (La Crosse) ?; show video in various places; include kids playing in the park, kayaking on the river, ships in the port, football, hockey, baseball, universities, music groups; the symphony needs to be part of the mix! Work with the city on a project like this to ensure the symphony is included.
Watch the movie Driftless
Session 5 – Life in Harmony Therapy
Presenter: Amy Schaack, board certified music therapist, founder of Life in Harmony Music Therapy
Have non-music goals; the product isn’t the most important thing!
Grant paid to have a cellist perform in the NIC-U at a hospital, create a brochure to be distributed throughout the hospital(s), offer repertoire that engages (some familiar/some not so). Could do solos, duets, combos.
Associations to help with funding – Autism, Down Syndrove, Hospice, Stroke, Children’s Miracle Network, Parkinsons, Alzheimers, etc.
