Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board: Fund raising percentages

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trutter
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Joined: 11/13/06
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Topic: Fund raising percentages
Posted: 12/07/07 at 9:48am

Our patron database was virtually nonexistent for the last 52 years, and I have begun putting one together, piece by agonizing piece.

I have been hand entering in patron's names who have written checks for tickets, all of our season subscribers and membership subscribers, as well as people who donated for a parking lot renovation a few years ago. In addition I have included names of prominent people in the community, friends/acquaintances of whom I personally know, and others I think may be sympathetic to our most recent fundraiser.

Is there an "industry standard" for the percentage I might expect to get a response from a direct mailing? Keep in mind that even though it is loosely targeted, I think it is still targeted since most of the mailing list has passed through our doors in the last 52 years.

We are a town of about 50,000 with half of that being students, so realistically about 25,000. If I have a targeted mailing list of 1000 people, then that is about 1/25 of almost the entire town of probable donors.   yikes.

Right now I have 500 ready to go, and still a lot of data to crunch.   The cause is a good one, sponsoring new chairs for the theater.   And we're only looking to raise about $7-8000.

Please help me raise my optimism!

------
Troy A. Rutter
Author, "Kids in the Biz: A Hollywood Handbook for Parents"
http://www.kidsinthebiz.com/
A Heinemann Drama Publication

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vickifrank
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Joined: 9/21/07
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Posts: 332

Posted: 12/07/07 at 10:19am

In business (you may be different, but ought to be the same ballpark) a 2% response from a bought list of potential customers is considered good.

In your case you are slightly better qualified--so figure 5%. So if you are asking for $8000 (covers the cost of the mailer too!), and you can reasonably expect 30-50 people to respond, you are likely to need to ask for $160 each in donations. If these are individuals on the list that's probably a little steep. 1.) I'd get a few companies to donate--starting with the one you buy the seats from--even 10% off is major savings. Go to lumber yards, printers, the landlord and others that you buy from during the year and ask too. 2.) Then I'd approach my biggest individual donor and ask for a special thing--ask him to match the donations. If you think he will donate $1000, ask him to set that up as a match of other people's donation, so you motivate the others. Then go on radio and announce the match. 3.) I'd point out the tax savings to major donors and offer them for 2007 or 2008 (your timing is good for this). If you are lucky a few will donate for both! 4.) Consider taking things as donations. Cars, etc..especially if you can sell better than the current owner. 5.) If you fall short, then write again saying your are very close and it would be a shame to miss out--and offer season tickets at a discount for an incentive.

Good luck!

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trutter
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Posted: 12/21/07 at 10:52am

They're Away!

The first 400 letters w/ return envelopes should arrive in people's mailboxes today. Plus we are set up through firstgiving.com on our web site.

I hope people are feeling generous and need tax deductions this time of year. ;)

Id still like to send 400 or more additional... maybe in January.

Clap

------
Troy A. Rutter
Author, "Kids in the Biz: A Hollywood Handbook for Parents"
http://www.kidsinthebiz.com/
A Heinemann Drama Publication

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trutter
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Posted: 1/11/08 at 3:54pm

after only about 3 weeks, we're at about half of our goal and have reached the $3000 mark.

It has me motivated to get the rest of the names added to the database!

------
Troy A. Rutter
Author, "Kids in the Biz: A Hollywood Handbook for Parents"
http://www.kidsinthebiz.com/
A Heinemann Drama Publication

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ticketjunior
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Joined: 6/23/07
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Posted: 2/07/08 at 12:09am

WOW that seems like pretty good results. $3000 raised from 400 people. Each person approximately gave $7.50. Of course I'm sure everyone didn't really give but statics wise that seems good.

We implemented the ability to optionally donate as part of the ticket buy process into our system last quarter and I have been very surprised at the number of donation our customers have received. The even more interesting note is that people are giving on average about $9.00; when they give.

I think most of the patrons to community theater or performing art events really enjoy the shows and really want to see the theater group be successful. If they can give a few dollars above and beyond the ticket price to ensure success or just say thanks I've see that they feel its well worth it.

Keep posting the results of your donation campaign. I think readers will definitely benefit from hearing your story.

-James P. Walters
Phone: 404-272-4778
www.ticketjunior.com

"We're the little guy in the ticketing business."

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kmdded
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Joined: 1/18/07
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Posted: 2/12/08 at 10:55pm

We recently received our 501(c)3 status and I wanted to start to promote us to corporations and independent donors. Does anyone have a sample letter or packet I can look at as we pull ours together. We are a children's theatre...check us out at www.louisvilleyouththeatre.com

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trutter
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Joined: 11/13/06
Location: United States
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Posted: 2/13/08 at 9:48am

A small update, we are now at about $6000 from our $7000 goal. I will post later how many donations actually came in for a real analysis.

The biggest lesson I learned is to keep your patron database up to date! Most of the donors came from people who attended a show and have never been on any type of mailing, or a member.

So important to nurture your patrons and pay attention to them.

------
Troy A. Rutter
Author, "Kids in the Biz: A Hollywood Handbook for Parents"
http://www.kidsinthebiz.com/
A Heinemann Drama Publication

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John Luzaich
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Joined: 2/24/08
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Posted: 3/04/08 at 4:53pm

Troy,

So you're with Actors in Ames, Iowa. Great! We went through a similar experience back in 1997 attempting to restore seats in our 472 seat theatre. We sold "naming rights". I'm sure you've seen name plates or placks either on arm rests or on back of seats. We sold all 472 seats at $100. a piece and paid for the seat restoration. People could have their name (or someone elses) engraved on a nice gold plate, and we have it screwed into the arm rest. A company came in, took all of the seats out, restored them and brought them back and re-installed for about $47,000. That's the good news.

The not so good news is that we had some marketing involved because sending some press releases wasn't cutting it. And, it took about three years to get them all sold

John

John
cfct@cfu.net
http://www.osterregent.org
http://www.facebook.com/osterregent

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Debflo
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Joined: 6/06/07
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Posted: 3/04/08 at 5:32pm

John, thanks for the tip. I am looking at his website now. It is also really encouraging to read how you were able to do so well with selling your seats. We are getting all new seats donated by a larger theatre in town - maybe by selling them we could raise some money on top of the new seats...

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trutter
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Joined: 11/13/06
Location: United States
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Posts: 81

Posted: 6/11/08 at 11:51am

Well, we did it! we came in at just over $7000 budget and I fell under my "goal" of fundraising by a mere $100 or so.

I'll post a picture of the new chairs when I get a second.

We ended up going with the "Design Stacker II" from churchchair.com

Troy

------
Troy A. Rutter
Author, "Kids in the Biz: A Hollywood Handbook for Parents"
http://www.kidsinthebiz.com/
A Heinemann Drama Publication

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Money Talk
Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board :Theater Administration :Money Talk

Topic: Fund raising percentages( Topic Closed)
	Page of 2 Next >>

Author	Message
trutter Star Joined: 11/13/06 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 81	Topic: Fund raising percentages Posted: 12/07/07 at 9:48am
	Our patron database was virtually nonexistent for the last 52 years, and I have begun putting one together, piece by agonizing piece. I have been hand entering in patron's names who have written checks for tickets, all of our season subscribers and membership subscribers, as well as people who donated for a parking lot renovation a few years ago. In addition I have included names of prominent people in the community, friends/acquaintances of whom I personally know, and others I think may be sympathetic to our most recent fundraiser. Is there an "industry standard" for the percentage I might expect to get a response from a direct mailing? Keep in mind that even though it is loosely targeted, I think it is still targeted since most of the mailing list has passed through our doors in the last 52 years. We are a town of about 50,000 with half of that being students, so realistically about 25,000. If I have a targeted mailing list of 1000 people, then that is about 1/25 of almost the entire town of probable donors. yikes. Right now I have 500 ready to go, and still a lot of data to crunch. The cause is a good one, sponsoring new chairs for the theater. And we're only looking to raise about $7-8000. Please help me raise my optimism!
	------ Troy A. Rutter Author, "Kids in the Biz: A Hollywood Handbook for Parents" http://www.kidsinthebiz.com/ A Heinemann Drama Publication

	IP Logged

vickifrank Celebrity Joined: 9/21/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 332	Posted: 12/07/07 at 10:19am
	In business (you may be different, but ought to be the same ballpark) a 2% response from a bought list of potential customers is considered good. In your case you are slightly better qualified--so figure 5%. So if you are asking for $8000 (covers the cost of the mailer too!), and you can reasonably expect 30-50 people to respond, you are likely to need to ask for $160 each in donations. If these are individuals on the list that's probably a little steep. 1.) I'd get a few companies to donate--starting with the one you buy the seats from--even 10% off is major savings. Go to lumber yards, printers, the landlord and others that you buy from during the year and ask too. 2.) Then I'd approach my biggest individual donor and ask for a special thing--ask him to match the donations. If you think he will donate $1000, ask him to set that up as a match of other people's donation, so you motivate the others. Then go on radio and announce the match. 3.) I'd point out the tax savings to major donors and offer them for 2007 or 2008 (your timing is good for this). If you are lucky a few will donate for both! 4.) Consider taking things as donations. Cars, etc..especially if you can sell better than the current owner. 5.) If you fall short, then write again saying your are very close and it would be a shame to miss out--and offer season tickets at a discount for an incentive. Good luck!
	IP Logged

trutter Star Joined: 11/13/06 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 81	Posted: 12/21/07 at 10:52am
	They're Away! The first 400 letters w/ return envelopes should arrive in people's mailboxes today. Plus we are set up through firstgiving.com on our web site. I hope people are feeling generous and need tax deductions this time of year. ;) Id still like to send 400 or more additional... maybe in January.
	------ Troy A. Rutter Author, "Kids in the Biz: A Hollywood Handbook for Parents" http://www.kidsinthebiz.com/ A Heinemann Drama Publication
	IP Logged

trutter Star Joined: 11/13/06 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 81	Posted: 1/11/08 at 3:54pm
	after only about 3 weeks, we're at about half of our goal and have reached the $3000 mark. It has me motivated to get the rest of the names added to the database!
	------ Troy A. Rutter Author, "Kids in the Biz: A Hollywood Handbook for Parents" http://www.kidsinthebiz.com/ A Heinemann Drama Publication
	IP Logged

ticketjunior Walk-On Joined: 6/23/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 0	Posted: 2/07/08 at 12:09am
	WOW that seems like pretty good results. $3000 raised from 400 people. Each person approximately gave $7.50. Of course I'm sure everyone didn't really give but statics wise that seems good. We implemented the ability to optionally donate as part of the ticket buy process into our system last quarter and I have been very surprised at the number of donation our customers have received. The even more interesting note is that people are giving on average about $9.00; when they give. I think most of the patrons to community theater or performing art events really enjoy the shows and really want to see the theater group be successful. If they can give a few dollars above and beyond the ticket price to ensure success or just say thanks I've see that they feel its well worth it. Keep posting the results of your donation campaign. I think readers will definitely benefit from hearing your story.
	-James P. Walters Phone: 404-272-4778 www.ticketjunior.com "We're the little guy in the ticketing business."
	IP Logged

kmdded Player Joined: 1/18/07 Online Status: Offline Posts: 28	Posted: 2/12/08 at 10:55pm
	We recently received our 501(c)3 status and I wanted to start to promote us to corporations and independent donors. Does anyone have a sample letter or packet I can look at as we pull ours together. We are a children's theatre...check us out at www.louisvilleyouththeatre.com
	IP Logged

trutter Star Joined: 11/13/06 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 81	Posted: 2/13/08 at 9:48am
	A small update, we are now at about $6000 from our $7000 goal. I will post later how many donations actually came in for a real analysis. The biggest lesson I learned is to keep your patron database up to date! Most of the donors came from people who attended a show and have never been on any type of mailing, or a member. So important to nurture your patrons and pay attention to them.
	------ Troy A. Rutter Author, "Kids in the Biz: A Hollywood Handbook for Parents" http://www.kidsinthebiz.com/ A Heinemann Drama Publication
	IP Logged

John Luzaich Celebrity Joined: 2/24/08 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 174	Posted: 3/04/08 at 4:53pm
	Troy, So you're with Actors in Ames, Iowa. Great! We went through a similar experience back in 1997 attempting to restore seats in our 472 seat theatre. We sold "naming rights". I'm sure you've seen name plates or placks either on arm rests or on back of seats. We sold all 472 seats at $100. a piece and paid for the seat restoration. People could have their name (or someone elses) engraved on a nice gold plate, and we have it screwed into the arm rest. A company came in, took all of the seats out, restored them and brought them back and re-installed for about $47,000. That's the good news. The not so good news is that we had some marketing involved because sending some press releases wasn't cutting it. And, it took about three years to get them all sold John
	John cfct@cfu.net http://www.osterregent.org http://www.facebook.com/osterregent
	IP Logged

Debflo Star Joined: 6/06/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 60	Posted: 3/04/08 at 5:32pm
	John, thanks for the tip. I am looking at his website now. It is also really encouraging to read how you were able to do so well with selling your seats. We are getting all new seats donated by a larger theatre in town - maybe by selling them we could raise some money on top of the new seats...
	IP Logged

trutter Star Joined: 11/13/06 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 81	Posted: 6/11/08 at 11:51am
	Well, we did it! we came in at just over $7000 budget and I fell under my "goal" of fundraising by a mere $100 or so. I'll post a picture of the new chairs when I get a second. We ended up going with the "Design Stacker II" from churchchair.com Troy
	------ Troy A. Rutter Author, "Kids in the Biz: A Hollywood Handbook for Parents" http://www.kidsinthebiz.com/ A Heinemann Drama Publication
	IP Logged