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adrene
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bullet Topic: Patron of the arts campaign
    Posted: 7/16/05 at 6:27pm
We're planning to do a patron of the arts campaign--boldly just ask (beg)
for money! I've seen some of the "clever" titles other theaters have come
up with for the various patron levels and I'm not too impressed. Does
anyone have any good ideas? If yours don't impress me, don't worry--I'll
lie.

Thanks!

Adrene
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Dustmac
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bullet Posted: 7/18/05 at 10:42pm
LOL-we call ours "the Patron Drive" so I don't think that is going work, lol.
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dougb
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bullet Posted: 7/19/05 at 11:47am
A local theater calls their fund raiser "For Love Of The Arts" (FLOTA).  It is usually VERY expensive and unique and designed to appeal to those with money.  This year they are doing something a little different.  They are having dinner and wine and a show for $250 a ticket.  One of the Second City travelling groups is providing the entertainment.
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adrene
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bullet Posted: 7/20/05 at 6:47am
What I meant by a patron of the arts drive is just a letter asking people to
become patrons by giving on different levels. Like:

$500      Angels
$300      Whatever (can't think of anything at the moment)    
$100      Whatever
$ 50       Friends

It's the name of the levels that I'm looking for. (Would someone actually
give $500??!!???)
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Poppie
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bullet Posted: 7/20/05 at 10:44am
Personally, I've always wanted to name a donor level "PlayMate".  No one at the theatre seems to like it, though!   Anyway, you could try playing off of the name of your theatre, or an aspect of the community.  We are the Magnolia Arts Center, so when we get to the point of a donor list (just incorporated last month) we may have a "Garden of Supporters" and they be different kinds of flowers.  It adds a bit of creativity to the levels.
If we could read minds, we wouldn't need headsets.
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th8rguykc
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bullet Posted: 7/22/05 at 1:51pm
While my company doesn't divide donors, I have always liked lists that had something to do with the organization.  For example your theatre group could have "Ushers", "Actor/Actress", "Director" and even "Producer" levels.   You might even have seperate levels like "Stage Manager" and "Techies" for people who provide services or gifts-in-kind!
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flowertowngal
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bullet Posted: 7/26/05 at 12:03pm

Our theater uses Benefactor ($300), Angel ($200) and Patron ($100) - not very original, I guess.  A Benefactor gets 6 tickets to each play, an Angel gets 4, and a Paton gets 2.

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PatrickArmagh
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bullet Posted: 10/17/05 at 2:48pm

Originally posted by adrene

What I meant by a patron of the arts drive is just a letter asking people to
become patrons by giving on different levels. Like:
$500      Angels
$300      Whatever (can't think of anything at the moment)    
$100      Whatever
$ 50       Friends
It's the name of the levels that I'm looking for. (Would someone actually
give $500??!!???)

Yes, someone would.  Someone would give $5000.00.  The important thing is to remember your audience.  An extra hundred dollars spent on the publication can make for a very dynamic presentation, and will get much more attention.

As for your names, it is very important to keep them very simple, the more clever the less money.  Money donations need to be kept serious.  No one wants me a "Magnolia" donor.

We used the following

Foundation Grant $10,000.00+ ... included 10 opening night tickets and a cover on a first come basis.  We acquired three, front inside, back and back inside.

Corporate  Donor $5,000.00+ ...included 10 opening night tickets and a full page add.  We acquired sixteen.

Patron of the Arts $1000.00+ ...included 8 opening night tickets and a half page add.  We acquired nine.

Guardians  $500.00+ ...included 4 second night tickets and a quarter page add.  We acquired twenty-two.

Angels - $100.00 (this was the price of a single season at individual prices)

We had two brochures.  A small individual color brochure that was mailed to all season ticket holders.  It announced our season, and outlined subscription information as well as our Sponsorship Opportunities.  The second brochure was a booklet.  It included history, statistics and information concerning our non-profit.  This booklet was in color and included show information, repertory committee notes for each and proposed advertising artwork.  Each booklet cost about $2.50 and we printed 100 copies.  We mailed them to every major company in town, and every realestate developer. We think it worked better than most had even imagined.  Even though it was a struggle to get the funding approved and full cooperation of the board fronted the $250.00 printing cost ourselves.  It was worth it.  The theater now produces twleve shows a year in two theater spaces, instead of six productions.  It has increased attendance since corporate and foundation grant generally give their tickets to their employees, and brought new subscribers at a discount. Most of all, the programs look like professional productions, and there is funding for rainy days, since foundation grants go into a separate fund and only interest can be spent.

Remember economics, spend money to make money.  No one wants to throw money at a sinkhole.  If you look like money, money wantsto be associated with you, and most of all...Save that money for a rainy day.

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Poppie
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bullet Posted: 10/18/05 at 1:30pm
Patrick, I must disagree with you.  In under a month, quite a few people have wanted to be "Magnolias" resulting in over $1,000 raised.  Our board is quite pleased seeing as how our first artistic offering hasn't been held yet.
If we could read minds, we wouldn't need headsets.
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PatrickArmagh
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bullet Posted: 10/18/05 at 2:51pm

Poppie, I did not mean to offend by that comment.  I am aware that people are happy to contribute at various levels, and even with interesting names that incorporate your theater.  I was just pointing out that when looking for big sponsors, it is easier to obtain with straight-forward names.  I can't imagine a manure company wanting to be a ROSE SPONSOR unless someone really had a good sense of humor...or even a Lumber Company being an OAK DONOR.

In small campaigns, catchy names are a nice marketing tool, but a general rule is the more professional the attempt, the more consistant the response.

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