Transcript

[00:00:00] Aubrey Bergauer: Hey, everyone. Welcome to season five of the Offstage Mic. As we start this new season, I have to say, this podcast for arts administrators, artists, board members, for anyone who cares about or is interested in the business side of the arts, It continues to grow totally and completely beyond what I expected.

And that is thanks to you. So whether you are new here, or have been listening for a long time now, or anywhere in between, welcome to Season 5. You are awesome and I'm just so happy you're here and I get to do this with you.

So this season we have some great stuff planned for you. Over the course of this season, we will look at how to transform your marketing budget and make it work for you. We are going to hear [00:01:00] from a few really knowledgeable folks in the arts world about data and user experience. We even have a special episode planned for Women's History Month coming up next month, and there's just so much more I cannot wait to share with you.

As for today, if you are listening in real time, We're in the month of love, February, that is, a week or so after Valentine's Day is when this episode drops and today we're focusing on patron relationships and how to intentionally and authentically build those relationships, not unlike a romantic relationship, and how do we do that in a way that creates audience loyalty and, of course, more revenue and definitely including transforming those patrons into donors.

The problem is, though, oftentimes [00:02:00] arts administrators treat all of our patrons as though they're kind of the same. So, for example, we assume or we act like everyone has the same knowledge of the art they're coming to see. Like, they got that one size fits all message. We assume that they're all at the bottom of the funnel.

That's another way to say this. Uh, giving them the same messages, the same sales offers, that's assuming they're all at the bottom of the funnel at the same place in their buyer journey, and that they're not so varied that we have to engage with them on an individualized level. What often goes overlooked, and this can be a hard pill to swallow, it's that a lot of us assume, whether consciously or not, that we ourselves Are the main types of people we should be marketing to and building relationships with so this is a real human bias when we think that we are reflective of the person we're trying to sell to interact with so it's not just you it's a real human bias I guess another way to put all [00:03:00] this is that the other big problem.

is that sometimes arts administrators, and I see this all the time, I've been guilty of this myself, we think, if I send an offer, fill in the blank, whatever offer, to everyone, whether it's this ticket mailing, this donation appeal, like whatever, this email blast, some people will respond and buy it or donate or whatever the offer is, and that will help us make our revenue goals.

And, like I said, I totally get it because I've been there, I've been there, like, pulling the list for whatever, postcard, like I said, fundraising appeal, whatever it is, I've been there, that person, on staff, pulling the list of who this thing's gonna go out to, and I thought to myself, if I just add these extra few thousand names, People who came years ago, people who are newer and not ready for the donation yet, or whoever, surely some of them will respond.

And that equals more money, more sales, more donations. And yet, at the same time, here's why this is, this is like. [00:04:00] Fallacy thinking, fallacy in our logic, because at the same time, how many times have you or other organizations, you know, put everyone on every communication again, that single ticket offer, that subscription offer, that donation appeal, gala invite, whatever, put everybody on the list and yet are still seeing overall revenue declines, right?

So, treating everyone the same, in other words, putting everyone on every offer, does not grow sales or donations or help you make your revenue goals. It actually does just the opposite. If you send the same offer to everyone, yes, some people will likely respond to it. That is just the law of numbers. If we send it to more and more people, some will respond.

But what about all the other people who don't respond, who are actually pushed farther away from the organization because they didn't get met where they were at? Are you tracking with me? That is what [00:05:00] we are talking about today. Treating everyone, treating all the patrons in our database the same does not result in more revenue.

Treating everyone the same Actually pushes away the very people who have the greatest potential for revenue for us. Someone coming to a show just once, to a performance just once, just to check your theater, opera, orchestra, symphony, chorus, whoever, off their bucket list is not the same. As the monthly who's subscriber or the recurring subscriber who's bought in because they've developed a habit of attendance, right?

What is the same about them is the fact that they have needs and interests and deserve to be engaged based on those respective needs and interests. All I'm trying to say is when a patron feels seen. When any of us feel seen, everybody wins. And if you do it right, this work is scalable, and that bucket list patron could [00:06:00] then become a monthly subscriber and even eventually a donor, and not just that, but a major donor.

I've seen it happen, we're gonna break it down. So the bottom line is, our audiences, your audience, is not a monolith. And as it goes with any relationship, to get back to this Valentine's kind of theme here, as it goes with any relationship, We have to do the work of meeting them where they are. So, okay, I just want to kind of combat one more thought I hear a lot.

Sometimes people say, if I don't solicit everyone in the database, or every account for the last five years, or however long for insert whatever they offer, I will be losing money, or I'll be leaving money on the table. Because like I said, some of those colder people, or less qualified segments do respond.

How much will I lose if I start thinking about my patrons and segments? And that's just not the right question though, okay? I want to stress that out of the gate. The question is not how much will I lose. Instead, the right question is how much will I, we, my [00:07:00] organization gain when we start being more savvy about sending the right message to the right people.

And you're lucky because today we are talking about how to do just that. I've also got a free resource to help you quickly and efficiently create great patron messaging. So that's coming. I'll give you all the details on that at the end as well. But right now, welcome to season 5 of the Offstage Mic.

One more time everybody, it is time to start generating more revenue in the form of more ticket sales and more donations when we start segmenting our patron messaging. So let's get to it. I'm Aubrey Bergauer and welcome to my podcast. I'm known in the arts world for being customer centric, data obsessed, and for growing revenue.

The arts are my vehicle to make the change I want to see in this world, like creating places of belonging, pursuing gender and racial equality. Developing high performing teams and leaders and leveraging technology to elevate our work. [00:08:00] I've been called the Steve Jobs of classical music and the Sheryl Sandberg of the symphony.

I've held off stage roles managing millions of dollars in revenue at major institutions, been chief executive of an orchestra where we doubled the size of the audience and nearly quadrupled the donor base, and now I'm here to help you achieve that same kind of success. In this podcast, we are sorting through data and research inside and outside the arts.

Applying those findings to our work in arts management and bringing in some extra voices along the way. All to build the vibrant future we know is possible for our institutions and for ourselves as offstage administrators and leaders. You're listening to The Offstage Mic.

Hi everyone, Aubrey here. I want to share a quick case study with you. About a year ago, Austin Chamber Music Center knew they needed to work on identifying prospective donors and building relationships with the donors they [00:09:00] already had. Plus they went through a leadership transition and knew they needed to fundraise more and fast.

They came to Annual Fund Toolkit, who did a comprehensive analysis of their donor base, then developed a system for the organization to connect with those donors based on their needs and giving styles. They did all of this combining in person asks with email, social media, and direct mail. By the end of the fiscal year, their year to date fundraising had doubled compared to the year prior.

And that's just the numbers. They now also have a streamlined process for tracking and maintaining donor relationships going forward. How did they do all this? They did it with Annual Fund Toolkit. Annual Fund Toolkit is not just another consulting firm. What sets them apart is their laser focus on two critical challenges, improving donor retention and growing the major gifts pipeline.

This can be your organization too. Because this is what Annual Fund Toolkit does every day. Their founder, Louis Diaz, is one of the most brilliant minds in fundraising I've ever met. The [00:10:00] organizations that utilize annual fund toolkit's, advice and assistance are coming out ahead to read the full case study.

Head over to get set annual fund toolkit.com/acmc. That's GET dot annual fund toolkit.com/acmc for Austin Chamber Music Center. Trust me, your donors and your mission will. Thank you.

We, as arts leaders and arts administrators, that means you, me, probably all of us right here. We love our patrons. And how could we not? Patrons are the lifeblood of any arts organization, right? Without them, our art has no audience. And yet, so often, when we think about audience development and patron messaging, Arts organizations don't actually keep the patron at the center of that message.[00:11:00] 

I want to start off here with a prime example of what it means to think we're building authentic relationships with patrons, but in actuality, missing the mark with one size fits all messaging. And instead. Driving them away. 

Mateo, I know you donated last year during our fundraiser, and yesterday we just got an offer from an anonymous donor.

They're going to match any donation we receive before the end of the year. And I know I emailed you while you were busy when we spoke last 

night. So this voicemail came to my partner, Mateo. Probably about a year and some change ago he wanted to get the discount for patrons under 40 at this particular organization.

Now, I'm aged out, but he still qualified at the time, so he joined. He joined the Young Patrons Club, paid the membership fee, and bought his discounted tickets as a member benefit. Now, I want to be clear as we're getting into this example, I am not against telefunding, okay? I [00:12:00] think when done well, telefunding is a good tool, same with telemarketing, and I am all for, all for soliciting folks for a donation when they are a strong lead.

But let me tell you the story behind this voicemail. I'm going to break it down as we listen again. And one more thing I have to say, I am not trying to throw any arts organization under the bus here, okay? We've anonymized the organization as best we could, and the truth is, if I'm being honest, this telefunding script is pretty typical, actually.

Pretty typical for a lot of large institutions. I've seen many of these types of scripts, so I'm not picking on any one, okay? Let's be clear. But that's why this is actually a very good example that we can learn from. So here we go. Matteo, I know you donated last year during our fundraiser. Okay, let me stop you right there.

He did not donate last year during your fundraiser. He joined your young patrons club, which the organization branded as a membership fee or dues of some [00:13:00] sort in order to unlock the benefits, not branded as a donation. So there is a real messaging disconnect here already between how the organization sees this account history.

versus how the patron sees their account history. And yesterday we just got a offer from an anonymous donor. They're going to match any donation we received before the end of the year. And I know I emailed you while you were busy when we spoke last time. When we spoke last time, 

[00:13:29] Aubrey Bergauer: if you're tracking, this means the organization has called before and.

Mateo apparently told the caller he was really busy. You guys, we know. This is code for leave me alone. It is code for I don't want this. And I know that that telefunding firm or whoever trained the callers probably thinks persistence is key to closing the donation, closing the sale. And they're not wrong.

In the short term, but getting a mediocre short-term donation made out of [00:14:00] sheer pressure, not because somebody loves the institution, is not what sustains our arts organizations in the long run. That's right. We are playing the long game here. I hope your organization is here for a long time to come. I wanted to make sure you got the email.

It has a link in there. I don't know if you already donated through the link. If you did, thank you. You don't know if he already donated? If you didn't, I can always help you over the phone, but that two for one match is really helpful for us, and it makes the opera possible. 

[00:14:32] Aubrey Bergauer: Really helpful for us. Not a story about how someone's life is impacted by the organization.

Not a word about exciting things coming up on stage. It's a line of why the donation is good for them. This is fundraising or sales or patron messaging, whatever you want to call it, 101. You need to talk about how the gift benefits the giver. They're the hero of this [00:15:00] story, okay? And my heart breaks when I see or hear solicitations like this, not just because I see fundamental best practices being flat out ignored, But especially major institutions like this, often, I'm painting with a broad brush, but often think they are so sophisticated and don't need to work on these kinds of fundamentals.

That's like saying you're an Olympic athlete, so you don't need to work on the fundamentals. Even Lindsey Vonn is hitting the weight room these days, not just flying down the slopes. Like, that's not how it works. You have to put in the reps. You have to go back to the baseline, fundamentals, always.

Especially if you think you're in this 

elite group. So if you have any questions and a special request, reach out. Let me know. I'll be delighted to help you help the opera stay a thriving artistic entity in this beautiful city. So I really look forward to assisting you. I hope you're having a great day.

Bye bye. 

So I don't know how this all lands for you as you're listening right now. Maybe you are thinking, [00:16:00] sure, there's a few things in there that aren't great, but it's not that bad, Aubrey, or cut them some slack, Aubrey. They're just doing their job. And that caller was doing their job, hear me on that.

They were picking up the phone, they were calling the list of patrons they were given, and reading the script. But the arts administrator who wrote that script and pulled that list missed a really big opportunity. They could have gotten their patron segmentation and patron messaging focused, and called and emailed about how much they'd love to see Mateo back in the club he joined and can't wait to see him at the next performance.

That would have been such an appropriate ask for someone whose account demonstrates that exact past history. And instead, they ended up with someone who felt completely unseen and also honestly a little confused because from his perspective, he doesn't identify as a past donor. He identifies as a past club member who just wanted a deal on tickets, [00:17:00] not to make sure.

Opera, as an art form, continues. Like I said, sometimes this is a hard pill to swallow, but that's just not where he is on his patron journey. And as a result, this interaction pushed him farther away from the organization, and in his case, farther away from the art form, too. Not closer to it. And think about this.

Isn't just him. How many other people got calls just like that? How many past club members whose memberships also lapsed got those calls? How many past ticket buyers who came in the last year or so and haven't come back lately, who also aren't mentally ready to want to make sure a quote unquote opera stays alive.

Got these calls. Chances are a lot and this treating everybody, the same mentality, sending them all the same message. the same phone call or similar phone calls with similar script is actually contributing to your audience and revenue decline, not helping them. Like you might think, because the [00:18:00] last telefunding report said they brought in X number of dollars.

Or if you're at a smaller organization that isn't using telefunding or telemarketing as part of your strategy, what about that last email blast that went out asking for a donation? Was it also a one size fits all message treating everyone kind of the same?

This topic of patron messaging and making sure the right message goes to the right group of people. In other words, meeting folks where they are on their patron journey with your organization is one of the things that will make the biggest difference in your overall sales and donation revenue this year.

So what do you do? How do you break out of this? How can you make sure your arts organization does not make this same mistake? How do you break the cycle of treating everyone the same with the same or similar patron messaging? That is what we are going to talk about. after the break.[00:19:00] 

Here's a fun fact. A returning audience member is worth seven times more than a first timer. Yes, I am talking about audience retention, one of my favorite topics, but the problem I hear all the time from arts organizations is how to best track your own patron retention data across marketing and development.

That's why I want to tell you about Artalyze. Artelize has brilliantly solved this challenge. Their audience retention dashboard is the one stop place to access your audience data across every important metric. First time buyers, multi buyers, subscribers, and donors. I've worked with a lot of tools in data management programs over the years.

The Artelize Audience Retention Dashboard works with any CRM and it supports arts organizations of all sizes all over the globe. If you can upload a spreadsheet, within minutes you can access all your data. Your key patron segments and top retention metrics beautifully laid out and [00:20:00] easy to read. It's just that easy.

No joke. And their tool even makes real time recommendations based on your patron data to boost conversion at each stage of the customer journey. So you can see what's working. Refine your approach and keep doubling down on what drives the best results. The Artalyze team brought me into their process and we had clients test the product with their own real data.

So let me tell you, I have seen first hand the immense time, money and effort this dashboard can save arts organizations, allowing you to finally harness your data in one place. Think. Easier collaboration between marketing and development efforts. Easier for presenting at board meetings, easier to see everything in one place without running multiple reports.

If you are ready to grow, retain, and engage your audience with data driven tools that are easy and fast to use, visit aubreybergauer. com slash dashboard. Listeners of this podcast save 20 percent and members of my run it like a business academy save even more. [00:21:00] That's www. aubreybergauer. com. Slash dashboard to learn more about our allies today

on the audience development spectrum. There are five main audience segments. Primarily, those segments are first time buyers, multi buyers, meaning repeat attendees over the course of a year. First time subscribers or new subscribers, renewing subscribers. And then our goal is to move this patron courtship into everlasting love, transforming those audiences and patrons we just named into first time and eventually ongoing donors.

Now, if you want to get a little more advanced with this, you could add in other patron segments if you wanted, like young patrons club members as the example from earlier, or gala attendees as another example. But for now We're going to keep it to the main five for the rest of this episode and start there.

So okay, let's [00:22:00] start at the beginning. The first time buyer. Who is this patron segment and what message should they get? So first time buyer, just like it sounds, this is the person who is brand new to the organization. They came for the first time. I also like to add to this segment, people who haven't been around, who haven't come, haven't attended, have no history essentially for four or more years, and then they buy a ticket.

So it's technically not their first first time, but they definitely aren't a regular attendee and definitely not one of those others more engaged segments I mentioned. So if they've been gone and then they come back after four years of inactivity, I like to add them to this bucket and treat them like a first timer in terms of the messaging they receive.

So this patron segment is in many ways the most work, but they are also the most critical. So that's why I believe in the data supports this work is worth it. So why are they the most work? [00:23:00] Because a couple things. We as arts organizations have a limited window of time to capitalize on a new person's first interaction with us.

If we miss the boat, the consequence is that we can miss out of thousands of dollars of revenue over their lifetime. Lifetime value is very difficult to measure, but that's the consequence of us not kind of getting this early window of the relationship right. Uh, so you have to start by following up with them and following up with them in a pretty timely manner.

So here's what I recommend to the organizations I work with. I recommend that each new attendee, each new first time buyer, or however you're defining it, the inactive people that come back as well, each new attendee should receive a postcard as soon as possible after they attend for the first time, thanking them for joining you, plus inviting them to return again.

And to incentivize that, include a discount offer. There's a bunch of research in the field that supports that. So give them a really sweet deal to come back. But really, just keep this top of mind. [00:24:00] The only next step we desire for this group is for them to come back again to another performance, another show, another event, another exhibit, and that's the only thing we offer them again, and again, and again, and again, with open arms.

Okay? That's the whole point. We're not soliciting them for a donation. We're not upselling them to a subscription. So a week later, let's say they got the postcard like a couple days after the performance, a week later, this group should get an email with the same information, same discount code, kind of same message.

We want to make it easy for them to now just click, click, click, get that next ticket. Definitely also include a deadline on the discount because response rate is always higher when there's a deadline creating some sense of urgency. People need a reason to act and to act now. And that's exactly what we want, a sense of urgency to return.

I said research supports this, so what it really shows is that if we can just get a person, a patron, a first timer to return to your organization [00:25:00] within one year. Of their first attendance of their first visit, their lifetime value and loyalty skyrockets compared to when the organization can't secure that return visit.

And if you've been listening to me for any amount of time, the national stat, at least for orchestras and other disciplines I've worked with are very similar to this, is that around 90 percent of those first timers don't come back. So if you have a 10 percent retention rate, this whole exercise is to get that number higher because there is so much money on the table.

So, okay, real quick, couple more notes on this group. After this initial follow up, these patrons then get added to your regular email list, mailing list. All of that for future ticket sales. Okay, great. What they're not added to, I mentioned this before, but just to really put a finer point on it, they are not added to any fundraising solicitations or even season ticket solicitations.

So no subscription offers, no donation appeals, no [00:26:00] telefunding. We are taking every step we can, like, like really having that message focused on one next step and one next step only. And that is the singular goal of getting that return visit. And that's it, because we know the research supports the money is there, but it's there later.

It's not there now. We just have to start helping them form a habit. And the message is thank you for coming. We love you. So glad you came. First time here, maybe first time in a while. And we would love to see you back again soon. Next audience segment, multibuyers. So multibuyers, these are the people who have attended more than one performance concert show.

Exhibit within 12 months. We just said the goal of the first timers is to get them to come back within 12 months of their first visit. The multibuyers are the people who have. Okay. This person becomes the most promising lead for new season subscribers. This is so critically important. [00:27:00] We know that nationwide subscriptions are on decline, they're not in decline in other industries, so getting this right, that's why the focus on first timers was so much, is because when they become then part of this group, the multibuyers, wow, they really start being worth more to us.

So, okay. That is why we want to do everything we can to show this patron, the multibuyer patron, how awesome and wonderful they are for coming back again and again. Within one week of their second attendance, within, like I said, the same season or same year, this group should receive a note in the mail that says, you've noticed, you've noticed they've attended a few times recently, or a few times over the last several months.

And you want to thank them. This is where I usually don't discount anymore. I recommend adding some sort of value add thing, such as a voucher or freebie for a glass of wine or something like that. Some value add, not discount at this point. So, again, you want it to have a [00:28:00] clearly printed expiration date for the end of the season, usually.

That helps create that sense of urgency. But the idea is that now you're giving them value add with something that they can come back again. If it's a glass of wine, they gotta come a third time, right? If they're gonna redeem that. So Uh, that's why I like to offer that. And then this group definitely can go right onto the list to receive season ticket solicitations and offers going forward.

And I would say with these folks, you know, spruce it up a little bit, maybe put some photos of the artists. Now that they've been more than once, the artists are starting to look a little more familiar with them, whereas maybe the first time, not so much, right? So like I said, a little bit of nuance there.

Really, the idea is that we are helping them make a mental shift, very subtly but very intentionally, a mental shift from coming for the first time, in other words, cross that off my bucket list, to coming a second time. Instead, now the mental script or whatever mental internal voice they have is [00:29:00] saying, this is an activity I enjoy enough to repeat.

So different, right, in the way a patron might be talking to themselves. And that should be reflected in how you shift your communication with them. The message is always for this group, you know, the symphony, opera, theater, your organization, this organization keeps getting better and better. Let us enhance your experience and help you form a habit of coming here.

Right? Not those exact words, but that's the vibe. Okay. And just like with any relationship, It's the little things that make such a big difference, right? The tiniest and sometimes, in this case, the most tedious of details really add up to this big profound impact in the long run. And that is what we're here for.

Audience segment. First time subscribers. These are the people who bought season tickets for the first time, no matter the size of their package. So there is research that [00:30:00] shows new subscribers make the decision on whether or not to renew for next season in something like the first 30 minutes. Okay. In other words, think about this.

What is happening in the first 30 minutes of somebody's visit, like on their first visit of their season ticket package? They have been fighting traffic to get to the venue. They were searching for parking. They tried to find their seat. They had interactions with the ushers. They were maybe waiting in line at the bar.

Like. All of this happens before the performance even begins. So the goal is to try and mitigate these factors. We don't get to choose, uh, when they're gonna decide if they're gonna renew that subscription or not. So we have very little control over that part. But, What we can control is, at least the parts when they set foot in our venue, what those minutes look like.

So those new subscribers, greet them with something within that first 30 minutes of time with you, some sort of welcome gift. And I recommend sitting right there on [00:31:00] their seat when they're ready to sit down. So this could be something like, for example, a little card with a QR code that directs them to exclusive access to a recording from your symphony.

Something like waiting on their chair and With this, you know, little token is another patron engagement patron messaging opportunity. So, this is where I like to also include an insert of all their subscriber benefits. Like, these are all the things we used to sell them on the subscription in the first place, but now we're reminding them, like, these are your benefits because we know research shows that The more subscribers use their benefits, the more likely they are to renew, so remind them of their benefits so they can use them.

So, in theory, these folks have seen it all before, right? Again, that's probably how we helped, like, convert them to, uh, become a subscriber in the first place, but it's an opportunity for us to remind them that subscribing was a great idea. And we are trying very hard to make it worth their while. And the last note I will make for [00:32:00] this group is We do not, I don't recommend at least, soliciting first time subscribers for a donation.

I know. They've subscribed. Surely they are interested, you're thinking. And again, it goes right back to, like, I've been the one, like, pulling that list and I'm like, If I add first time subscribers, first year subscribers, you know how many more names I get to add to that mailing list or telephone list or whoever?

Don't. The discipline. Like, surely they're invested, right? But I'm telling you. It's still too soon. Like, remember the voicemail we listened to, right? It's like asking someone to move in together, in this example, on the third date. You got to the third date. They came once as a new buyer. They came back as a multi buyer.

Now you got them in a season ticket package. You know there's something there. Right? But becoming roomies at that point, it just might be a little pre mature. And the reason for that is we know nationwide the data is only around 50 percent of first year season subscribers renew that subscription. So, it's like muddying the waters, muddying the message, clouding the message by [00:33:00] asking for a donation.

Just wait just a couple more months if you hear me out in this patron messaging and it's gonna bring you more money. In the long run. So, okay, don't move too fast. So why do we do this? The reason we're asking people to move in together after the third date is that we're Desperate suitors, to continue this analogy.

We all have big goals, I know, and a particularly big fundraising goals. Ticket sales don't make up as much of our budget as it used to, and therefore our fundraising goals only get bigger and bigger every year. So we make these asks of what seem. Like, great prospects, subscribers. I guess I'll admit, maybe confess, I don't know if that's the right word, but like the first time I did this and pulled a mailing list, this was now like, oh my gosh, 12 years ago or something, but the first time I pulled a mailing list and was specifically excluding first time subscribers, like it felt unintuitive, it felt like almost wrong even, just because we're so used to [00:34:00] doing it the other way.

But it works. Like I said, I've gotten Over a decade of results now in many different organizations, and we'll hit some stats on this at the end, but just to give make this example at the finer point, I did this first when I oversaw revenue at the Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival, and then I did it again when I was chief executive of the California Symphony, and these are two very different type organizations of Festival versus a symphony orchestra.

And now I've done it many, many times over with all kinds of different arts organizations I work with. And every single time, our first year subscriber renewal rates skyrocket via this method. Okay, next up, renewing subscribers. So once our dearly beloveds become renewing season ticket holders, This romance is heating up, and now it's time for a DTR, you know, the talk to define the relationship, okay?

Because this relationship, by the time they're renewing [00:35:00] subscribers, now we're talking. The relationship is definitely getting pretty serious. These are the people who have subscribed for two consecutive years or more. And here is where we finally get into fundraising appeals. I mentioned the first year renewal rate is only around 50 percent nationwide and varies a little bit by artistic discipline, but not a lot.

By the time somebody is a second year subscriber, those renewal rates for the subscription are way higher. They're like 70, 80, 85 percent and the longer they've subscribed, the higher the renewal rate. So it's a really big difference in loyalty once they get to the second year. So that's why. The research shows that this group is now the top prospect for a donation.

And there's multiple sources where this comes from. So the research has been founded and vetted multiple times again and again. So this group's in. They've been in for multiple years, uh, at least three years. If you're counting, do the math with me. A year of first time buyer and multi buyer, then a first year subscriber, uh, and now their second year of [00:36:00] subscribing.

That's three years altogether, uh, at least of relationship history. So that's why, continuing this romance metaphor, it is finally time to put a ring on it. So this renewing subscriber group can receive appeals throughout the year with tailored asks, tailored messaging based on their individual donor history.

Like at this point in the relationship, we want to tell this group that we know them and we have been taking the time to care to know what to offer them. So no one size fits all like dinky promise ring, right? You know what I mean? And in every case here, this is like the stuff that you all are probably used to hearing.

And for this group, we want to renew the subscription always with an upgrade offer. Whether that's upgrading to a better seat or upgrading to a larger package. Here's how this plays out. I have seen at multiple organizations now, things like subscription renewal rates growing to 80%. I mean, like across the board, 80 [00:37:00] percent or more and increased donation campaign revenue, like by 50 percent or more because super engaged patrons are very generally speaking.

They're not the ones making those 25 gifts that we then have to try so hard to upgrade and renew every year and like, please hear me in saying this, I'm not saying 25 gifts don't matter, but I am saying in a, when our job is to keep the lights on and for some of you listening, like literally you're having debates about keeping the lights on when that's our job and our mandate to fund our art, right?

Going after these 25 gifts that we have to try so hard to upgrade because they were the first time buyer that gave once out of pressure, like, that's not where our time is best spent. They're not that engaged, so they're not producing, right? They're simply so much more invested, and it really shows in the organization's revenue lines when you get to this point.

All right, last one. We'll be quick. The audience segment of first time [00:38:00] donors. For this group of folks, things may start to sound familiar to you because Actually, this segment, I think, is where most arts organizations normally get it right in many, many ways. This is where we normally get our act together with audience and donor engagement, and even to a degree, segmentation.

So, we know how to keep the sparks flying once they become Invested donors, you know, and where we typically really get good at. This is for our major donors. Like we know how to do the, all the wine receptions. We know how to do the acknowledgement letters. We know how to do the, that really high touch direct communication from artists and board members.

Like you get the gist because you've probably done some of these things, if not all of those things that your organization. And so the point of all of this is to be able to have that same kind of. Let's call it sophistication at scale for all the different levels of engagement that come before this. So if you feel like you [00:39:00] need a little guidance, need a little help, uh, I mentioned this before, but at the end I'm going to give you a free resource to help you with that.

So I'll give you all the details in just a moment.

So there you have it. No matter who they are. From a first timer just checking you out, to a season ticket holder, to a long time donor, your organization can and should have a thoughtful and strategic plan For your patron messaging. Now, if you've been listening to this episode all along and thinking, what is the point of all of this?

Or maybe you're like, I get the point, but you're like, I am not an organization with limited resources. Newsflash. We all have limited resources. So. That affects all of us. You are not alone. And this is what I'm here to tell you, even with limited resources, maybe especially with limited resources, [00:40:00] a new way is worth it.

There's two reasons why and then we're going to wrap this up. The first reason is more revenue. Hopefully, you've heard me say that enough by now. There may be revenue attached to the old ways of patron messaging, audience development, donor development, but there is way, way, way more revenue attached to A disciplined, strategic approach to your patron messaging.

So maybe you remember some of those stats I mentioned earlier, and in case you need even more convincing, organizations I've worked with to shift their audience engagement and donor development have increased revenue from their performances, talking earned revenue, by 145%. Over the last three years.

That's coming out of the pandemic increased revenue and before like you assume don't assume that this is price increases alone. [00:41:00] I've seen this happen when prices remained the same for two, if not all three of those years, and I've seen subscriber households grow by 37 percent or more over the same time period.

The national average. Is subscriptions on decline. So just to reinforce that this work is worth it. And then that was all earned revenue. The contributed revenue follows suit. So I've seen organizations increase their contributed revenue by 41 percent as an example, as was the case of one of my past organizations.

We nearly quadrupled the number of donor households. There's one organization right now I'm working with. That they doubled their audience over the last year. There's another organization that increased ticket sales by an average of 15, 000 per concert, per concert. So anyways, I could go on and on. One more thing as we're bringing this home, it is worth me mentioning.

I think that this approach to patron messaging. Actually saves you on [00:42:00] the expense side to save you money on the expense side to so all of this is about how do we bring in revenue and yet at the same time, every organization is talking about how do we cut? Where do we cut? I don't think there's a lot of places to cut.

But for this particular strategy in this work, virtually every mailing list for marketing and fundraising appeals will be smaller. Because it's so much more targeted and focused. So it simply costs less. There are not a lot of ways to save money at arts organizations these days. We have all just cut and scraped and downsized so much already and really feel the squeeze.

But this is one way. That saves on expenses and generates more revenue all at the same time. Reason number two is better metrics. Like I said, we're going to get into the data a whole lot more in the next episode. But for now, you know that when you focus on the right data, the right metrics, everything just kind of aligns, right?

So for instance, [00:43:00] when we look at metrics that measure retention and loyalty, Those metrics matter more than things like the size of your donor base or how many new names you've added or how many people were on that mailing list. So, in other words, you want to focus on the data that reflect how your audience is engaging with you, responding to your work.

So if attending your organization is just a bucket list item for people, you've done something very wrong. I say this with love. Who cares if the database is gigantic, if none of those people have any future value to the art you work so hard. to make happen.

So now that we've talked about all this, you have a choice. You can continue to take what might feel like the easier route that's treating everyone the same and giving them the same messages and putting them on every offer, email, donation, appeal, subscription brochure, you name it. And [00:44:00] see the same results you're getting now.

Declining subscriptions. Desperately relying on your major donors to give more and more. And budgets that aren't balancing and often running deficits these days. For so many arts administrators, we take the easier routes. It's not because we don't care, please don't hear me saying that, but because we on the whole we are overworked and underpaid and we have a million other things to do over the course of our day, week, month, whatever.

And because it used to work to a certain degree, but the days of low hanging fruit, loyal subscribers and donors who care about the art. For art's sake and or people who renew and give and increase those gifts every year because of a sense of civic duty, those days are over or certainly trending that way, you know?[00:45:00] 

So use this Valentine's month to start thinking about the ways you can love, court, woo, and wow your patrons through your messaging. Because the other side of that choice is growth, more audiences, more donors, more revenue, more love for your organization. And like all successful relationships, it's so worth it.

Next week on the show, we are talking numbers, as I said, data, donor data, attendance data. All the things we often don't want to think about or don't know how to think about or also in the category of take a long time to think about, but we're going to have a little help from our friends. I've got a data expert coming on to join us to make this conversation a little less intimidating.

And believe it or not, if you spend time and resources on maintaining and understanding the numbers [00:46:00] behind your work. It may wholly transform how you structure that work. That's all next week on The Offstage Mic. See you then.

Hey, offstagers. I hope this episode has helped you start to think differently about patron messaging and audience and donor development for your organization. I promised I had a free resource for you on this, so here it is. Hopefully you gathered one of the big takeaways from this episode that engaging your audience with targeted messaging goes a long way toward loyalty and donor development.

So I've developed a guide for you called six easy steps to targeting your messaging. It's a step by step guide that takes you from identifying your goal, whether it's single ticket sales or a fundraising campaign, for example. To designing a script or message tailored to the audience segment you want to focus [00:47:00] on and grow.

If you really want to shift away from the hard work, few gains, spinning your wheels kind of vibe into the hard work, high gains, high ROI era of your audience development strategy, it starts with your patron messaging. So, I want to help you make a plan with six easy steps that are actionable. And replicable.

In order to get this free resource, go to www. aubreybergauer. com slash 42. That's four, two, for episode 42, aubreybergauer. com slash 42. That's all for today, folks. Thanks so much for listening. If you like what you heard here, hit that button to follow and subscribe to this podcast. And if you've learned something or gotten value from this.

Please take two seconds to leave a quick one tap rating or review in return. To all of you, one more time, thanks again. See you next time on The Offstage Mic. The Offstage Mic is produced by me, Aubrey Burgauer, and Erin Allen. The [00:48:00] show is edited by Novo Music, an audio production company of all women audio engineers and musicians.

Our theme music is by Alex Grohl. Additional podcast support this season comes from Kelle Stedman, other members of the Changing the Narrative team, and social media brand management by Classical Content. This is a production of Changing the Narrative.

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