Using Groupon for Marketing and Fundraising

If you work in marketing, development, or membership at an arts organization, you should seriously consider how you can use online group buying tools to generate cash and new members. Museums in Pittsburgh are apparently having much success with Groupon.

http://philanthropy.com/blogs/prospecting/groupon-garners-new-members-and-cash-for-museums/28848

How Non-Profit Organizations Use Texting for Fundraising

We seem to be reading a lot about how non-profit organizations are using new electronic tools like Twitter and text messaging to supplement their traditional fundraising efforts. Some have been especially successful at using text messaging to collect large numbers of small donations from subscribers. It may be something that local arts organizations should consider incorporating into their fundraising mix.

http://philanthropy.com/blogs/prospecting/how-charities-use-text-messaging-two-new-reports/21357

Does a Big Budget Make a Difference?

This article discusses survey results compiled from responses across a broad spectrum of arts and cultural organizations across the United States and Canada suggesting that arts organizations with large budgets typically spend more money on technology as a means of marketing their products and services (website design and ease of use when it comes to ticket purchasing, for example) while arts institutions with smaller budgets tend to spend less (resulting in static websites and no need for any full-time information technology staff members to even incite technological advancement). In the small and large institutions surveyed, most did not have any sort of technology plan for the future----which, as the article states, may indicate a lack of planning for future technology. With social media marketing taking the world by storm, it seems not all arts institutions (large or small) are 'keeping up with the joneses.'

Technology Adoption and Implementation in Arts Organizations

Instant Encore: Classical Music goes Mobile

Instant Encore: Classical Music goes Mobile


This is an article I found on a blog site called Technology in the Arts. This article discusses the development of a program called INSTANTENCORE, a classical music platform that enables artists and arts organization to harness the power of technology to connect with their fans anywhere. It has been said that the power of certain art forms lies as much in the experience associated with the art as it does in the art itself. I wonder if the development of programs like INSTANTENCORE will diminish the conservative nature associated with the performing arts discipline we know to be orchestral music. Recently, the company has been busy building custom mobile apps for Android, iPad, iPhone and all smartphones---making orchestral performances available to all across the world.

Data Sharing and the Arts

As we as arts managers continue to rely more and more on online technology to poll things like patterns in attendance, audience demographics, and individual website visits...just how information should we be willing to give up about patrons to those online companies in return for their services? Google Analytics is a perfect example.

As the article states, data sharing – whether for marketing, ticketing, fundraising purposes – raises a plethora of issues. Does pooling information about patrons lead to greater revenues for all parties? Or do organizations risk a negative response from patrons? Additionally, is giving out the personal information our patrons trust us with to third parties for the above-mentioned purposes unethical?

The use of technologies like Google Analytics will no doubt shape either the success or failure of arts organizations in the years to come, but at what cost to our relationship with their consumers?

Online Artist Registries

Today many arts organizations are pursuing methods for supporting and promoting their members within the community. While approaches vary between disciplines, many visual arts organizations have developed artist registries or databases. The Washington Project for the Arts (WPA), a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, is one such organization.

The WPA’s Artfile Online is an interactive, searchable registry that showcases the WPA’s artist members. Artfile gives artists the opportunity to present images of their work along their resume, artist statement and link to their website. Although Artfile is managed by the WPA, members manage their own portfolios. Having each artist handle his/her own portfolio simplifies the process for the organization and makes the tool more practical for the artists.

The registry, which is available for search by the public, allows viewers to explore artists by media, style, location and keyword. In addition, viewers can sort search results by last name, recent updates and recent adds. Once a list of search results has appeared, the viewer can choose to look at an artist’s entire portfolio, send the artist an e-mail or “add to lightbox”. The lightbox feature, though only available to members, allows the viewer to collect and keep track of artists they like.

Maintaining a large, searchable database of artists is a valuable asset for the organization, the artists, and the critics, curators and collectors of the art world. With the assistance of databases such as Artfile, thousands of artists and their exemplary works and contact information can be found at the touch of a button—simplifying the process a hundred times over.

However, with the rise of online artist databases comes the threat of reliability on them. There will always be artist’s who cringe at the thought of being thrown into the belly of the beast. Relying solely on a registry to find an artist, though convenient, might prove restricting.

Artist registries and databases like Artfile are a critical tool in the self-promotion of an artist. While they will only increase in relevancy, sophistication and quantity in the future, it is important to keep in mind these registries will never represent the entirety of the art world.

WPA's Artfile Online: http://artfile.wpadc.org/

St. Patrick school receives arts, media and technology designation

St. Patrick Catholic Secondary School in Toronto Canada recently received the arts, media, and technology designation in the hopes of attracting more students and providing a more holistic curriculum. I wonder what lessons can be learned from this model for our own schools here in the US?

http://www.insidetoronto.com/news/local/article/957815--east-york-st-patrick-school-receives-arts-media-and-technology-designation