Resource Library

Thank you to the many people who have been blog contributors to, and readers of ArtsBlog over the years. ArtsBlog has long been a space where we uplifted stories from the field that demonstrated how the arts strengthen our communities socially, educationally, and economically; where trends and issues and controversies were called out; and advocacy tools were provided to help you make the case for more arts funding and favorable arts policies.

As part of Americans for the Arts’ recent Strategic Realignment Process, we were asked to evaluate our storytelling communications platforms and evolve the way we share content. As a result, we launched the Designing Our Destiny portal to explore new ways of telling stories and sharing information, one that is consistent with our longtime practice of, “No numbers without a story, and no stories without a number.”

As we put our energy into developing this platform and reevaluate our communications strategies, we have put ArtsBlog on hold. That is, you can read past blog posts, but we are not posting new ones. You can look to the Designing Our Destiny portal and our news items feed on the Americans for the Arts website for stories you would have seen in ArtsBlog in the past.

ArtsBlog will remain online through this year as we determine the best way to archive this valuable resource and the knowledge you’ve shared here.

As ever, we are grateful for your participation in ArtsBlog and thank you for your work in advancing the arts. It is important, and you are important for doing it.

40 ITEMS FOUND


Mr. Mark A. Cardwell

Dear Nonprofits … Your Funder is Your Customer

Posted by Mr. Mark A. Cardwell, Oct 16, 2019 0 comments


Mr. Mark A. Cardwell

What if nonprofit organizations considered their funders as customers in the classical business sense—with problems that needed solving? How would they relate to them then? Would it not change interactions, communications, and messaging? 

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Museums Are The Biggest Job Creator You’ve Never Heard Of

OK museums, it’s time to talk money.
Friday, March 17, 2017
I don’t mean admission fees or fundraising drives. I’m talking about all the money museums generate for local, national, and global economies. If you haven’t yet found a resolution for 2017, make it to spread the word that museums are important for the economy.
 
Yes
NAMP Resource Categories: 
Source Name: 
Museum Hack
Author Name: 
Ashleigh Hibbins

Are You Pricing Dynamically?

Dynamic Pricing is All the Rage
Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Dynamic pricing involves adjusting prices as patterns of demand unfold, raising prices and/or increasing the amount of inventory at particular prices when demand is strong.  Some organisations also use dynamic pricing to reduce prices to stimulate sales when there is strong demand at lower prices, but little demand at higher prices.  In either case, planning your changes in advance is key to a successful strategy, but more importantly a strategy focused on dynamic pricing alone misses much of the potential opportunity to be realised from pricing.

Yes
NAMP Resource Categories: 
Source Name: 
BakerRichards
Author Name: 
y Arts Professional

How I Used Facebook to Raise $30,000 (And What Arts Marketers Can Learn From This)

How to Use Facebook Ads to Boost Your Best Content
Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Do you use Facebook ads?

Have you considered creating Facebook ads from your top-performing organic posts?

To explore how to identify and boost your best Facebook content, read this interview by Michael Stelzner of Larry Kim.

Yes
Source Name: 
Social media Examiner
Author Name: 
Michael Stelzner

How to Sell on Instagram

Do you want to use Instagram as a revenue stream?
Friday, November 25, 2016

Jasmine Star, a professional photographer who specializes in Instagram marketing, shares her story—which starts with law school, transitions over to photography, and ultimately goes to Instagram. Jasmine is sure to inspire you with ways to sell with Instagram.

Yes
Source Name: 
Social Media Examiner
Author Name: 
Michael Stelzner

Using Google Analytics: An Essential Guide for Social Media Marketers & Small Business Owners

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Google Analytics is a crucial tool for any digital marketer, but it isn't exactly the easiest to understand. Start with these basics and learn how to set up your account, track metrics, integrate Google Analytics into your website, set up goals, and boost your sales.

Yes
Source Name: 
DrumUp
Author Name: 
Disha Dinesh

Everyones Internet Art Car Weekend Orange Show Center for Visionary Art Sponsorship Case Study

Everyones Internet (Ev1. Net) Art Car Weekend is an annual public art festival in Houston, Texas that celebrates the drive to create. It draws more than 1,400 participating artists from around the U.S., Canada and Mexico and a live audience of more than 150,000 for a parade and related events. Now 18 years old, this event has inspired other art car events throughout the US, but Houston's Art Car Weekend is a signature event, the biggest and best. This case study discusses the need and process of gaining sponsorships for the program.

Everyones Internet (Ev1. Net) Art Car Weekend is an annual public art festival in Houston, Texas that celebrates the drive to create. It draws more than 1,400 participating artists from around the U.S., Canada and Mexico and a live audience of more than 150,000 for a parade and related events. Now 18 years old, this event has inspired other art car events throughout the US, but Houston's Art Car Weekend is a signature event, the biggest and best. This case study discusses the need and process of gaining sponsorships for the program.

Case Study
Theis, Suanne and Stoilis, Kim
4
January, 2004
Publisher Reference: 
Americans for the Arts (ArtsMarketing.org)
Research Abstract
Is this an Americans for the Arts Publications: 
Yes
2004
namp preview image: 
NAMP Resource Categories: 

Marketing the Arts: Lessons from a Community Marketing Collaboration

The Charlotte MSO today is led by a senior marketing executive with a full-time staff of 10 plus one part-time employee and a commissioned sales representative. The mission of the MSO is to improve the overall quality of marketing, increase revenues and build audiences for each of the four participating organizations — Opera Carolina, Charlotte Repertory Theatre, North Carolina Dance Theatre (NCDT) and the North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center.

A specific objective of the Knight-supported project has been making market research and audience analysis an ongoing part of marketing campaigns. Another is improving marketing effectiveness through integrated mailing lists, improved graphic design and increased use of in-kind marketing support. A third is increasing the array of marketing services available to each organization. Whenever possible, the MSO attempts to leverage outside resources and reduce expenses from advertising media and other vendors by taking advantage of economies of scale.

The AMS research showed that the MSO has had a positive impact on earned revenue for the participating arts groups. Ticket revenues grew for three of the four groups, and the fourth company is now gaining subscribers after a period of decline. Other measures, such as audience awareness and percentage of seats sold, show more mixed results.

Implementing the MSO has not been an easy task for the participating groups. Making the transition from individual marketing programs to a cooperative approach has required effort, flexibility and a high level of trust in relationships that continue to evolve. In both concept and implementation, the MSO has required reinforcement along the way. But the very existence of the MSO, now well beyond the experimental phase, demonstrates the groups’ continued commitment.

The MSO has improved the quality of marketing for its member arts organizations and has fostered collaboration among the groups. The marketing team has created new sources of revenue, such as the outside clients and a successful Playbill publishing operation. The member groups continue to work together in ways they never had done before and almost certainly would not be doing today without the MSO. For the members, the benefits of the MSO collaboration continue to outweigh any real or perceived difficulties of the partnership. [Executive Summary p. 4]

"The Charlotte MSO today is led by a senior marketing executive with a full-time staff of 10 plus one part-time employee and a commissioned sales representative. The mission of the MSO is to improve the overall quality of marketing, increase revenues and build audiences for each of the four participating organizations — Opera Carolina, Charlotte Repertory Theatre, North Carolina Dance Theatre (NCDT) and the North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center." [Executive Summary p. 4]

Report
Shapiro, Phyllis, Editor
48
November, 1999
Publisher Reference: 
John S. and John L. Knight Foundation
Research Abstract
Image Thumbnail of Pub Cover: 
November 1999
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Entrepreneurship and Leadership in Marketing the Arts

<P>It is around the particularities of cultural marketing that entrepreneurship and leadership in marketing the arts must be articulated. The marketing process in the arts starts with the creative work; the manager cannot modify this core product. Thus the marketing process in the arts is conceptually different from that in other fields. At the same time, because the cultural sector features a very fragmented and competitive market, comprising different categories of consumer, the potential client is faced with an overwhelming number and diversity of choices. If the market is to be extended beyond its current limits, firms in the high art sector will have to increase their knowledge of the who and why of consumer behaviour. They will also have to engage in stronger branding and positioning efforts and make better use of information technology for marketing purposes. (Publisher's abstract)</P>

It is around the particularities of cultural marketing that entrepreneurship and leadership in marketing the arts must be articulated. The marketing process in the arts starts with the creative work; the manager cannot modify this core product. Thus the marketing process in the arts is conceptually different from that in other fields.

Approved
P
NA
Research
Periodical (article)
Colbert, Francois
International Journal of Arts Management
Volume 6, Number 1
p. 30-39
October, 2003
Publisher Reference: 
HEC Montreal
Old URL: 
http://www.artsusa.org/NAPD/modules/resourceManager/publicsearch.aspx?id=10493
Research Abstract
Rank: 
0
Is this an Americans for the Arts Publications: 
No
Image Thumbnail of Pub Cover: 
Fall 2003
namp preview image: 
NAMP Resource Categories: 

Marketing and LAAs: Reaching Your Community's Untapped Audience

<P>Steady trends in arts funding and consumer marketing point to a growing need for arts organizations, large and small, to make increasing earned income a top priority. As private philanthropy shifts its focus to education and social services, government funding dwindles, and the consumer marketplace is increasingly crowded with entertainment options and high-tech innovations, it is more crucial than ever for cultural organizations to be competitive by understanding state-of-the-art consumer marketing methods.</P>
<P>Without a specific product to market, such as a season of performing arts events, a gallery exhibit, or arts festival, some local arts agencies may view marketing as the exclusive domain of presenting and producing organizations, and limit their involvement to the occasional technical assistance workshop or, in some cases, a cooperative advertising program. It is the intent of this issue of Monographs to explore a variety of ways in which local arts agencies can provide a valuable service to their communities and arts organization constituents by becoming more active in the sometimes overwhelming world of marketing.</P>

It is the intent of this issue of Monographs to explore a variety of ways in which local arts agencies can provide a valuable service to their communities and arts organization constituents by becoming more active in the sometimes overwhelming world of marketing.

Approved
P
NA
RS
Jenny Chowning
As of October 1, 1997, the National Assembly of Local Arts Agencies is Americans for the Arts. Edited by Jennifer Neiman.
Periodical (article)
Greenberg, Arthur
Americans for the Arts Monograph
Volume 4, Number 6
16 p.
June, 1995
File Title: 
Marketing and LAAs: Reaching Your Community's Untapped Audience
Publisher Reference: 
Americans for the Arts
Old URL: 
http://www.artsusa.org/NAPD/modules/resourceManager/publicsearch.aspx?id=8519
Resource File ID: 
298
Research Abstract
Rank: 
8
Is this an Americans for the Arts Publications: 
Yes
Description: 
July 1995 Monograph
Image Thumbnail of Pub Cover: 
namp preview image: 

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