Do you know how the recession is really affecting the arts?
I mentioned the other day a report by Helicon Collaborative, called The Economic Impact on Cultural Organizations in the Puget Sound. Helicon interviewed people from 28 cultural institutions in the region in January 2009. In a Chronicle of Philanthropy online discussion last week, Holly Sidford of Helicon noted that the findings seem mirror the state of arts and culture organizations in other regions across the U.S.
Helicon found that organizations, in their response to their interviews, fell into three categories:
Proactive (25%) – looking hard at the present and future and making strategic changes – even feeling energized by the challenge.
Informed (60%) – taking care of present and near-term problems, but not yet addressing long-term changes – using a sort of wait-and-see approach, based on what Spring 2009 brings.
In denial (15%) – going on with business as usual.
The report addresses the recession’s effect on arts groups’ revenue, programming, personnel, venues, audiences, board and staff, and sector communications.
Specifically looking at issues related to marketing, almost all the organizations interviewed by Helicon felt a drop in ticket sales, ranging from 5% to 30%.
While most of these groups seem to be keeping a close watch on ticket income and other sales data, surprisingly few seem to have a real sense of how the recession is affecting their audience. “No one mentioned an effort to canvas their audiences in the wake of the downturn, or do fresh market research on evolving audience preferences.”
This is a missed opportunity. Most of the interviewed organizations report a shift toward presenting popular fare next season, but it sounds like they’re making an assumption that this move will create a positive effect on sales.
Since almost all the arts groups intend to increase online marketing, why not include an audience survey in that plan? Not just to find out about programming preferences, but to get a better picture of how the economy is affecting the people they serve. Going from Vanessa to La boheme in an attempt to hold onto your audience may be futile if they see opera tickets as a luxury they just can’t afford right now.
Some groups plan to cut back on cultivating new audiences. This may be a mistake. Fundraising expert Mal Warwick, speaking in an NTEN webinar last month, noted that cutting back on donor acquisition could be devastating for an organization, since attrition may accelerate during a recession. I’m thinking this may also hold true for ticket buyers, too, especially for organizations using high price points. According to Helicon’s report, arts institutions that charge higher fees are experiencing a greater decline in audience right now.
I’m just scratching the surface of this fascinating report. Just as interesting is State of the Arts: Impacts of Current Economic Conditions on Puget Sound Region Arts Organizations, a survey conducted by ArtsFund at the same time. Take a look at both.
Download the Helicon report here (there is also a PowerPoint summary available there).
Download the ArtsFund report here (PDF opens in browser).
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