By Michael M. Kaiser
and Brett Egan
CONTENTS
Introduction: What Is The Cycle?
Artistic Planning
12
Incremental Fundraising
14
16
Conclusion
18
Contents
INTRODUCTION:
What is The Cycle?
The Cycle
A theory of organizational
activity that prioritizes
investment in great
art: when bold art is
marketed aggressively,
an organization attracts
a family of energized
ticket-buyers and patrons.
The income produced by
this family is reinvested in
more art that, marketed
well, builds a larger, even
more diverse family.
When this cycle repeats
The Cycle
Great Art
Aggressive
Marketing
Family
Artistic Planning
An organizations healthindeed, its survival
relies on the quality, imagination, and
distinctiveness of its programming. If we fail
to produce superior programs, educational
opportunities, and productions, we cannot
say that we are successful or that we deserve
support. It is likely that, before long, our donors
and ticket-buyers will come to agree.
What conditions are required to create truly
transformational programs that stretch our
capacity to its hilt? What must we have in
place to produceat the quality and scale we
desirethat citywide festival, risky commission,
visionary service, or landmark exhibition that
forces audiences to pay attention, excites current
supporters, and attracts new ones?
First, and fundamentally, transformative
programming requires careful, long-term
planning. The most exciting, adventuresome
projectswhich often rely on new funders,
collaborators, and outreach to build support
and demandare simply too expensive and too
complicated to rush.
For this reason, we recommend planning major
programs three to five years in advance.
For some, especially smaller organizations, this
process may seem daunting, unnecessary, or
even impossible. But, for us, it is fundamental
to building sustainable organizations. This is
especially true for growing companies that
want to significantly increase the scale of their
offerings. Without the time to create, fundraise,
and market increasingly ambitious art, their
seasons will stay roughly the same size, quality,
and character season after season. Without
additional manpower and resources to build a
Transformational
Programming
Bold, exciting, surprising,
big idea programming:
an organizations primary
means to energize and
galvanize audiences
and donors. Planned
sufficiently in advance,
it forms the basis for
aggressive marketing,
successful fundraising,
and incremental growth in
institutional capacity.
Artistic Planning
Artistic Planning
New production of
play E with live
music performed by
X and dance by Y
Annual production
Annual production
Annual production
Annual production
Program/Date
New annual
production to
celebrate our X
anniversary
Festival featuring
Collaboration with
Collaboration with
Co-commission
Program/Date
Festival in
collaboration with
X, Y, and Z
institutions on
our theme of A
to celebrate our
anniversary
Work-inCommission of
New plays from X
Work-in-progress
Program/Date
Anniversary
retrospective of
10 plays weve
premiered over
last X years
Program/Date
In-school work in
Expand in-school
Master class series
Virtual learning hub
Festival of young
playwrights to
celebrate X years
of our work in the
community
play A
or Series
institution A
progress series in
collaboration with
X radio station
X number of
school districts
play B
or Series
multiple works by
playwright A
emerging playwright
X
work to X
area of town in
partnership with Y
organization
institution A to
produce a new
production of X
of dream
playwright with X
international festival
country festival in
partnership with the
regional community
from X
series staged by
director X
featuring X, Y,
and Z celebrity
artists working with
our schoolchildren
This sample template is just one of any number of ways to organize a five-year plan. (There is nothing sacred about this
system, but it is simple and effective.) In each Year/Season column, we write down program names (when we have
them), as well as ideas for key collaborations, educational programming, festivals, commissions, artists, etc. As the seasons
progress, so do the complexity and scale of our offerings. This sample includes examples in every slot, but an effective
five-year plan need only indicate major programming as far out as possible.
Artistic Planning
Capacity
An organizations ability
to fulfill its mission year
after year, as measured by
its manpower; the knowhow, or skill, possessed
by that manpower;
the quality of strategy
developed to integrate
and leverage that skill;
the resource produced
as a result; and the
sustainability of these
elements. An organization
with adequate capacity
marshals each element to
fulfill its mission year after
year. An organization with
insufficient capacity lacks
the manpower, know-how,
strategy, resource, or
Artistic Planning
Programmatic and
Institutional Marketing
To produce increasingly adventurous and
meaningful art that asks our audiences to follow
usespecially along that transformational, less
familiar pathwe must be prepared to compete
aggressively for their attention and loyalty.
This is the role of marketing, which we approach
from two directions.
Programmatic
Marketing
Programmatic
Marketing
The tactics used to
identify and target
potential audiences for
each attraction, create
awareness and demand,
and drive a sale (of
tickets, classes, services,
or other experiences).
Effective programmatic
marketing extends
beyond the transaction
to contextualize each
offering, ensure a high
quality of experience, and
lay the groundwork for
a long-term relationship
Institutional Marketing
The second, less familiar approach to producing
visibility for our work is what we refer to as
institutional marketing. Rather than sell a
specific show or program, these efforts build
awareness and enthusiasm for what and who
we are as an institution. They focus on creating
so much excitement and magnetism around our
work that ticket-buyers and donors actively want
to be part of what we areirrespective of their
attraction to any single program or offering.
This effort recognizes that audiences and donors
have limitless options as to where to spend their
leisure time and money and competes to keep
ones institution and its offerings top-of-mind in
this crowded marketplace. Simply put, this effort
aims to make the people and institution behind
ones art more famous and irresistible.
Institutional marketing uses all institutional
assetswhether physical (buildings, costumes,
collections, etc.), human (internal or external), or
experiential (artistic process, dinner at a special
home, backstage tour, etc.)to soften potential
buyers (audiences, members, donors, board
members, collaborators, presenters or exhibitors,
volunteers, even staff) to the extent that they are
likely to buy or support our work without a hard
sell.
Like programmatic marketing, this takes time,
rigor, and dedicated capacity. But because it
relies on the imaginative utilization of existing
assets, big ideas, or the creative characterization
of work we plan to do anyway, it should be
inexpensive or even free to execute. It is
important to remember that, because excitement
and awareness are critical to successful
fundraising, an investment in institutional
marketing is a direct investment in our effort to
raise money.
Institutional
Marketing
The creative use of
organizational assets
to create spikes in
awareness, energy, and
enthusiasm around an
organization, beginning
with the presentation of
transformational art itself
and continuing through
activities that heighten
awareness about the
people, process, and
other institutional assets
behind that art.
New production and special event/gala; press push; circulate resulting coverage to game changers
October
November
December
Free performance in a collaborators space for their donors, audience, and family
January
Announce a new commission with the artist present; game changer event afterwards
February
Premiere of provocative collaboration; press push; circulate resulting coverage to game changers
March
April
Hold a party to release the new strategic plan; send a copy to all game changers and funders
May
Launch a master class series featuring master artists in conversation with students
June
July
August
Reallytake a break! No one cares what happens in August! Plan for next year!
Smaller organizations should aim for approximately four institutional marketing initiatives each year. Mid-size and large
organizations should aim for approximately one institutional marketing initiative each month.
10
dramatically expand the pool of potential ticketbuyers and donors. But, more importantly for
fundraising purposes, their energized families are
likely to become more generous and willing to
compel their friends into action.
Game Changers
A relatively small group
of peoplekey funders,
board members, highvalue individuals, civic
officials, artistic or
institutional collaborators,
presenters, distributors,
members of the press
who have the ability
to change the future
of an organization
and require special,
ongoing cultivation and
stewardship. The addition
or loss of these individuals
from the institutional
family has a significant,
bottom-line impact.
11
Building and
Engaging the Family
If programming is bold and marketing
aggressive, the number of people who want to
support the cycle-driven organizationthrough
patronage, time, and contributionsgrows
organically.
This familys purchasing power provides a healthy
base of earned income; its generosity anchors
and strengthens the fundraising effort. Managed
with care, this family grows one by one, week
by week, month by month, season by season
incrementally increasing revenue and capacity
over time.
For this reason, family is more than a polite
pseudonym for donor or buyer. It is a
strategy for incremental, sustainable growth.
Well-informed families are an indispensable
marketing tool. Managers who understand
the power of an educated family develop a
pattera rotating menu of future projects,
initiatives, and eventsto excite and focus
these critical players. (Artistic and institutional
marketing plans populate this campaign.)
This rolling talking points memo turns
family members into enthusiastic, effective
ambassadors. Excitement refined by patter is
indispensable social media.
The heart of a generous familyand a
managers most important fundraising toolis
a joyous, engaged, and excited board. For
this reason, family-centered managers ensure
that serving on their boards is productive and
fun. They recognize that trustees are not only
uncompensated volunteers who are expected to
12
Family
An energized, enthusiastic
group of ticket-buyers,
members, donors,
trustees and volunteers
that anchors an
organizations financial
health through its
commitment of time,
talent, connections, and
financial resources.
13
Incremental Fundraising
Effective fundraising simply pairs each family
member with a logical, financial action in support
of the organizations mission.
Sustainable organizations dedicate themselves
to building families incrementallyone at a time,
volunteer by volunteer, donor by donor, trustee
by trusteein sync with their programmatic
ambition. They plan large, daunting projects well
in advance; they identify and cultivate new family
members to support the expanded vision along
a feasible, if ambitious, time frame. This type of
incremental growth limits the risk and fear that
result when scale outstrips capacity. This type of
growth is the definition of sustainability.
Armed with long-term artistic plans, efficient
fundraisers engage each prospect in open
dialogue about which projects interest her or
him the most. Rather than make an urgent plea
for support of the next, most needy program,
they come to each potential donor prepared to
listen, not coerce. The manager with a menu
of options for investment maximizes the chance
of finding the right, even logical, opportunity
for each donor and, once that interest has been
identified, simply asks: How can we get you
involved in this program?
On the other hand, fundraising by brute force
where rushed managers and trustees pressure
friends to support an underfunded program in
which the prospect has little interestis rarely
productive or sustainable. (Nor is it much fun.)
Managers who understand the power of cyclical,
incremental fundraising leverage the power of
institutional marketing and time their ask to
coincide with peaks in enthusiasm created by
great art and exciting auxiliary programming.
They understand that people give to causes by
14
Incremental Fundraising
Incremental
Fundraising
A strategy for sustainable
growth that joins longterm artistic goals,
an energized family,
and logical options for
investment to build
organizational resources
donor by donor, week by
week, month by month,
year by year.
Incremental Fundraising
15
controlling Cost,
ReInvesting,
Building Capacity
Of course, creating great art and marketing it
aggressively will not alone ensure sustained
success. One must also control cost, reinvest
wisely, and build capacity in sync with the scale
of ones ambition.
All great artists are insatiable dreamers (as are all
great managers). Our nature is to produce more,
bigger, better art, year after year. And this is as it
should be.
But, for this reason, nearly every organization
grows to the point where it is financially
uncomfortable. A new $50,000 grant rarely
translates into a financial reprieve; more often, it
means a new $50,000 (or $75,000 or $100,000)
program that requires even more funding and
capacity to continue year after year. (A related
phenomenon belies the endowment fantasy:
rather than turning that first distribution into
a rainy-day fund or cash buffer, the dreamerartist-manager complex typically expands
programming expense by exactly the same
increment.) The next year, the battle for a
balanced budget begins anew.
Therefore, the responsible manager must
differentiate between our nature as dreamers
and our job to dream sustainably. Artistic plans
must be tied to realistic marketing plans that
estimate the earned income potential of each
venture. Artistic directors, executives, and
boards must accept the financial implications of
each artistic decision. Organizational capacity
to absorb failure must parallel artistic risk. (We
suggest budgeting for one or two failures each
16
Great Art
Building
Capacity
Programmatic
Aggressive
Marketing
Institutional
Fundraising
Family
17
Conclusion
This modelthe cyclepresents a theory,
founded in observation and practice, of how
to build an organization into a sustainable
institution, donor by donor, day by day, season
by season. At its heart is a dedication to, and
dependence upon, long-term planning.
We understand that this will not come easily for all
organizations. For many, the process of beginning
to plan multiple seasons in advance will itself be
a multiseason effort. It will take time to transition
from a six-month plan to one that extends a year
or two in advance. In some cases, it may take
several seasons before an organization develops
the capacity to produce a true five-year plan.
Because planning requires an investment of time
and energy, some will argue that the process is,
in itself, an unwelcome drain on limited capacity.
Skeptics cite an industry fraught with constant
change and argue that long-term planning is
neither practical nor expedient. But to these critics
we respectfully respond: if we do not plan, we
cannot grow. Our business is just too complex, too
expensive, and too dependent on others to create
the best art, with the best outcomes, in a rush.
And when we talk about building capacitythis
is where that process starts. The organization
that fails to plan is the organization that goes on
suffering the most from fatigue, poor morale,
disengagement, and chaos. (Sadly, even
organizations that produce great art are not
exempt from this rule.) On the other hand, the
organization that starts to think out 18, 24, 36
months further in advance gives itself the luxury
of time required to build toward bigger art
including the time to hire, train, and pay for that
extra staff member to get it done well.
We do not hide the fact that this kind of planning
may require a meaningful change in habit and
18
Conclusion
Michael M. Kaiser is President of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He has expanded the educational
and artistic programming for the nations center for the performing arts and has overseen a major renovation effort of
most of the Centers theaters. Dubbed the Turnaround King for his work at numerous institutions, including the Royal
Opera House (London), American Ballet Theatre, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and the Kansas City Ballet, Michael
has earned international renown for his expertise in arts management. He advises performing arts organizations around
the world, working with arts leaders in nearly 70 countries. Upon joining the Kennedy Center in 2001, Michael created the
Kennedy Center Arts Management Institute, renamed the DeVos Institute of Arts Management at the Kennedy Center
after a $22.5 million commitment from Dick and Betsy DeVos, which aims to train the current and next generation of
arts leaders. The Institute features a variety of initiatives and programs, including an online education forum for arts
administrators at artsmanager.org, where professionals and students in the field can share experiences, seek employment,
and post opportunities. He founded Arts in Crisis: A Kennedy Center Initiative in February 2009, and embarked on a
50-state tour to spread his arts expertise across the United States.
Brett Egan is Director of the DeVos Institute of Arts Management at the Kennedy Center. In this capacity, Egan leads the
Institutes team of consultants and teachers in two national capacity building programs as part of the Ford Foundations
Space for Change initiative; regional capacity building programs in seven American cities; international arts management
fellowships for 37 participants from 28 countries; a nine-month fellowship for mid-career North American arts executives;
international arts management symposia; and long-term consultancies with organizations, agencies, and municipalities in
the United States and abroad.
For more information about the DeVos Institute of Arts Management at the Kennedy Center,
please visit:
DeVosInstitute.org
Copyright 2011 The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
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