Show Me the Data Title slide Show Me

Show Me the Data! Title slide Show Me The Data! 2012 APASO Conference John Beck, Arts. Boston; Douglas Clayton, LA Stage Alliance; Kendra Law Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance

Session Overview • Creating a Culture of Data Collection & Sharing • What to do with all this data

ORIGINS OF THE ARTSBOSTON AUDIENCE INITIATIVE 2004 • Arts. Boston launches the Arts. Boston Big List to simplify mailing list exchanges and to remove guesswork from direct mail marketing. 20042010 • More community databases are launched throughout the country, with the focus shifting from mailing lists to market knowledge. 2010 • Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation approaches Arts. Boston to administer a new community database in the Berkshires region. 2011 • The Berkshires Audience Initiative is launched in collaboration with vendor TRG Arts. Boston uses this opportunity to pilot a model program to implement in Greater Boston. 2012 • Arts. Boston transitions from the Big List to the Arts. Boston Audience Initiative (AAI), Greater Boston's first comprehensive arts market knowledge program. 3

ARTSBOSTON AUDIENCE INITIATIVE • We are in Year 1 of our program • 50 Organizations Participating • Including BSO, Citi Center, Broadway in Boston, • Over 1 Million Unique Households • Organizations may participate for “Research Only” • There is an administrative fee to participate 4

Creating a Culture of Data Collection and Sharing – What’s Worked • • Give ownership to the community Create a culture of collaboration Utilize case studies Engage throughout the year Build an incentive to utilize the data Share the results Collaborate with funders SHOW ME THE DATA – APASO 2012

Creating a Culture of Data Collection and Sharing LA STAGE Arts Census SHOW ME THE DATA – APASO 2012

QUICK FACTS: • LA had a BIG LIST through Enertex for ten years, averaging twenty participants and 250, 000 households each year. • Late 2009, shifted to the TRG Arts e. Merge program • Changed the name of the program to the LA STAGE ARTS CENSUS • Change the framing to a ‘Research and Efficiency Tool, with List Trades as an optional feature’ • Eliminated all costs/fees to participate • Targeted major institutions and thought leaders • Currently 120 participants, 3. 8 million unique households • Now have several major funders requiring participation, so expect to triple the number of participating organizations by summer 2013 7

Creating a Culture of Data Collection and Sharing – What’s Worked • Promote a big vision • Remove all barriers to participation • Identify and focus on recruitment of leaders and major institutions • Clearly define the program as intended to serve not just cultural organizations, but also funders and our politicians and other powerful partners • Hands on follow-up and engagement SHOW ME THE DATA – APASO 2012

Creating a Culture of Data Collection and Sharing – What’s Worked Make pretty graphs and get powerful numbers 41% of all Los Angeles County Households are in the Census (and over 50% of all Orange County households) SHOW ME THE DATA – APASO 2012

Creating a Culture of Data Collection and Sharing – What’s Challenging • Large Organization Legal Departments • Organizational Leaders who are defensive and protective of their data, and/or who oppose sharing lists for any reason • Small Organizations often only need to use e. Merge infrequently, so they forget to use it for their benefit, and require regular re-training • The need for higher level thinking/consulting for full maximization of benefits of the program. SHOW ME THE DATA – APASO 2012

MAJOR OBSTACLES FOR DATA COLLECTION In asking groups to submit their data, we realized that many small and mid-sized groups do not have the technology for point-of-sale data collection. Arts. Boston is evaluating the needs of the community to determine the best plan, possibly: Creating a new community-wide ticketing and data collection system Applying for funding to help organizations afford new technology As a group, let’s brainstorm and/or share strategies for how to help groups collect data. SHOW ME THE DATA – APASO 2012

Group Brainstorm

Cultural Alliance • Since 2003 • 160 organizations, over 2 mil unique households • Currently free • Changes ahead – Rebranding to “Audience Analytics” – Tiered participation structure – pay / service

What to Do with the Data • • Member requests for research Share information with partners Our own aggregate research Evaluate program

Share information with partners

Crossover with all orgs in List Co-Op Penn Museum Philadelphia Orchestra 33% WHYY 23% Kimmel Center Pennsylvania Ballet 19% Philadelphia Live Arts & Fringe 14% Opera Company of Phila 14% Phila Folksong Society 13% Barnes 13% Arden 12% Annenberg Center 11% Barnes Foundation Philadelphia Orchestra 21% WHYY 13% Kimmel Center 13% Pennsylvania Ballet 12% Philadelphia Museum of Art 10% Philadelphia Live Arts & Fringe 9% Mann Center 8% 7% Phila Folksong Society Opera Company of Phila 7% Arden 7% The Academy of Natural Sciences Philadelphia Orchestra 22% Franklin Institute 18% Pennsylvania Ballet 17% Kimmel Center 16% WHYY 15% Arden 10% 9% Phila Folksong Society Philadelphia Live Arts & Fringe 7% Mann Center 7% Opera Company of Phila 6% Philadelphia Museum of Art Philadelphia Orchestra 14% Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Philadelphia Orchestra Franklin Institute Science Museum Philadelphia Orchestra Kimmel Center 10% Pennsylvania Ballet 9% WHYY Pennsylvania Ballet WHYY 9% Kimmel Center Phila Folksong Society Barnes 5% 37% 24% 22% 21% 18% 5% Phila Folksong Society Philadelphia Live Arts & Fringe Mann Center 4% Opera Company of Phila 16% Philadelphia Live Arts & Fringe 4% Arden 14% Longwood 4% Barnes 14% Opera Company of Phila 3% Wilma 16% 12% 20% Kimmel Center 17% Pennsylvania Ballet 15% WHYY 14% Academy of Natural Sciences 14% Arden 9% Longwood 8% Philadelphia Folksong 8% Mann Center 7% Philadelphia Live Arts & Fringe 7%

What to Do with the Data - Aggregate • • Paid Patronage Study w/ TRG Arts Voter Analysis Advocacy Data Points Demand Analysis

What to Do with the Data - Evaluate Exploratory Study comparing CDP data & List Co -Op USAGE data Correlation not Causation • Performing Arts biggest users • Larger orgs more likely to use • The higher the usage & more sophisticated usage, positive relationship with gains in attendance and income. • Attendance gains most noteable for small to mid-size orgs and suburban based orgs

CASE STUDY – HUNTINGTON THEATRE COMPANY How can we attract and retain younger patrons? Finding the answer through the database: • First, analyze current audiences using basic demographic overlay report. • Next, segment the portion of the audience under 35 years of age, as well as the audiences of other participating organizations in that age bracket, and create a direct mail campaign that targets these patrons. Going forward: • The Huntington’s “ 35 Below” program has become a great success, reaching patrons under the age of 35 throughout the region. SHOW ME THE DATA – APASO 2012

CASE STUDY–STERLING AND FRANCINE CLARK ART INSTITUTE What are our members other areas of interest? Finding the answer through the database: • Run a demographic overlay report to show various interests amongst members. • RESULT: A large number of members are interested in gardening (determined by number of subscriptions to gardening publications). Going forward: • The museum programmed a garden photography workshop last summer (which they are repeating this summer due to its success). • They are also exploring possible partnerships with local botanical garden and. SHOW other ME THE DATA – APASO 2012 horticultural institutions.

A B E Intended outcomes for the program should be built into program planning from the start. Be sure to make SMART outcomes. Both the ASO and the participating organizations should be consistently evaluating their strategies. ALWAYS BE EVALUATING Organizations should utilize response reports for mailings. SHOW ME THE DATA – APASO 2012 For more detailed goal-tracking, create a logic model (see next slide).

ARTSBOSTON AUDIENCE INITIATIVE LOGIC MODEL Activities Create Market Knowledge Taskforce to evaluate current programs and implement new and improved market knowledge program. Develop best practices in Market Knowledge from programs in other regions with APASO colleagues. Meet with tourism industry, government agencies, funders, and ASOs to ensure that their needs are met. Develop comprehensive recruitment plan to build representative database. Convene participants on a regular basis to discuss trends, and address shared concerns and opportunities. Over time, Arts. Boston will develop strategic partnerships with local universities, credit card companies, and others as needed. Outputs Create a user manual with information on how members can best utilize the new tools. User sessions with participants to optimize the program and maintain engagement. Heat map of participation Report identifying largest areas of potential for increased participation. A baseline report for Year One will be created. Once transactional data is included in the AAI, Arts. Boston will create an annual “state of the arts” document to outline participation. Near-term Outcomes (1 Yr) Mid-term Outcomes (3 Yr) Long-term Outcomes (5 Yr) Arts Organizations see participating in community database project as essential to understanding audiences. Arts Organizations identify trends, shared challenges, and opportunities in audience development. Arts organizations have greater visibility, sell more tickets, understand how to reach new and interested target audiences, and engage current audiences more deeply. Arts community understands baseline participation and defines current market of ticket buyers. Arts. Boston is positioned as a market knowledge provider in Greater Boston. Arts organizations are inspired to better track their patron data. Participating organizations are actively using the system for both list trading and analysis. Arts. Boston builds a knowledge base of best practices for our region. SHOW ME THE DATA – APASO 2012 A collaborative approach to audience development is fostered among arts organizations. AAI is comprehensive and representative of audiences in Greater Boston. The tourism industry, government agencies, funders, and arts service organizations have the tools to analyze, and ultimately increase, cultural participation in Greater Boston and beyond. Arts community is able to further analyze participation with the use of transactional data. Arts. Boston is established as an industry leader in the field of market knowledge. Arts Advocacy groups have the ability to support their arguments with current and accurate data

ARTSBOSTON AUDIENCE INITIATIVE LOGIC MODEL - INDICATORS Near-term Indicators Near-term Outcomes AAI is comprehensive and representative of audiences in Greater Boston. The size of the AAI database will be significantly larger than the Big List, going from approximately 250 K names to 1 Million. The number of participating organizations will increase from 40 to 60. The number of organizations tracking their audience data will increase. Arts organizations are inspired to better track their patron data. Participating organizations are actively using the system for both list trading and analysis. Existing organizations will submit a larger number of names each year because they are better tracking their patrons. The number of groups logging into the system and requesting mailing lists from other organizations will increase. (Based on usage reports from TRG Arts) Arts groups will convene on a quarterly basis to discuss audience trends. Arts Organizations see participating in community database project as essential to understanding audiences. In a survey to local arts organizations, the majority will respond that the AAI is a valued resource for their audience development. SHOW ME THE DATA – APASO 2012

ARTSBOSTON AUDIENCE INITIATIVE THE POWER OF SURVEYS “BAI submission process has forced us to look for effective ways to collect and segment our own data at the various points of entry” “The collaborative spirit that BAI has generated is unprecedented in my 15 years in the Berkshire cultural arena” From the most recent Berkshires Audience Initiative Participant Survey: “…the fact that we had a sold out house…can be attributed to BAI and the lists of others. There were enough new faces at the concert that they had to have come from somewhere besides word of mouth or our local advertising or our own list…” SHOW ME THE DATA – APASO 2012 “The BAI project has made a lasting contribution to improving our ability to market the arts in the Berkshires and to advancing stronger relationships. ”

Questions?