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volume four ~ issue nine
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Welcome to our October E-Marketing Organization of the Month, featuring Shakespeare Dallas. Chris McMurtry, Communications and Marketing Coordinator, discusses the role e-mail has played in building a successful volunteer program. Read on...
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Featured Client: Shakespeare Dallas
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Chris McMurtry,
Communications & Membership Coordinator
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PatronMail Client Since: August 2005
Starting E-List Size: 2,732
Current E-List Size: 5,423
Founded in 1971, Shakespeare Dallas brings the works of William Shakespeare to over 50,000 people in the North Texas region each year. With three main programs: Shakespeare in the Park (performed outdoors in June, July and October); Shakespeare on the Go (an educational tour for grades 3-12); and Shakespeare Unplugged (a variety of adult learning & artist educational programs), Shakespeare Dallas is in the process of further expanding to include year-round theatre performances.
As Communications & Membership Coordinator, Chris McMurtry manages the marketing initiatives for the company's three main programs with the assistance of Executive Director Sandra L. Greenway and Producing Artistic Director Raphael Parry. And with a turn-around in the works - after financially difficult times - Chris is finding that e-marketing has a large part to play in the theatre company's future development and success.
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Q & A with Chris McMurtry,
Communications & Membership Coordinator
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Chris, to begin, tell us about Shakespeare Dallas' Forging a New Future campaign.
By 2001, Shakespeare Dallas had developed a $550,000 debt and needed to restructure itself so that it could exist in our time and age. A strong Board of Directors and Executive team created a turn-around plan called Forging a New Future which called for a drastic overhaul of company operations and an aggressive debt relief special fundraising campaign. All the while producing accessible/affordable programs of uncompromising quality!
The plan was launched in the 02/03 fiscal year and we are now in the final stages. With a current operating budget of $575,000, Shakespeare Dallas will be debt free with a cash reserve by the end of 2007.
How has the financial re-structuring affected the marketing department?
We have been redeveloping our marketing strategy since the turn-around plan went into effect in 2001 when our marketing budget was greatly reduced from $62,000 to $29,000. So we've had to be very smart with our options and initiatives. At the same time, the company has been growing steadily, so there is the added challenge of doing more with less!
We currently spend about 60% on print marketing, 20% on design, and another 20% on online (and other) initiatives. It is becoming common knowledge that e-marketing reduces the costs normally associated with direct mail marketing. But equally important to us is the fact that it also reaches different segments of our target market...and not just for ticket selling purposes.
E-mail has proved very successful in building your volunteer program.
How has the program grown and why is it so important for your
organization?
E-mail is our main form of communication with our volunteer usher base. Last summer, we were receiving volunteer information from a form that was filled out on our Web site. We would then have to input the information manually into our database and pull it out when the need for volunteers arose, calling them personally and following-up again by phone.
Communicating to potential volunteers through this process was extremely difficult and the results were disappointing. When we switched to PatronMail, we added the 'Volunteer' box to the preferences so anyone who joins our mailing list has the option to receive information about volunteer opportunities. Over the past few months we have gone from a very weak staffing of volunteer ushers to a fully staffed volunteer base for our current production of Much Ado About Nothing. For a non-profit company, working hard to restructure its finances - this is huge!
As our volunteer needs continue to grow, so does our supply. We recently helped one of our funding organizations with an event called Biers of the World. With just one e-mail campaign, we were able to secure enough volunteers to assist them during their busiest times. The volunteers were thrilled (they got a free Shakespeare Dallas t-shirt and free drink samples) and the success of the event strengthened our partnership with our funders.
E-mail has also helped with your group sales. Tell us about the results you have seen?
As we mature as a company, we are trying to grow our group sales program. Prior to establishing our e-marketing initiatives, we communicated with groups via direct mail - a letter that included a reservation form and, if time allowed, we would make a follow-up call.
Now, our initial contact with groups is the letter, a few days after the letter hits, we send out an e-mail campaign to the same group of patrons. We use the letter as an introductory message to the event and the e-mail as a flashy and exciting reminder that the event is coming up. This new strategy has been extremely successful. We have seen increased retention of old groups as well as an increase in new groups for our current production of Much Ado About Nothing.
Before implementing the e-marketing campaigns, we typically had a 40% retention rate. Now our retention rates are closer to 75%. Last fall we had 13 groups for the entire run of the production, this fall we are already at 21 groups before the performances have even begun!
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Register Today: E-Marketing Seminars with Gene Carr Oct 18-26
Washington DC, New York, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh & Los Angeles
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Come to these live seminars and confidently take your E-marketing to the next level!
For Beginners
E-Mail Marketing: The Very Basics
Top ten tips for effective e-marketing. Learn what works and why--with the facts and statistics to back it up!
For Experienced E-Marketers
Advanced Techniques
Case studies and advanced techniques for improving your e-mail marketing and your Web site.
Click on your city for more details or to register!
(Please note that seminars may differ slightly by city.)
Wednesday, October 18: Washington DC
Presented in conjunction with the Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington
Monday, October 23: New York
Tuesday, October 24: Milwaukee
Presented in conjunction with the Cultural Alliance of Greater Milwaukee
Wednesday, October 25: Pittsburgh
Presented in conjunction with the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council
Thursday, October 26: Los Angeles
Presented in conjunction with the LA Stage Alliance
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Announcing: Arts Reach National Arts Marketing Conference 2006
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Don't miss the Arts Reach National Arts Marketing Conference 2006 in New York City.
November 17-19, 2006 at New York University's Kimmel Centerpresented in collaboration with INTIX, The International Ticketing Association
The theme of this year's conference is Building Your Organization Through Strategic Marketing.
Join executive directors and board members, as well as marketing, public relations, membership, and development professionals from all cultural and science education disciplines for valuable information sessions, workshops, one-on-one consultations, and networking opportunities.
Patron Technology President, Eugene Carr, will be among the presenters.
View all of the conference offerings at www.artsreach.com.
Space is limited and will be filled on a first-come first-serve basis.
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Watch for the next edition of our E-Marketing Organization of the Month
coming October 24, 2006.
Patron Technology
850 Seventh Avenue, Suite 801 | New York, NY 10019 | 212-271-4328
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