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Memo- Art Center Programming & Fundraising UpdateFACILITIES DIVISION MEMORANDUM To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council FROM: Jay Strachota, Facilities Director DATE: February 23, 2010 SUBJECT: Art Center Programming & Fundraising Update February 23, 2010 Work Session The agenda for the February 23, 2010 work session calls for an Arts Center Programming and Fundraising Update. Programming and Fundraising will be presented for discussion and there is a need to delve into specifics on the Take Five Tuesday series program as a decision must be made as to how to proceed with the next season's Take Five Tuesday Series. Background The art center's programming & fundraising structure as it exists today began on January 1, 2008. This is when, HCA, Inc. dissolved, and The Friends of the Hopkins Center for the Arts came into existence. The HCA, Inc to Friends transition plan had a very optimistic timeline in regards to getting the Friends organization quickly reaching into the community on behalf of the art center. You can see from the attached timeline it took nearly all of the first year of the Friends existence to get the organization's administrative infrastructure in place including hiring and training a part time staff person, recruiting and filling board positions, overhauling membership programs, and arriving at an idea that would click as a viable major fundraiser. The "Velocity: The Art of Motion" exhibit and events indoctrinated the Friends into art center volunteerism. The Take Five Tuesday concert series, Facilities Fees, and ensuing ticketing challenges were not a part of the original programming /fundraising transition plan. As we progressed into 2009, the Friends were in full pursuit of an Arts Festival, the Center received significant funding from the Minnesota State Arts Board, the Take Five Tuesday Series was unveiled, and the Center received $2,000 in year end gifts. PROGRAMMING Summary To date in the Arts Center's 2009 -2010 programming season we have presented: ■ 6 of 9 of our Saturday concerts ■ 2 of our 5 Tuesday concerts ■ 9 exhibitions of 17 in our two galleries ■ 7 of 13 Off the Wall Member Spotlights (east end of second floor lobby), and • 2 of 3 special lobby display case exhibits. Take Five Tuesday Series This series is envisioned as an "after work" series. The format of the event, early start on a Tuesday, with a social hour and no intermission, seems to be going over very well. The goals for this series are: • To broaden our audience to include people who have not attended a concert at the Center before including the elusive younger adult market • To increase the overall number of people served by our concerts • To deepen the connection with existing concert attendees by offering another option for participation Success of Take Five Tuesday This series has been successful in these ways: • First, we have received significant media coverage for this series, consistently getting print coverage and recommendations not only in the local papers but in the Star Tribune, St. Paul Pioneer Press and City Pages, and associated online sources. We also strengthened our existing relationship with KBEM radio and have added KFAI, MPR and WCCO as promotional partners. In fact, music reporter /critic Jon Bream from the Star Tribune attended the Bettye LaVette concert — his first time at any of our events -- and KBEM had on -air people at both concerts. Lary Brenner of CBS Radio/WCCO has not yet been able to attend an event but keeps in touch regularly to see how this series is being received. • Secondly, this series is meeting the goals of bringing in new audience — 66% attendees at the James Cotton concert had never been to the Center before and 73% attendees at the Bettye LaVette were making their first visit. We have also expanded our geographic reach through this series with 12% of the James Cotton audience and 6% of the Bettye LaVette audience coming from Hopkins /Minnetonka. • Third, it has provided another vehicle to enhance ties with the community. Worth noting, Cargill is actively promoting the Take Five Tuesday events to its employees and Big Ten is providing the food for the popular pre - concert social hours at no cost. Concert Series Finances The first concert of the Saturday Subscription Series was well attended, but since then we are running below expectations in paid attendance per event. Audience surveys were done at three of the concerts to get feedback to plan for next season and it appears that this trend may be a lingering affect of the economic conditions. For the Take Five Tuesday series, the Art Center has been very fortunate to receive significant funding this season from the Minnesota State Arts Board in support of HCA concerts. As budgeted, the Take Five series requires audiences in the range of 600+ per concert to break even. We have yet to have an audience of that size for the Take Five, but with the additional grant funding this pilot series should be fine this season. The Take Five after work concert concept is very popular with the people who have attended and looks to be a winner if we can more closely match artist fees with attendance and ticket prices, and are careful about the amount of backline (rented gear and equipment) needed by the acts. Two of our upcoming performances feature acts that fall into a more favorable artist fee and backline expense range for projected attendance. These acts are the Travelin' McCrourys and Over the Rhine. So it is possible to reduce our backline and artist fee expenses and still put well known national acts on the stage, it just puts more pressure on our talent buyer to find national acts that fit the model. As the economic conditions improve, and as the audience for this series develops, the fee range of the artists presented can expand. FUNDRAISING Hopkins Arts Festival The art center staff is very excited for the second annual Hopkins Arts Festival this summer. Last year the festival was very well received by artists, art buyers, vendors, residents, and the Hopkins business community. After many "major fundraiser" attempts over the years, there is a strong feeling that the Hopkins Arts Festival will come to be the major annual fundraiser of the HCA for years to come The Friends are concentrating fundraising efforts on the Arts Festival which is being chaired by Hopkins resident Mimi Stewart. They have pared down expenses by $6,000 from last year and are working hard to obtain sponsorships and increase artist participation to increase income. Break even is just under 50 artist booths while the event is projected to make just under $6,000 with 75 booths. Beyond 75 booths the event starts to make more significant money - -150 booths would clear $23,000. Artist booth application went live online this month and 13 artists have submitted applications already even though the deadline is not until April. Membership The Membership & Volunteer Manager, Lynn Anderson and the Friends look at membership as one of two areas, the other being the Arts Festival, in which they foresee significant growth. This year Lynn focused on adding value to our membership plan, starting with visual artists who make up a majority of our members. Three initiatives are especially worth noting: • Adding exhibition opportunities through the Off the Wall exhibition space which rotates small showcase shows by member artists every three weeks. • Increasing opportunity for visibility and income through a Member Artist Boutique which will occur for the first time December 3 -5 (Fri-Sun) of 2010. • Adding opportunities for art- centered life long leaming — partnering with Dillman Resorts and Walker Art Center /mnarists.org and Dick Blick on a day of free artist demos and information on March 5. (also exploring hosting Springboard for the Arts courses in the business of being an artist at the Center and other such partnerships which cost us nothing beyond providing space and e- mailing our constituency) In addition to improving membership initiatives that are in place, Lynn is exploring how to better use technology and social networking to raise funds and awareness — from challenge programs like GiveMN to Facebook and more. While the number of art center members has remained flat over the past two years it is important to note that in this tough economy people have continued their memberships, paying their dues, and there's a trend toward people increasing the level of their membership commitment and making gifts to the Arts Center. This indicates that people value their membership to the Hopkins Center for the Arts and indicates that we are staying in touch with the membership encouraging people to not let memberships lapse. Staying In Touch With the Community - Community Involvement by the Friends • Underwrites a HCA booth at the Hopkins Farmers' Market • Hopkins Arts Festival • Booth at Hopkins Raspberry Festival • Representation on the public arts steering committee • Member of HBCA • Active member of the Hopkins Marketing Committee • Active in Girls on the Town • Empty Bowls volunteers Strategic Plan for Fundraising The Friends have added four new board members this year— all who bring needed experience to the board and have taken on critical roles. Jim Skyrms, a business consultant and our new chair in 2010, is providing needed leadership and vision. Susan Weinberg, who has a background in corporate and nonprofit finance, is serving as Treasurer and is a creative strategic thinker. Mary Jelinek is providing leadership in volunteer development and community involvement. And, our newest Board member, Michael Coty, brings a wealth of experience (former executive with a multi - national corporation and now consultant; former executive director of nonprofits; degree in studio art) to the board with special interest and ability in strategic planning. He and Susan Weinberg are taking the lead in developing a long -range plan to move the Friends into fundraising on a more elevated scale. Fundraising Finances At the August 14, 2007 City Council work session on Non -Profit Restructuring staff presented the need for additional staffing under the Friends model by stating the following: In spite of best intentions to make fundraising a priority, current staffing levels make it difficult to keep focused on fundraising efforts. Investment in an additional part -time staff person with a targeted purpose is called for. Over time, this investment will more than pay for itself as the combined efforts of the new position, Executive Arts Director and Friends Board begin to pay off. If adequate resources are put towards effective fundraising, contributed support will grow, and giving patterns will both broaden and deepen. Only then will the Hopkins Center for the Arts be truly sustainable. Recommended solution create a new position, Membership and Volunteer Manager, 25 hours per week. Estimated cost: $20,000 - $25,000 /year The request for additional staffing put an emphasis on the following goals that would eventually strengthen the HCA's fundraising ability and financial position: • Free up a portion of the Arts Director's time to focus on grant and other contributed revenue opportunities. • Be the liaison to the Friends Board — again freeing up some of the Arts Director's time • Create a team of the Arts Director, Friends, and M & V Manager that would create a major annual fundraiser as well as promote smaller fundraising opportunities. • Give more consistent attention to members and the membership program — to increase membership, member retention and connect with the community • Give more consistent attention to volunteer recruitment, training, and recognition — to save on staffing and connect with the community • Increase the arts center's presence in the community at events, on committees, and in organizations — to support the community and increase partnering opportunities There have been many examples already stated that demonstrate how the above goals were met — membership program overhauled, membership initiatives started, the Hopkins Arts Festival as a viable annual fundraiser for years to come, increased communities involvement, etc. Goals have been met in ways not mentioned yet as well — concerts are run with volunteer ushers, runners, stage managers, who have a volunteer recognition once a year. There are new goals like increased marketing and social networking - the M & V Manager does email blitzes to sell concert tickets, set up our Facebook and is researching our social networking to raise funds and increase awareness. Some of these examples above are hard to quantify financially. For instance, we know the ticketing email blitzes sold tickets but not how many. We are sure that members renew or increase their membership level because they feel a more consistent connection to the center now. Some examples can be quantified — If we paid for the concert volunteer positions over 20 concerts a year they would cost at least the following: Stage Manager = $2,500, Runners _ $2,000, Stage Hands = $2,000. Here's an example that stands out as meeting one of the additional staffing goals outright. This fall the State Arts Board granted the HCA $3,500 for a Series Presenter Support (SPS) grant and then committed to providing the HCA with an additional $24,690 from the new state Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund established by the Legacy Amendment passed by voters in 2008. This additional funding went to those organizations who had submitted a successful SPS grant application. The SPS grant application requires a great deal of preparation and cooperation from the artists and agents, and comes under a tight deadline given our meet and confer schedule to secure our concert dates. The SPS is a grant, there is no guarantee you'll be funded. There have been years when the Arts Director could not pull all the requirements of the application together before the grant deadline. It may seem lucky that this year we were able to complete and submit the SPS grant application on time thereby resulting in major unexpected programming support. But as the Roman philosopher Seneca said "luck is where preparation meets opportunity!" With the M & V Manager acting as the liaison to the Friends board, recruiting and training the volunteers that support our concerts and outreach /fundraising events, and taking the .primary roll in leading the Friends through their first annual Arts Festival, the Arts Director was able to complete the application that eventually turned into $28,190 in support of programming. The support of the M & V Manager, as was one of the goals, helped create the time for preparation and thus the opportunity, that resulted in this funding. In 2008 the Friends transferred $8,010 to the art center's budget and $14,262 in 2009. The arts center received a $3,500 State Arts Board Grant in 2009 and will receive $24,690 from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund in 2010. The arts center saved at least $6,500 in concert staffing costs over the past two years and will save that much again in 2010 alone with the Take Five starting. The M & V Manager in 2008 was paid $17,400 and $24,500 in 2009. Timeline of Significant Actions in Programming & Fundraising 2008 • January: The Friends of the Hopkins Center for the Arts begin their first fiscal year • February: Friends by -laws are completed and articles of incorporation filed • March: The Membership & Volunteer Manager is hired • April: • City Council Work Session on programming — Introduced idea of presenting a nationally known singer during The Raspberry Festival in 2009 • Friends agree to "Get Growing with Linder's" an annual fundraiser • May: o Streamlined business membership program and added value to individual memberships 0 2008 -09 Subscription Concert Season announced • June: Friends board is filled to meet the minimum number of members /Hopkins resident requirement • June —August: "VELOCITY: The Art Of Motion" exhibition & events • July: "Cars and Guitars" event on Mainstreet during the Raspberry Festival • October: Council Work Session — Introduced the Take Five Tuesday concert series concept • November: The concept of an Arts Festival as a fundraiser first discussed at the Friends board meeting • December: Friends hold their first "Lobby Lotto" fundraiser • Friends - transferred $8,010 to Art Center in 2008 2009 • February: City Council work session on programming. Staff is instructed to move forward with Take Five Tuesday Series and implement Facility Fees • March: o Friends begin to pursue corporate sponsorships for the concert series and arts festival o Current on -line ticket vendor is unable to meet additional concert ticketing volume and facility fee demands, quickly switch vendors to CPT Services before announcing new season but find many challenges with CPT Services ticketing software and on -line store • May: 2009 -10 Subscription Concert Series & Take Five Tuesday Series announced • July: • First annual Hopkins Arts Festival • Rita Coolidge Raspberry Festival concert • September: The Center receives a $3,500 Minnesota State Arts Board Series Presenter Grant • October: 600 letters go out to individual donor prospects with personal notes from board members • December: o Take Five Tuesday series reintroduced to media and marketing plan hits high gear o Merrill Lynch account set up by the Friends to facilitate gifts of stock to the organization o The Center receives approximately $2,000 in year end gifts working through GiveMN o Center is informed it will receive an additional $24,690 in State Arts Board funding for the Series Presenter Grant in early 2010 • Friends - transferred $14,262 to the Arts Center in 2009