Jennifer: Our center for Community and the Arts subsidizes all of its
programs in order to make events at the Center accessible to all residents
and visitors to our small island (our residents hover around 49% living
under the federal poverty level). Rarely does a ticket cost more than $12,
and this includes ticketed performances (yes, classical music and lots else)
that cost $40 - $60 on the mainland. However, this carries with it a chronic
$30,000 income shortfall each year, which is filled from an annual "Friends"
campaign. We have no membership fees as every property owner or resident is
a "member" of the Community Center. Our pitfall  is that we are not growing
in income and therefore cannot grow in expenses-- our center is new, but
maintenance costs will soon grow and grow. We recently began seeking grant
support but are finding that if we want to continue such a generous policy,
we'd better figure out a way to cover its side effects ourselves. I'd love
to hear how you resolve this.

Micki Ryan
Secretary
Lopez Center for Community and the Arts
Lopez Island, WA

-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
Behalf Of Jennifer Lane
Sent: Friday, November 12, 2004 1:36 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: All Free All the Time???


Question for the group...

The Music School where I am currently the Marketing Manager (it's a
non-profit and organized much like a museum...) is considering making
all of its events free to the public next year.

Ticket prices for our concerts are typically no more than $10 each
currently. Classical music isn't the easiest thing to market, so our
revenue stream from tickets tends to be about $5K per year over the
course of 20 some shows.

Have any of you worked for a non-profit that went from charging little
money for its programs to charging none at all? Were there any pit-falls
that we should avoid?

Advice and ideas are welcome!

Jennifer M. Lane
Marketing and Events Manager
Wilmington Music School
p (302) 762-1132 x18
f (302) 762-3422

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