Building Arts Audiences

In the fall of 2014, the Wallace Foundation published a report by market research expert Bob Harlow: The Road to Results: Effective Practices for Building Arts Audiences. The study profiles ten arts organizations that received funding from the Wallace Foundation to develop audience-building initiatives. Among the ten are the Boston Lyric Opera, Minnesota Opera, Pacific Northwest Ballet, San Francisco Girls Chorus, and Seattle Opera.
The report present nine effective practices identified by the case study participants:

 
1.) Recognize when change is needed.
2.) Identify the target audience that fits.
3.) Determine what kinds of barriers need to be removed.
4.) Take out the guesswork.
5.) Think through the relationship.
6.) Provide multiple ways in.
7.) Align the organization around the strategy.
8.) Build in learning.
9.) Prepare for success.
The entire report can be downloaded for free here.