To sell tickets, the arts get creative

"It really helps us increase the quality of our productions," says Jack Lemmon, executive director of Ballet Idaho in Boise. By joining forces, "we have the resources of a much larger city."

In addition to this, Ballet Idaho has introduced the Family Series, selling tickets to dress rehearsals for a low price. After performances, children can meet the dancers and take a brief lesson.

"We're getting people used to being involved in the arts," says Mr. Lemmon. "In 20 years, these kids will be our audience, and it is a sneaky way of getting parents interested."

Similar outreach tactics are thriving at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, which is celebrating its centennial this year and had to decide whether or not to go forward with an ambitious, 18-month series of festivities.

"When you hit a very dark time, it is important not to cut the most important thing you do," explains Anne Hawley, the museum's director. The Gardner has introduced jazz and classical concerts in its courtyard, as well as Dante readings and Vivaldi concerts, which sold out almost immediately.

"You would think Bruce Springsteen was singing," says Ms. Hawley. "By reaching out to new people in the community, we have been able to bring in new supporters."

Despite a $7.6 million deficit, the San Francisco Opera is also sticking to its artistic vision. Though the company slashed 12 performances, it has refused to back away from the cutting edge. Rather than relying on well-known warhorses to sell tickets, the opera has maintained a number of contemporary productions.

The tactic has worked. Last season, it presented the first complete US staging of "Saint Francois d'Assise" by Olivier Messiaen. The elaborate production drew the best crowd of the season. "It really created a buzz," says Robert Cable, the opera's public-relations manager.

To engage younger audiences, the opera introduced $15 student tickets and has created educational programs.

Many arts organizations are also rethinking their fundraising tactics and are devoting more time to one-on-one meetings with potential givers. At the Brooklyn Academy of Music, which has cut several programs and an opera this season, and anticipates a loss of $3 million, the director is taking a grass-roots approach.

Ms. Hopkins says she is putting her energy into wooing new patrons for donations of any size. "We're moving very quickly to get ticket buyers converted into donors," she says. "It takes a lot of $60 donors to cover losses."

Fundraising has also gotten more personal. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival now allows individuals to sponsor specific productions. The world-renowned dance company Alvin Ailey has taken a similar approach.

That company was left in a bind after it started work on a new building in midtown Manhattan. The city planned to donate $13 million to the project and now says it can front only $6 million.

"We have started construction. We have to go on," says Sharon Gersten Luckman, executive director of Alvin Ailey.

To help fill the funding gap, Ms. Luckman began incorporating images of the future structure into an aggressive fundraising campaign. Playbills include drawings of the glass high-rise, and informational packets for potential donors show computer-generated images of dance classes enjoying a spacious studio.

The campaign inspired longtime dance-lover James Abruzzo to make a donation. "The company has articulated such a good case for support," says Mr. Abruzzo, who has been a fan of Ailey for 30 years. "I feel like I know where my donation will be going."

Back at the Met, Klett and Millington also feel their money was well spent.

"It was worth every dime of the $50," says Millington, who came from Connecticut to see the show. "Otherwise, why would I bother to come all the way here? It would be too crowded. I wouldn't be able to see anything."

The two women have been members of the museum for more than 30 years, and feel the members-only Mondays are a nice perk. "I don't know why they didn't think of it before," Klett says.

Page: 1 | 2