Use 5 data points to thrive on actionable patron insights
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This document outlines 5 key data points arts organizations can use to better understand their patrons and maximize revenue. These include: (1) the percentage of revenue from patrons, (2) the percentage of active patrons over the past 2 years, (3) trends in the number of active patrons by category, (4) the percentage of subscribers who also donate, and (5) average per capita ticket revenue. Analyzing these metrics can help organizations identify opportunities to strengthen patron loyalty, upgrade patrons to higher levels of engagement, and optimize revenue through pricing strategies. Real-world examples are provided to demonstrate how arts groups have utilized patron data insights to boost retention, fundraising, and overall financial sustainability.
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Use 5 data points to thrive on actionable patron insights
- 1. ACTIONABLE DATA TO THRIVE ON 2014 THRIVE Conference Hosted by Jill Robinson, President & CEO TRG Arts Copyright © 2014 TRG Arts All Rights Reserved
- 4. What We Do Patron Results 1. Consulting Capacity building for sustainable growth 2. Data & Analytics Services Aggregation, analysis, direct response counsel 3. Community Data Networks 35 million households
- 5. Community Networks 22 Markets 1. Data Exchange Permission-based trading 2. Data Analytics Arts/cultural ecosystem
- 10. But… there’s a lot. Donor Donor, subscriber First time ticket buyer New subscriber New donor, Multibuyer Subscriber, Used to donate First time ticket buyer, now subscriber Long-time subscriber Donor, board member Donor, Long-time subscriber
- 12. Patron Revenue How dependent are you on patrons? 1
- 13. % of patron revenue % of Patron $ to Total $ Source: your budget Timespan: most recent season/year revenue from: ticket sales + individual gifts + memberships/subs + events/ galas total revenue (including foundation, corporate, government) ( )
- 14. % of patron revenue Recent examples 92% 81% 72% 71% 63% 60% 48% 33%
- 15. Single Ticket Buyers New Subscribers Renewing Subscribers Renewing Subscriber- Donors Per Patron Yield $53.84 $156.05 $341.51 $550.42 Cost of Sale 20% 25% 3% 3% Renewal Rates 23% 46% 69% 88% Monetizing Loyalty A performing arts example
- 16. Ideas for 2014-15: • New perspective • Focus and galvanize • Prioritize
- 17. Active patrons How many patrons are active? Is your database growing?
- 18. % of Active Patrons % active in last 2 years Source: your database or ticketing system Timespan: 2 most recent seasons or years Count of households that had any interaction this year and last year Total households in your database 2
- 19. 18% 20% 28% 30% 32% 35% 89% 100% % of Active Patrons Recent examples
- 20. Donors and consummate loyalists The magic of “and” From 1st time to second or last time to NOW % of Active Patrons What it means
- 21. Is your database growing? Current-year patrons Source: your database or ticketing system Timespan: last completed year or season 3 ( )Single ticket buyers/admissions Subscribers/members Donors Then, compare to last 2-3 years active this year# of
- 22. ACTIVE PATRONS Declining 0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000 35000 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 YTD Number of Household in Database Donor Nutcracker Single Ticket Buyer Subscriber Total HH
- 23. ACTIVE PATRONS Growing 0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000 35000 40000 2009 2010 2011 Number of Households in Database Subscribers Single Ticket Buyers Donors Education Net
- 24. Active Patrons What does it mean? 1. Indicator of organizational health Note that “health” doesn’t mean growth 2. Ability to upgrade loyalty How many are “hot prospects” for a next step? 3. Bringing in enough patrons to replace the ones lost? 4. From there: identify opportunities, challenges.
- 25. Active patrons What to do about it Make an upgrade plan!
- 26. % of Active Patrons What it means
- 27. When? Active patrons are declining, if you want to increase % of active patrons. Next Step: Reactivate How? Treat them like a first timer and a valued patron. When? ALWAYS, but esp. when single ticket buyers are declining Next Step: 2nd Date How? Good orientation, get contact info, invite back promptly
- 28. 4 year retention study New buyers SRT achieved second date in same season TRIPLED retention rate Revenue kept growing. More on this case at www.trgarts.com
- 29. When? Active patrons are declining, if you want to increase % of active patrons. Next Step: Reactivate How? Treat them like a first timer and a valued patron. When? ALWAYS, but esp. when subscribers/members are declining. Next Step: Add an AND— another show, a small subscription/membership How? Foster further engagement by making the ask When? ALWAYS, but esp. when single ticket buyers are declining Next Step: 2nd Date How? Good orientation, get contact info, invite back promptly
- 30. Ideas for 2014-15: • Reactivation • First-timer Orientation • Second date +
- 31. What about our buyers? The magic of “and”
- 32. % of subscriber-donors How to calculate Source: your database or ticketing system Timespan: current year or season # of subscribers who donated this year Total # of subscribers # of members who donated this year Total # of members 4
- 33. % of subscriber-donors What’s “normal”? 32% or above: Great job! 24-31%: You’re doing fine. 17-23%: On the low side of normal. 16% or lower: You have an opportunity here.
- 34. % of subscriber-donors What does it mean? 1. How loyal are your most active patrons? 2. Do you ask subscribers to upgrade with a donation? 3. Gauge potential pipeline for major donors And a “super subscriber” program
- 35. 453 Super Subscribers gave $51,100 in four months 70% had no previous giving history. More on this case at www.trgarts.com
- 36. Per capita revenue Average Ticket Revenue Source: ticket revenue reports Timespan: this year or current season Per Capita Revenues = Total Sales Revenues Total Unit Sales 5
- 37. Per Capita Rises as Ticket Sales Increase What does it mean? Are my prices right?
- 38. What to do about it Revenue management 1. Think about pricing for blockbusters Which events, dates and times are in demand? 2. Monitor per cap regularly Average per capita for each event and subscription/membership per caps 3. Comps & Discounts Papering is not a business strategy
- 39. 5 Actionable Data Points 1. % of Patron Revenue How dependent are you on patrons? 2. % of Active Patrons How many patrons are active? 3. # of Active Patron in each patron category Is your database growing?
- 40. 5 Actionable Data Points 4. % of Subscriber-Donors How loyal are your most active patrons? 5. Per Capita Revenue How am I managing revenue through pricing?
- 41. ACTIONABLE DATA TO THRIVE ON 2014 THRIVE Conference Hosted by Jill Robinson, President Copyright © 2014 TRG Arts All Rights Reserved
Editor's Notes
- Our first metric illustrates this nicely.
- So what does that number typically look like at organizations? We see a wide range, but typically, it’s over 50% of organizational income.
- We say “follow” the money trail. Patron-centered income represents the lions-share of your revenues. And loyalty upgrades sustain your organization in that they are spending more with your organization and you’re spending less to keep them. So, ACKNOWLEDGE this reality and use that as a tool to prioritize going forward. Let’s look at monetizing engagement over time through one recent TRG analysis. (Back to the action word) This is an overview of our findings for a theatre client. The work goes in-depth to show the client just how much revenue, after expenses, each buyer type was contributing to the organization’s financial health. It has become a platform for the organization’s new patron loyalty initiatives. For purposes of today’s discussion… however, let’s look at the big overall takeaways: Look across the top and bottom rows of this chart --- Revenue yield and renewal rates INCREASE significantly with each successive buyer type – the more loyal a patron becomes, the more they spend and the more they continue to engage and invest. Now look at the middle line -- The cost of sale to create subscribers is high – the highest in this analysis. But look what happens to cost-of-sale after that – it does way down. It is indeed cost-effective to get a subscriber renewal or an upgrade to subscriber-donor. And here’s the big pay-off—once a patron becomes a donor….look at the revenue yield for renewing subscriber-donors. This metric supports a research finding that comes up time and time again. The number one reason subscribers subscribe is ….love of the art form. The number two reason: they like the way your organization provides that beloved art form. So, subscribers are engaged at a passionate level – an affinity that can propel contributions. Yet, we find, that many organizations don’t have an active, integrated program to involve their loyalists as donors. Our analysis says: that’s one of the first steps you can take to develop an escalator effect. Looking at their single ticket buyers, we see some pretty typical numbers here. On average, they paid around $53 for their ticket. Cost of sale—how many marketing dollars went into selling that ticket—was around 20%. And it was rather difficult to get them to come back. Only about 1 in 4 single ticket buyers came back the following season (check me on this). Looking at new subscribers, it’s a different story. Cost of Sale has risen, but it’s paid off. Average order size tripled—this client is making a lot more money on a subscribers than single ticket buyers. As for renewal rates, another good showing. About half are renewing. As you might expect, average order size and renewal rates rise with the more seasoned subscribers, but the real story here is the dip in cost of sale. They are spending a lot less to make a lot more. Finally, this clients’ most loyal patrons. Extremely high order size and renewal rate, and low cost of sale. So let’s put these numbers together and look at net revenue.
- So what action to take? (This is your homework slide.) With this new perspective, use this number as your motivation to lead and prioritize differently Activities evaluated by impact on patron Integrated planning maximizes interaction Robust database drives planning Think broadly here with patrons as your priority Understand and follow the money Ask yourself: Where are your resources allocated against that ___% What is the impact of departmental structure on patron service and loyalty? What are you being held accountable for? And, take a look at the following metrics around patrons
- The next 2 metrics we’ll discuss have to do with patron activity.
- TRG defines "active" as any household with any purchase or donation activity in two most recent years.
- Here are some examples from a recent workshop we did. It’s important to think critically about this data. When you calculate it, ask why you’re seeing this number. Is this a good number? (this organization was having database management issues—in this case the number tells them something important about their data management practices.) What about these? (it could be—they might be an older organization with many years of inactive patrons. Or, they have a large pool of patrons to re-activate. It’s an opportunity.) Instead of judging your number, use it to look at the state of loyalty at your org…
- % of Subscriber-Donors We talked about buyer upgrade initiative like the super subscriber program. Per Capita Revenue We talked about the basics of revenue management.