If you’ve been searching for modern ways to market your theater online, or if you read our last newsletter, you’re well aware that the new face of live theater is online. It’s all well and good for us to tell you that you can connect with patrons new and old through blogging, podcasts, and social networking, but you want to know how it’s done! Here are six theaters that are doing it right.

The Magic Theatre in San Francisco generates buzz about upcoming productions and keeps patrons involved in the theater’s day to day workings with their own blog. Plenty of photographs and upbeat writing inform readers about behind-the-scenes work. Follow this blog and learn how they create props and special effects, what different theater employees actually do all day, and everything you need to know about upcoming productions! The Magic Theater stays current with their own Facebook page (570 fans as of this writing) and other social networking pages, as well as a YouTube channel, where you can view a trailer for an upcoming performance, an interview with the playwright, and a behind-the-scenes video.

• Blog: www.magictheatre.org/about/blog
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Magic-Theatre/60729877957
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/magict

You can do more than buy tickets and check out a calendar of upcoming performances on Court Theatre at University of Chicago’s website. Their page also links to their blog, with news about their company and theater in general, and to a page of podcasts. So far, they have links to two interviews with different directors, great content for theater aficionados.

• Website: www.courttheatre.org/
• Podcast: www.courttheatre.org/podcast/
• Blog: www.courttheatre.org/blog/

The wildly irreverent Firesign Theatre has been around since the 1960s. Originally broadcasting live on the radio, the troupe has become a counter-culture classic and their work remains vital and relevant today. Not only can you download lots of old routines, saved as podcast files, from their website, the troupe is using the Internet to reach out in the other direction. In preparation for an upcoming retrospective, they are asking fans with high quality audio and video clips of their work to submit these clips back to the Firesign Theatre website!

• Website: www.firesigntheatre.com/funway.html
• Podcasts: http://www.firesigntheatre.com/podcasting/indexx.html

Orpheum Theatre in LA really has created a vibrant online community through the use of social networking. Their FaceBook page includes glowing feedback from patrons, links to reviews of their shows, information about prize draws to win tickets to upcoming performances, and even reminders that fans are invited to come take a backstage tour of the theater when there is no scheduled performance. This theater also keeps in touch through the use of a Twitter Feed.

• Website: www.laorpheum.com
• FaceBook: www.facebook.com/pages/Los-Angeles/THE-ORPHEUM-THEATER/198571464136

The Community Theatre at Mayo Center for the Performing Arts really knows how to take advantage of online traffic. Their website links to the box office, a donations page, a calendar, their performing arts school, other programs, and even provides weather updates, so theater-goers can dress and travel accordingly! In addition, they maintain a Blogger blog with reports on great performances, news about upcoming shows, and personal musings from the theater correspondent. You can also follow this theater on FaceBook and Twitter.

• Website: www.mayoarts.org
• Blog: www.themayocenter.blogspot.com
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/The-Community-Theatre/96048890918

The Irish Reparatory Theatre is dedicated to the production of plays by Irish and Irish-American playwrights.  This theatre has been very successful in their use of Facebook, with almost 1000 fans, links to news, reviews, videos, and even a call for donations to help the victims of the Haiti earthquake. Their website also offers patrons the option of signing up for email newsletters delivered right to their inbox. They just make it easy for fans to learn more.

• Website: www.irishrep.org/
• Facebook: www.www.facebook.com/pages/The-Irish-Reparatory-Theatre/41032870344

So don’t fear the Internet, social networking, podcasts, or blogs! Keep your theater up-to-date with modern marketing techniques online.

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If you’ve already read “The Smart Money: Online Fundraising for Schools Part One,” you know why the Internet is your best bet for expanding your donor list and your profits. You’ve read a few tips to get started, and you’re ready to learn the rest: ten more ways to boost your online fundraising dollars, make the most of donor communication, and promote your school’s online fundraiser, along with some basic guidelines for conducting online or offline fundraisers.

Communication and Promotion

 Use the Internet to keep your potential donors aware of your school and its needs. You’ll want ongoing communication to ensure everyone’s up to date on upcoming fundraising events and school needs, particularly those of student clubs, organizations, and teams. The more involved they are, the more they’ll give. Here’s how to keep everyone in the loop.

4. Start an email Campaign
Starting an e-mail or e-newsletter campaign is the most important step you can take to ensure the success of your online fundraiser. If people aren’t informed, they won’t help. Make your campaign a success with the following tops:

• Tailor Emails to Recipients’ Interests: Build detailed profiles for each potential donor. You can send an initial email asking about the recipient’s needs and demographic, or you can send more surveys and polls over a longer period of time. The second option is often best, as it allows for better relationship building as you gather information and develop continually more personalized emails.

• Do Not Solicit in Initial Mailings: Even the most generous among us usually don’t care to give money to organizations or individuals before we have established some relationship. The importance of not soliciting recipients with their first email cannot be emphasized enough. Initial emails should be used to gather information on the recipient’s needs and interests in order to provide more valuable content. There is a direct correlation between the relationships built with potential donors and the amount they will give.

• Purchase email Marketing Software: Email marketing software will save you time and money. This software allows you to automatically upload your donor database into an email marketing application and helps you tailor your emails to a recipient’s interests. Emaillabs.com offers great basic email marketing software. WildApricot, Convio, GetActive, and LocalVoice are designed specifically for online fundraising and offer a handful of specialized tools not offered by general email applications.

• Establish a Schedule for Writing and Distributing: The whole point of an email marketing program is to hold the recipients’ attention by keeping them continually informed. People should look forward to receiving your email. Establish a set frequency based on time constraints and your school’s ability to produce relevant news or content.

For more information on email marketing read "Stay Between the Lines! Your School Email Marketing Campaign".

5. Start School Blogs and Forums
Forums are especially great for school websites. They provide parents, students, community members, and faculty a place to share ideas and become involved. An active forum helps you understand the community’s concerns and communicate instantly. A blog is a great way to provide information on current school happenings.

6. Incorporate a Web Calendar
Integrating a web calendar into the school website is essential because it allows visitors to view upcoming fundraising events at a glance. There are many web calendar applications out there. Trumba event calendars (www.trumba.com) are easy to use and boast a number of features. Google and Yahoo both offer free event calendars.

7. Integrate an RSS Feed
RSS feeds automatically update subscribers on new website content or events; there’s no need for users to continually check your website. New blogs, email newsletter shipments, wiki page updates, and upcoming fundraising events should be placed on an RSS page. This will greatly increase fundraiser participation.  For more info on creating RSS feeds visit /www.wilsonweb.com.

8. Create Wiki Pages
A wiki page is a webpage that can be edited by website visitors. Wikipedia is the most commonly known wiki site: a visitor edited, free encyclopedia. Submit your school’s details and history to this site, as it often comes up first in search results. Wiki pages for every sports team and student organization can be of great benefit. Parents, students, and staff can contribute unique pictures and stories about each group, establishing a sense of community while keeping the entire community informed about student activities. Write about notable alumni, too. Giving staff the ability to quickly edit these pages will make them more valuable and interesting. Search engines consider frequently updated content more valuable, so wiki pages increase your website’s natural search results. JotSpot provides a fully integrated wiki application that makes creating wiki pages a breeze. While most wiki pages are text based, JotSpot allows you to create rich web-based spreadsheets, calendars, documents and photo galleries with ease. For additional information on general wiki page creation, visit www.intersci.ss.uci.edu.

9. Create and Distribute Charity Badges
A charity badge is a small widget, often including a picture, brief description of the organization, and link to where you can make a donation. Using charity badges is good practice for any fundraising campaign. Although they may or may not produce large donations, they are an effective way to promote a fundraiser. Placing yours in targeted locations can help you reach new demographic groups. These badges also allow users to share with one another by simply clicking on “get this badge” and copying the html code onto their website or blog, which helps you target individuals who may donate. They are inexpensive and easy to create. Simply follow step-by-step instructions though providers such as CareBadges or ChipIn.
To get your school’s charity badge started, choose a provider and create a badge.  Then, email those who would be most likely to make a contribution or share the badge with others. After this, donate to your charity badge yourself, and have co-workers and friends do the same. People are much more likely to donate if they feel they are part of something big. Finally, promote your badge though your school blog, social networking sites, email newsletter, or forums.

The Basics

Here are some basic tips to increase the effectiveness of any fundraiser.

10. Base Appeal on Benefits, Not Needs
Communicate how your school will be a better place for children, or the community will be better off as a whole, after receiving fundraising dollars.

11. Create a Sense of Urgency
Communicate the need for urgent action with clear deadlines and purposes. Catch people in the moment, with a sense of immediacy, and they are more likely to make a donation. 

12. Provide Convenience for Donors
Give donors the convenience of paying online, over the phone, or via mail.  Establishing several media for submitting donations or purchasing Raffle Tickets increases the likelihood of participation.

13. Following up with a Thank You
Don’t forget to send thank you notes to any direct donors, big Raffle Ticket customers, and purchasers of auction items.

14. Use Online Fundraising as a Supplement
Encourage online participation, but don’t let this be the only alternative. A lot of people do not want to become engaged with the online process. Make sure traditional fundraising activities are still in place. Online fundraisers are long arms, while traditional fundraising is the backbone of your fundraising efforts. Think integration. Allow your offline and online fundraising efforts to complement each other.

 

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You need extra-curricular activities, office supplies, and roof repairs. You need to make up for the budget cuts, expanding classes, and an increase in Internet bandwidth. In short, you need money. When the PTA is stretched thin and your kids refuse to sell another chocolate bar, it’s time to take matters into your own hands. Don’t worry if your hands are tied! You can earn more money for your school with online fundraising, and you never even need to leave your desk. In this two-part article, we’ll discuss the why and how of filling the coffers without overwhelming your calendar.

7 Reasons to Take Your School Fundraising Campaign to the Net

1. Online giving grows exponentially every year, from just over a half a billion dollars in 2000 to more than $4.5 billion in 2005. (www.groundspring.org)

2. One-click giving helps convert the philanthropic urge into fast action. Your supporters are much more likely to turn their impulse to help into actual donations, Raffle Ticket purchases, or auction bids, when they’re online. The instantaneous nature of the Internet promotes action by catching people in the moment. Being “close to the click” means being close to donors and dollars.

3. Online fundraising eliminates geographic borders. With the right incentive, you can attract a world of potential donors outside your region.

4. People are more generous online. An email campaign launched by North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics resulted in a 20% increase in the average donation. Their overall efforts resulted in a 150% ROI. (www.bronto.com)

5. Online fundraising attracts alternative demographics. cMarket conducted a study concluding that 71% of their online bidders are women. They found that women are turned off by the highly competitive, testosterone induced environment of the traditional auction. Internet bidding turned this demographic into major donors.

6. The Internet is quickly becoming donors’ medium of choice because it’s quick and easy.

7. Online Fundraising is a great option when your potential patrons are pressed for time. The typical auction lasts 1 to 3 hours; fewer people will be able to attend in that small window. Online auctions generally lasts 1 to 3 weeks, expanding the potential for more people to make more bids.

14 Ways to Boost Your School’s Online Fundraising Dollars

Think you know fundraising? Online fundraising is a different beast! If you’re ready to made the move from traditional fundraising to Internet fundraising, here are a couple of things to keep in mind.

1. Offer Big Incentives for Big Returns
Online fundraising works on a much larger scale than a PTA pancake brunch. You’re not limited to your usual group of donors; you’ll be tapping into an audience that is larger and more diverse. However, you’ll be competing for their attention, so they can be much harder to engage and coerce into action. You need the right incentives. The Mount Madonna School, located in San Jose, conducted a raffle with a $1.8 million, 2800-square-foot dream home as the prize. They set a benchmark of 26,000 tickets at $150 each before the house could be given away. Even though they fell short, selling only 19,137 tickets sold, they still gave $1 million to the top winner and $141,000 to the remaining 319 winners, and while managing to raise $1 million for themselves. Eliminating geographic limitations and providing the right incentive creates a massive audience, and your rewards grow exponentially.

2. Partner With Online Fundraising Providers
To greatly expand the audience for your auctions, consider selling on eBay Giving Works.  (www.givingworks.ebay.com/). eBay Giving Works is dedicated to nonprofit and charity listings. Start by signing up on MissionFish (www.missionfish.org/), a site that makes it safe and easy for nonprofits to sell on eBay. AuctionPay (www.auctionpay.com) is another resource that can help create bidding activity outside your school’s local geographic range.  St. Mark’s School instituted AuctionPay’s Online Auction Solution and managed to raise $25,000, more than one-fourth of the school’s total revenue of $97,000. A bidding war even erupted between two grandmothers, one in Florida and one in California, over lunch with a teacher, followed by a movie at a local cinema. The experience sold for $2,200 (www.nptimes.com).

3. Measure Everything
One of the great things about fundraising online is there are many useful ways to measure the effectiveness of your campaign. Normal metrics you should gather with your email campaign include email open rate, click-through rate, forward rate, opt-out rate, and email list growth rate. You can also track valid website metrics as well, including traffic growth, and the number of visitors who register. It’s also important to keep track of online versus offline funds raised, and the number of participants that are new donors.

Read Part 2 of The Smart Money: Online Fundraising for Schools for 11 more ways to improve your school's online fundraising efforts.

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You’re working hard to spread the word about your sound, but are you working smart? When you need to increase your fan base and amp up the loyalty of those adoring hordes, you’ve got to keep the linesof communication open. If you want your fans to be true fanatics, show them the love with email newsletters that tell them what they want to know and offer them a little extra for their loyalty. You need to stay connected with the perfect fan club newsletter.

1. Shake it up! How do you get people to pay attention to you? You need to strike just the right chord if you’re going to appeal to potential readers. Try:

• Using unusual subject lines. Uninspiring titles like “Weekly Newsletter” fail to spark anyone’s interest. Choose a subject title that arouses their interest and makes them want to read more.

• Personalizing your content. It’s easy enough to add the individual subscriber’s name, rather than beginning with a generic greeting, so your fans feel important and included. Remember, they want to hear about you, not just your merchandise. Don’t be afraid to share some personal details (as far as you are comfortable with this) and insider information about the band. Fan loyalty increases when fans feel personally connected to you.

• Providing Fitting Links. Just as your articles should be targeted toward your customers’ personalities, so should your links. You might want to link to other music related websites, or to blogs and websites you love. Again, your newsletter is a place to share what’s on your mind.

• Advertising. No one subscribes to a newsletter whose existence they haven’t noticed. Make sure to include subscription information on your blog, website, and any tickets you order from TicketPrinting.com for your upcoming show. You can even choose inexpensive posters to advertise your band and your newsletter. The more fans hear about your newsletter, the more enticing it becomes and the more your fan base will increase.

2. Smooth it out! In addition to exciting content, your newsletter should have an attractive and easy-to-browse layout. Generate the perfect layout by:

• Finding the perfect design. Your newsletter layout should reflect you. Find colors that summon your style, or mimic the band’s logo. Make sure the text is still readable, and doesn’t get lost in your scheme. It may take several revisions, but finding the right formatting is essential. Don’t overdo it. Too many images, videos, and bright colors can overwhelm rather than attract the reader.

• Choosing a consistent publication time. Get your fans used to a newsletter delivered at the same day and time every week or month, so they start anticipating its arrival. EmailLabs reports the best days to send emails are Tuesday and Wednesday in the morning, when people regularly check their email. After you pick a time, stick with it. When they’re looking forward to hearing from you, you won’t want to let them down.

• Proofreading. Check for misspellings and layout errors. Be certain that your newsletter says exactly what you want it to say. Remember that your layout may change depending on your customers’ servers. Enlist some friends to receive early versions, or set up multiple accounts at popular servers such as AOL, Yahoo, Hotmail, and Google, and double-check that your layout is delivered as expected.

• Telling a friend. Word of mouth marketing is the most effective way to promote yourself and your music. Add a “Tell a Friend” button to allow fans to easily send the newsletter to their friends. Need more buzz? Add a promotion that people can’t help but talk about, such as a drawing for special VIP passes to your next event. Fans will start spreading the word about your inviting content, along with the advantages of receiving your newsletter.

3. Break it down! Tracking your statistics can help ensure your music newsletter efforts pay off. If any of the statistics aren’t what you expected, ask yourself these questions:

• Does your newsletter stand out from the crowd?
• Do your fans know how to access your newsletter?
• Why is your newsletter not valuable to your fans?
• Do you need more specific or personal content?

If you don’t know the answer, ask the people who do know: your target audience. Make changes accordingly, and give your fans what they want. Address your deficits so your newsletter is attractive and tempting to readers. Marketing your band is not a one-step process. Email newsletters d o require a fair amount of attention to detail on a regular basis, but they are crucial to maintaining a growing, loyal, and excited fan base. Once your newsletter finds its audience, increase its appeal with exclusive offers available only to fans with subscriptions. You can pre-sell tickets, offer merchandise discounts, or give away passes to your next event. And don’t forget that TicketPrinting.com is an easy way to order your tickets, coupons, gift certificates, VIP passes, and more!

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The best writing in the world is wasted if its intended audience never sees it. Amp up web traffic to ensure your blog reaches its optimal fan-building potential with these 5 final steps.

8. Track and analyze readers
Invest in some tracking software to understand traffic to your sites. You can start with free services like Google Analytics or Stat Counter to determine which of your blogs gets the most traffic, where your visitors come from, and which pages they like best. Later, you may want to pay for more advanced tracking. Figure out what your fans want so you can provide more of it! Tracking software also provides keyword analysis, so you can see how people are finding your blog in the first place.

9. Find subscribers
Your fans need know when new content is posted so they can connect immediately. RSS feeds are the easiest way to notify fans of new posts. Once you have the feed set up, display the RSS feed button prominently on your blog in many different places. Some users like to be notified by email. You can collect email addresses and send your updated blog out directly. To increase your fan base, offer contests that encourage fans to sign up for your RSS feed: give away tickets or VIP passes to your next event, posters of your album cover, shirts, or other merchandise. Above all, make signing up easy! It should only take one click to get weekly updates.

10. Create a Conversation
You’ve got to allow comments on your blog. Interesting discussions indicate an active fan base; a blog with zero comments on every post appears unpopular and discourages followers. Ask questions in the conclusion of each post to encourage reader responses. Get the ball rolling by asking a friend to write an interesting or controversial comment on your first post. Then, respond to your comments. Readers want to know their voices are being heard, and they feel more connected to the band when they hear back from you. Comment on other blogs, including forums and chats (see #4). Always include a link back to your own blog so casual readers can follow you home and become fans.

11. Avoid Routine.
Many readers lose interest when confronted with pages of pure text. Add the occasional funny YouTube video, unique MP3, screenshot of a website you discuss, or photo of your guitar. Anything that breaks up the text and requires a second glance will boost your blog’s appeal. Consider occasionally changing the type of blogs you write. Every once in a while, make your blog a video-blog. Just film yourself narrating the blog and upload it to YouTube. Create a music video and advertise it through your blog. Consider hosting a guest-blogger every once in a while (maybe the drummer thinks he can write better than you). Inviting band-mates, other musicians, or club promoters to share their opinions gives the readers a different point of view. If you’re then asked to become a guest blogger on their sites, the cross-linking can provide a boost in traffic.

12. Build a brand.
Differentiate your blog! Make sure it is recognized as your blog, not just another page on the web. Promote your blog in as many different ways as you can. Bring it up at performances and to friends. Put your blog on business cards, your website, and social networking sites.

These 12 surefire steps will get you started as a successful blogger and help you to develop a loyal fan base. Just remember your audience and keep them satisfied. Then watch your work pay off as you achieve popularity online and with your musical career!

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