Strengthening Ties With Your Audience

Strengthening ties
With Your Audience

Make Connections
You
Your Audience(s)
Your Creative Network

I make, therefore I am.

Don’t Hoard
Do your best work.
Portfolio = Website
Quality Work Samples
CV
Completed Artist Statement
Blog

Build a great website.

www.kathyerteman.com

Put your CV and Artist’s Statement online.

www.navaatlas.com

Your Audience
Buyer
Art
Tickets
Grant Makers
Donors
Your Creative Peers

Into your creative vision?
Into your business plan?
Where does Your Audience Fit?

What do they love about your work?
How can you give them more of that?
What if you want to try something new?
Art Buyers

What gets them in the door?
What keeps them from buying tickets?
Analyze event data if you can get it.
Experiment.
Ticket Buyers

Community investment = community change.
Ask when you have a solid plan.
Program Officer is rarely the sole decision maker.
Be succinct.
Be polite, but persistent.
Understand their lingo, & incorporate it if you can.
Grant Makers

Look for genuine match between their interests and your needs.
Be straightforward.
Be real.
Donors

Speak in Tongues…
Your audience may use a different communication style when they approach you.
Learn the language.
Don’t think so hard.

Creative Network
Contact ‘ultimate’ mentors in your areas of interest.
Spend time with other artists who work in your field.
Do it just because you know you will enjoy it.
Do it because it will challenge you to try new things.

Kaizen: 15 Minutes A Day

Resources:
“One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way” by Dr. Robert Maurer.
Audience engagement research (grant maker): www.wallacefoundation.org
Audience engagement research (new media): http://www.personalbrandingblog.com/do-you-know-your-audience/
Online resources for nonprofit arts managers and artists. http://www.technologyinthearts.org

Additional resources:
Advice for nonprofits on fundraising, boards, technology: http://www.compasspoint.org/resources/
Elevator speech: http://bschool.pepperdine.edu/career/content/eveatorspeech.pdf
A good article on attracting donors: http://www.gaebler.com/Attracting-Donors-to-Nonprofit-Organizations.htm

Contact:
Heidi Rettig, President
(406) 982-3199
heidi@heidirettig.com
www.heidirettig.com