1. Straz Sustainability Financial Framework
SUMMARY
As in most cases when it comes to pursuing Sustainability, the funds are one of the
largest hurdles. This is especially pertinent to the Straz Center, as their status as a Non-
Profit makes access to capital for investments in Sustainability extremely limited.
Though, upgrades and better practices mentioned in other areas of the report will offer a
Return on Investment (ROI), the availability of ROI funds are limited by time and
ambiguity. ROI funds also remain limited by the amount of initial capital available to
invest in upgrades which yield a return.
Thus, it is our recommendation for the Straz to pursue the creation of a Straz
Sustainability Fund, segregated finances for the explicit purpose of Sustainability. This
will allow the Straz to continually pursue a more Sustainable path, fully utilize the
potential of ROI’s, as well as consider larger scale projects down the road. This section
contains multiple recommendations for possible methods to support such a fund, as well
as projections.
GreenTickets
As ticket sales are the main source of income for the Straz, resulting in almost 15
million dollars’ worth of revenue in the 2013 year, it is the most viable source for the
Sustainability Fund. Our recommendation is to offer a Green Ticket option for patrons
both through online ticket purchases, as well at the window.
At the minimum this displays the Straz’s community commitment to each patron by
providing an entry point to the Straz’s Sustainability mission for the average patron.
When prompted if they’d like to upgrade to a Green Ticket, the Mission Statement
contained in this report can be mentioned, as well as links to the Straz’s various projects
and efforts in Sustainability. Potential projects that could be made possible by the fund
could also be linked. Yet, if some of the following nuances to the Green ticket option are
implemented, it has the potential to be a sizable fund.
2. I. Scaled Green Tickets
When asking a consumer or patron to optionally pay more for something, the
likelihood of them doing so relies on not just the reason, but flexibility in the amount of
the upcharge allowing them a choice in how much “extra” they’d like to pay, as well as
access to potential rewards.
Scaling the Green Ticket upcharge provides a framework for both of these. A scale of
three tiers is recommended as a starting point to narrow in on the most effective upcharge
amount. Two suggested ways to market this is either through Green Titles/Ranks gained
with a certain amount of ticket purchases at that tier, or as “Tipping” the Straz for their
Green efforts like a waiter for good service.
GreenTitles/Ranks Suggestions
Top Tier Straz Steward President Planet General Green/
Admiral Earth
Middle Tier Concerned Citizen Environmental Executive Sergeant Steward
Lower Tier Feeling Green Pollution Preventer Private Planet
The scaled tiers of Green titles allows for a plethora of options to encourage the
patron to opt for a Green Ticket. *The amount of ticket purchases at that tier to gain the
title is something to consider.
Another possible arrangement is instead of offering a scaled Green option with each
ticket, to offer a flat rate Green Ticket with the tier dependent on quantity.
Basic reward options could include:
Privileges to a tier such as “fast lanes/cutting” for lines
Seat Preference, or availability for Ticket presale for popular shows
Mention of tiers in programs/website
Refillable cups/other merchandise for lower tiers
Special events for upper tiers
The most promising option would be to designate one show a year as a “Green
Show” available only to patrons within the tiers. Privileges such as free, or discounted
tickets to this show can be managed dependent on scaling.
A great augmentation to this method would be to give a few options for the show,
which the patrons can vote on with each purchase of a green ticket. Voting for a desired
3. product, in this case the desired show, has a proven track among corporate giants such as
Mountain Dew and Nike, in encouraging purchases.
II. Green Ticket Financial Projections
There is a wide array of potential revenue for the Straz Sustainability Fund
from Green Tickets highly dependent on scaling and popularity. Due to the
variable nature of the pricing of tickets, the scaling as a percent of the ticket sale
seems most effective.
Single Ticket Upcharge Rate Values
Ticket price $25 $50 $75 $100
Green Rate
25% $6.25 $12.50 $18.75 $25.00
20% $5.00 $10.00 $15.00 $20.00
15% $3.75 $7.50 $11.25 $15.00
10% $2.50 $5.00 $7.50 $10.00
5% $1.25 $2.50 $3.75 $5.00
*Following Projections based on annual attendance of 500,000 Patrons*
$0
$20,000
$40,000
$60,000
$80,000
$100,000
$120,000
$140,000
$160,000
$180,000
5% 10% 15% 20% 25%
Green Rate %
Annual Scaled Projections $25 Ticket Avg: 1 in 20 Patron Upcharge
5. Round up to the Dollar
The Straz does around 2 million dollars in annual revenue by concessions,
making it a viable sourcefor the Sustainability Fund. Unlike ticket sales, a
concessionpurchase’s total can have any quantity of change to the dollar.
Prompting the patron if they’d like to donate the rest of the change to the
next dollar to help the Straz service them sustainably could be a subtle method to
generate substantial Green Fund Revenue. Capturing just 1% of additional
concessions revenue could yield $20,000 a year.
$0
$200,000
$400,000
$600,000
$800,000
$1,000,000
$1,200,000
$1,400,000
$1,600,000
$1,800,000
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Years
Lower Tiers Multi-Year Green Ticket Fund Projection
$25 Ticket $50 Ticket
