Cultural Institutions Fund Raising Case Studies

In this group of case studies, we look at donor upgrading and acquisition, a dramatic turnaround for an arts organization, and a Capital Campaign.

Donor Upgrading and Acquisition

• Current members gave an additional gift averaging $87.41 in support of the Annual Fund.
• First-time Annual Fund donors pledged an average of $79.36, while long-lapsed donors were retrieved with an average pledge of $103.45.
• Previous donors gave an average of 36% more in the most recent effort, with more than 30% of all current members making an additional gift to the Annual Fund.

A Dramatic Turnaround for an Arts Organization

• Telecomp's subscription program has acquired 6,922 new households for $917,504 in new income over the last seven years.
• The organization went from a $1.5 million operating deficit to a surplus, due in large measure to the partnership with Telecomp for both the subscription and membership campaigns.
• In addition, in the past seven years, Telecomp has produced over $1 million in membership support.

A Capital Campaign

• Telecomp's program generated over $300,000 toward a $10 million endowment campaign.
• Current members gave an additional gift averaging $526.79 for a three-year period.
• The participation rate was 9.4%.