For the final part of this series, I introduce a program we call “Coffee and Classics” and also give a cost summary of each audience initiative program I have outlined in this series. Regarding my criticism in recent posts regarding gimmicks especially of the cupcake variety, for this program we serve coffee……hypocrisy?
As the February 18 deadline for the Metlife Awards For Excellence in Community Engagement nears, a program we started three seasons ago seemed to be a good fit for the award this year, except for one small problem. As part of the application, we are supposed to submit a very detailed budget. Our program doesn’t cost anything, there is no budget to submit, so we can’t apply for the award!
Featured recently in our local Community Free Press in an article titled Disintegrating the Musical Disconnect, “Coffee and Classics” is now beginning it’s third year. I have been doing this kind of a program since I started working with orchestras 16 years ago, and although it’s a very simple idea, it has been a very effective audience development and community outreach program and has spawned a wonderful in-kind partnership:
On the Thursday of every concert week people gather at 5:30pm at our Borders Books and Music for a meet and greet and a free cup of coffee (courtesy of Borders). At 6pm I do an informal talk introducing the upcoming concert playing examples using recordings, taking questions etc…. At about 6:20pm I introduce our guest/s. More often than not it’s the soloist and on many occasions (if they’re not a Pianist) they play excerpts of their concerto or give some kind of demo followed by another q&a. There is a lot of humor and it can get pretty personal! From time to time I have musicians from the orchestra as guests (our Harpist Lacey is pictured below from the November program) and we sometimes have local groups perform also. It finishes at around 6:45pm and often there is one on one interaction after the program. It has developed quite a following and in addition to the coffee, Borders gives everyone in attendance 20% off all purchases of books and music for the evening. It has become very successful for Borders and they now advertise it in the paper at their expense. From time to time they will even kick back to us 10% of sales from those using the coupons. We’re also able sell tickets and our Christmas packages. There is no cost (the musicians volunteer to do it) and the attendance ranges between 60 – 100, sometimes more. We don’t even have a contract with Borders and they consider it a cornerstone of their community programming, as do we.
Many who attend tell me it’s a wonderful way to get up close and personal and to learn something new. Some come to the program to get together with a regular group of friends. People who just happened to be in the store while the program was taking place, have now become subscribers. The most consistent feedback we get is about the accessibility to the artists, the music and the fellowship. The most moving comment I received was from an off duty policewoman, who told me after one of the programs, that she was there because she’d had a day with a lot of ugliness and wanted to see something uplifting. Many people we talk to who haven’t even been to the program have heard about it and think it’s great that we do it!
The bottom line, is that there isn’t a bottom line! This is a program in which all of the intangible benefits add up to something very tangible, a personal connection to our audience. Instead of a program that needs sustaining, this is a program that actually helps to sustain us.
Plugging the Holes before Filling the Barrel – Cost Sheet:
- Part 1 – Audience request forms – $4.99 for one ream of paper (it also raised $150 for public radio)
- Part 2 – Christmas packages cost $5 each x 82 packages = $410 + $400 advertising = $810
revenue gained: packages = $8,195.00, 132 new subscribers the following season = approx $25,000!
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Part 3 – Christmas cards – $410 + $328 postage = $738. Musicians standing at the doors – $0
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Part 4 – Cd’s and postage to former subscribers – $132 (we received a $1000 thank you gift!)
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Part 5 – Coffee and Classics – $0
Total initiative budget: $1684.99
Barnes & Noble also has an excellent track record of doing things like this. We had a “Coffee With the Conductor” series at the four Barnes & Nobles in San Antonio when I worked there with the San Antonio Symphony and for the past three years the two Barnes & Noble stores in Bellevue, Washington have sponsored a day long “book fair” at Christmas time, donating a percentage of sales to the Bellevue Philharmonic.