Public Relations, Marketing, Audience Development, and Fund Raising
Excerpts from the Ford Made in America toolkit

Public Relations:
1. Sending out a press release is the top of the list.  (View local press release example)
    This is your calling card to the local press and interested parties

2. Post the release immediately on your web site.
    Put under an obvious heading, such as "press" or "news."  People more and more turn to the internet for their primary source    of information, so ensure that other sections on your web site are updated as well.

3. After sending the release, follow up by "pitching" some ideas.  Personalize the message depending on the recipient. 
   In the case of commissioning a work, consider: How you selected the composer, Other new music your orchestra has performed, How your music director programmed the piece with other works.

Marketing and Audience Development:
1. The key goal in audience development is to build relationships with your community so that people will have an enjoyable experience at your performance and become regular participants in your activities.  Consider: Women (if the composer is a woman) and ethnic associations similar to the composer or local organizations that may be interested in learning about the project and may have something to offer their constituents in conjunctions with your performance.

2. There are various levels of engagement that are possible when you approach these groups.  Depending on your resources, here are some options to consider:

• Sending marketing pieces such as flyers, postcards, and brochures is an easy way to communicate about your concert.

• Have a "local ambassador:" Someone from your staff, board, or even a musician that could visit a community group at a regular meeting to speak about the concert for a few minutes.  Don't forget to arm the person with the ability to sell tickets "on the spot" to a captive audience, or at least make sure that he or she has ample brochures to distribute.  (If you have commissioned a local composer, he or she could fill this role.)

• Alternatively, you could invite these groups to a rehearsal of the piece (if your conductor is willing).  This saves you the time and energy of traveling elsewhere; let them come to you.  Enhance the experience by setting up a Q & A session.  Again, don't let them leave without giving them the chance to buy tickets to the concert!

• Honor a segment of your community.  Group discounts and a short proclamation by a community leader at intermission would nicely round out such an experience.

Note: Don't miss opportunities to promote your concert through your education programs.  Send the students home with ticket information to share with their families.  You could include the information in the school newsletter.  Always include box office information in your correspondence.  Group discounts for the school might be appropriate.

Fund Raising:
1. When you have identified your prospects, take some time to not only review your "key messages" from which to frame your pitch, but who will be the spokesperson.  In some cases , the appropriate person is a senior staff member, such as the executive director or development director.  In other instances, your board president or other board member might make the initial approach, if not the pitch itself.  Still other times, the music director or a musician would have the right touch and cachet to "seal the deal."  A combination of one or all of the above is possible too. 

Depending on the prospect's priorities (which you so diligently reviewed beforehand), you could highlight any or all of the following items:

• You're seeking more funding to expand the educational activities of your orchestra (commission)

• A new piece would benefit from extra rehearsal time.  You're seeking funding for an additional rehearsal, since more rehearsals translate into better performances and increased appreciation of music.

• You wish to celebrate the performance and make it more of an "event" - so you are seeking support or a pre- or post-concert reception.  This could be an opportunity for your audience to meet the conductor, the musicians, or even the composer if they are present at the performance.

Consider inviting your prospect to a rehearsal, concert, or educational activity, so that you can demonstrate first-hand the importance of supporting your orchestra.

Utilize multimedia in your presentation if you can.  It combine the personal touch with the impressiveness of a video, for example.

The power of inspiration
Many orchestras shy away from commissioning new works.  Time and logistics are cited as reasons for this, but money is usually the most important obstacle.
Foundations with a specific mission are usually seen as likely sources for commissioning funds, and indeed this is often the case.  However, with foundation support increasingly competitive and the funds limited, individual support for commissions is taking hold as a powerful and direct way of underwriting the creation of a new work.
This may seem like a new idea, but students of music history will remember that the great composers of the last centuries were the recipients of individual patronage.
Whether your orchestra has commissioned before or not, there is a strong likelihood that someone in your audience will be inspired in a unique and transformative way by a new piece.  Within that inspiration could be the germination of a new contemporary-music patron.

Tip: Meet the Composer's New Music, New Donors program seeks to transform the landscape of new music commissioning in precisely this way.  For more information, visit www.meetthecomposer.org.