How are we already a month into the new fiscal year?! At the start of every summer I still have the hope that this summer will be chill. This summer, I’ll have time to reflect on last season. I’ll slow down, take a vacation, and have time to meticulously plan everything needed for the new season. I did take a vacation…but I’m already swamped!
Each year, we aspire to expand our impact, reach more people, inspire and serve our communities thoughtfully and passionately. This drive pushes us to do more and more, and as we all careen 100+ miles per hour into the new season, it got me thinking about things that would simply make our lives easier.
So, here they are, my 10 wishes for you in the new season.
1. A fortune telling machine to tell you how much you’re going to raise this year. It’s so hard to accurately predict how donors will respond to concerts and programs each season. We make our goals based on previous performance, but we can’t easily predict that donors will repeat their giving. We might as well use a Magic 8 Ball!
2. That the media will actually give a $&it about your anniversary year and write about it. It’s your 50th anniversary, or your choir is the oldest (or only) [insert that thing that makes your choir unique in your city here]… Your choir has been part of the fabric of your community for decades — it should matter not only to you but to your local media. But in today’s media landscape, anniversaries alone are not enough. (A good scandal could help you get attention, but I wouldn’t recommend the drama.)
3. That patrons will buy concert tickets more than 3 days before the show. Don’t get me wrong. We are SO THRILLED YOU ARE COMING TO THE CONCERT BUT COULD YOU PLEASE DECIDE SOONER K THANKS. So we know how many programs to print, and how many seats we might have to give to students, and how many concert volunteers we’ll need, etc. etc.
4. Free printing for all of your printing needs. Now that you know how many people are coming to the concert, you can accurately print the precise number of programs you actually need for the concert. (This only happens when your brother-in-law’s cousin’s neighbor has a printing company that generates millions in revenue a year and doesn’t mind letting you use their services as long as you have the print projects ready 6 months before the concert.)
5. All the grant funding you need to grow and be successful — with a process that is also manageable by your small staff (which is just you, right?!). Is it too much to ask for grants to be awarded for general operating support without having to jump through so many hoops? My wish is that you receive generous unrestricted grants from funders that see the value of your organization — with a ridiculously simple application — and also that the funder trusts that you know how to best use the funds, and will request a basic impact report that doesn’t take weeks and weeks to compile.
6. High email open and click-through rates. Wouldn’t it be great if your email subscribers were thrilled to open your email blasts, read them word for word, and then click on that button to BUY THEIR TICKETS EARLY (see #3). And that they also don’t unsubscribe from your list because you politely encouraged them to consider giving money to support your organization. 😬 (Side note to patrons: when you unsubscribe from our list, we can’t email you anymore. 😢)
7. A Facebook algorithm that smiles on your content — and all of your social media content for that matter. Here’s to wishing your content dominates the feeds of everyone that remotely or possibly or likely would want to come hear your concert, and that your content is magically persuasive and inviting enough to entice everyone to come hear you (see #3).
8. A choir photo where everyone is looking up and looks happy. Having so many individuals on stage together, and being human and all, it’s next to impossible to get a photo where no one is blinking and half of the choir isn’t looking down at their music. Wouldn’t it be lovely if everyone was looking up and looking happy at the same time! Pro tip: there’s likely a piece on your program that has a big chord at the end. At that moment, make sure your photographer knows to snap away to get the best images of everyone looking up and engaged — and right AFTER the chord ends, that’s a perfect time to snap photos of the choir smiling at the end too!
9. A website that updates itself. And, since we’re wishing, a website that also tells you what to add or edit, when to update it, writes itself, analyzes performance and tells you how to improve it, and you have someone that can proofread it right when you’re ready to hit the publish button.
10. A Linktree that updates itself. WHO REMEMBERS TO DO THIS. WHO KNOWS WHAT THIS EVEN IS. (AT LEAST can there be a prompt that reminds you to update your Linktree!)
This list is by no means complete and I wish these things for you as much as for myself! What have I missed? What do YOU wish for your organization in the new fiscal year?
Jen Rogers is the Executive Director of the San Diego Master Chorale. After serving as the CEO of the Grammy-winning Phoenix Chorale for over 5 years, she launched her performing arts consulting firm, Sound Nonprofit Consulting (soundnonprofit.com), specializing in chorus management. Jen is passionate about supporting choral artists and the staff and board members that make choral music possible. She currently serves on the Advisory Boards of Tonality (L.A.), Downtown Chamber Series (Phoenix), and Orpheus Male Chorus (Phoenix). A trained saxophonist in a former life, in her free time she can be found conducting genealogy research, cooking plant-based meals, competitively reading, and exploring her new home city of San Diego.