6,000
That's the number of people who are primarily responsible for making my day job a multi million dollar arts organization.
That would be the number of subscribers, major donors, board members, etc. that create the artistic and financial engine of the company.
6,000
That's it.
In a city of over 3 million people, that's a tiny, tiny, tiny slice of the pie.
Now to be fair, if you added in the number of single ticket buyers we have, plus the people who donate small amounts of money infrequently, that number would be more then 6,000 (it would be closer to 30,000)
But it is that relatively small group of people that makes the thing really go.
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For decades, running an organization was about the pursuit of more.
More members, more donors, more customers.
What we are seeing now is that being a strong company isn't about having a surface relationship with a lot of people, but about having a strong relationship with a few.
The arts doesn't just need more audience.
We need the people who do attend the arts to love us more.
That love and the engagement that comes with it, is a by product of connecting with a company, knowing what it stands for and feeling like you are a vital part of making things happen within the group.
The challenge is that the arts are very good at keeping people at a distance.
We do it through creating overly complex work and not giving people a frame in which to understand it.
Sometimes we do it by giving them simple, predictable stuff and expecting them to be satisfied with the same experience they had years ago.
Sometimes we do it by turning artists into demi-gods and making their creative process so dark and mysterious that it pushes people away instead of drawing them in.
Remember, it's hard to love something from a distance.
So if you want someobody to love your art, they are going to need some connection. The fewer walls between them and the full artistic experience, the better.
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Think of it this way.
I know people who saw the Brodway musical Wicked 15 times.
I've seen fan created websites to shows like Jersey Boys and Avenue Q.
Yes, they are commerical products and most of us are on the nonprofit side of the ledger, but it doesn't change my point.
Those shows thrived because of the relatively small group of people that love them.
It's isn't the tourist that made Wicked a hit.
It's that girl who has seen the shows more times then you can count because she thinks the damn thing was written for her.
Wicked found it's Magic Number.
And I promise you, it was smaller then you think.
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So, what do you think your number is?
How many people need to love what you do enough for you to make a living at it.
Think about it.
You may discover that success is closer then you ever thought.
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