Although the Mee-Ow show, “The Mee-Ow Kids Solve a Murder at Chuck Fuffalo’s,” will premiere this weekend, Arts Alliance and the show’s producers have been preoccupied with fundraising for the last year.
Arts Alliance and the Jewish Theater Ensemble often use creative funding techniques to meet their production budgets. The organizations also rely on past performances to gauge ticket sales for upcoming shows.
Financial planning for an upcoming season for Arts Alliance shows begins before the current season ends, said Jason Margolis, Arts Alliance’s business manager. Arts Alliance produces four annual shows in addition to shows produced by its satellite groups, Mee-Ow, Thunk and Graffiti Dancers.
Arts Alliance distributes funding based on net ticket sales from the previous year, the Communication senior said.
“The budget for each show is how much we are willing to put on the line,” he said.
Though Arts Alliance supplies initial budgets for each show, producers meet with the organization’s development director and business manager to present a plan for how the money will be used for the show, Margolis said.
Producers who want to spend additional money on the show are responsible for raising the funds, he said.
Since Arts Alliance shows have budgets ranging from $500 to $60,000, each show comes with its own set of fundraising challenges, said Zachary Baer, producer of the Dolphin Show.
“We have to look at the starting budget and see how much we need to raise in order to make the show happen,” the Communication senior said.
Producers also apply for grants from University departments and the Center for Student Involvement, Baer said. Still, thank-a-thons or letter writing campaigns may be the most popular form of additional fundraising, he said.
“Producers will write letters to friends and family of students involved telling them how they can make the show a reality,” he said. “It is central to the funding process because (the campaigns) target the key audience that wants to see us succeed.”
Hosting concerts and date auctions also helps to publicize the show, Baer said.
“There wasn’t a culture on campus for students to be involved,” he said. “These events have helped shows get money from peers and have established a new form of publicity.”
Unlike Arts Alliance, JTE shows do not receive a starting budget, said Kimberly Lewis, the group’s financial director.
“Budgets are based on fundraising endeavors and estimations based on budgets and ticket sales from previous years,” the Communication senior said. “Each producer is responsible for fundraising to cover their own expenses.”
The typical show budget for a production in the Shanley Pavilion, 2031 Sheridan Rd., is $2,000 to $5,000, Lewis said. In order to help individual shows, the JTE executive board offers a $1,000 loan as a “last resort safety net,” she said.
“For every show you have a lot of money going out before it comes back in, but we have never lost a loan,” she said. “We can estimate fairly accurately because we use past budgets and fundraising totals as guidelines.”
JTE producers write letters to friends and family of students involved with the play, apply for grants and work concession stands at football games, Lewis said.
“Producers have had special events like a cabaret or a date auction,” she said. “All the proceeds from these events go toward their show.”
While Arts Alliance and JTE approach funding differently, both are committed to putting on memorable performances for the Northwestern community.
“Our goal is to put on good shows,” Margolis said.
