Challenge
STLDT faced a critical business problem: marketing to loyal patrons kept costs low but created low attendance that signaled weakness to donors. Empty seats don’t inspire philanthropy. With zero advertising budget, the company needed to fill houses to unlock development dollars.
Solution
Created “Champions for Community,” a three-pronged program using tickets as the marketing tool: Youth Access Program (431 free tickets to youth organizations), pay-what-you-wish Community Nights, and an Ambassador program. Combined with tabling at 7 community events, this strategy used the world-class performances as both product and marketing–to generate word-of-mouth and visible demand.
Result
106% attendance increase created larger houses that signaled momentum to donors. 49% were new attendees, exponentially expanding the funnel. Community Nights outperformed standard programming by 5%. Visible success drove 20% increase in annual giving day and opened major donor conversations previously impossible with empty theaters.