The Role of Marketing in Achieving and Maintaining Financial Health of Nonprofit Arts Organizations: The Case of the Symphony Orchestra Sector

Nonprofit arts organizations historically have struggled to survive and thrive, since their business models, including their marketing and fund development efforts, often develop reactively rather than being strategically planned and tactically managed to successfully target key stakeholder groups and individuals. In addition, both program ticket sales and contributions from all sources are often affected by changes in economic environments at all levels, which are not directly controllable by arts organizations. The challenges for arts organizations of achieving and maintaining sustainable financial health are serious ones, particularly in many countries which are moving towards government support models which require organizations to become more self-sufficient by improving their fund development and marketing programs.