ABSTRACT

Generating income is an essential function for all arts organizations, as without revenues they cannot survive. There are several potential sources of income:

box office sales and entrance fees sales revenues from related activities, such as catering and merchandising public subsidy sponsorship and donations trusts and foundations

The first two categories lend themselves most obviously to marketing strategies, and specifically, pricing strategies. But the other income sources, sometimes misleadingly referred to as ‘unearned income’, also involve customers (be they individual or organizational) exchanging value for benefits of one sort or another, so the arts organization must both examine what is being exchanged and determine the appropriate value of this in the marketplace.