“For the second straight year, the Minnesota Orchestra is in the black,” writes Jenna Ross in Friday’s (12/2) Star Tribune (Minneapolis). “A boost in ticket sales helped balance the $31.7 million budget…. Earned revenue for the year, which ended Aug. 31, totaled $9.6 million…. The number of tickets sold grew by 9 percent.… The organization’s annual meeting Friday evening … celebrated a year that both staff and musicians said included improved collaboration [such as] musicians’ involvement in building the orchestra’s season and making artistic decisions…. Fundraising results in fiscal 2016 looked a lot like the year before … but the number of ‘community donors,’ who give up to $2,499 annually, rose by more than 1,000 people…. About 57 percent of its income in fiscal 2016 came from contributions, compared with 30 percent from earned revenue…. A new national report … released in November by the League of American Orchestras … found that the number of orchestras reporting deficits has fallen dramatically—from 40 percent in 2000 to 18 percent in 2014…. [President and CEO Kevin] Smith … outlined on Friday a new strategic plan that includes balancing the budget each year, reducing the organization’s debt and growing its endowment.”
Posted December 6, 2016
