Context
The Bavarian State Opera is one of the oldest and most renowned opera houses in Europe. Since its foundation in 2005, actori has been supporting the Bavarian State Opera in the acquisition of private third-party funds and the support of private and corporate partners. The actori team is based at the opera and acts as a link between sponsor and cultural institution. In addition to effective sponsoring and fundraising strategies, our marketing also offers the cultural institution an important lever on the way to greater financial independence from the public hand and, at the same time, financial security.
Approach
Being the largest and most successful cultural marketer in the German-speaking world, actori provides cultural institutions such as the Bavarian State Opera with the best possible promotional support. In doing so, sponsors and patrons are enthused through various formats and tied to the house in the long term. The focus lies on the individual strengths of the house and the question of how and with which offers target groups can be addressed best. Together with the Bavarian State Opera, actori develops service packages and recommends suitable communicative measures to accompany a sponsoring and fundraising initiative without losing sight of the existing structures (e.g. foundations or circles of friends). The sponsoring and fundraising activities are complemented by cooperation programmes and the marketing of advertising space.
At the end of each project, there is always an organisational framework with which the acquisition of funds can be implemented efficiently and pragmatically in the long term. Above all, a direct access to the artists of the Bavarian State Opera is created via the various formats; these accesses make up, among other things, so-called "money can't buy" experiences. These include, for example, a meeting with a renowned opera singer.
Thanks to many years of work in the cultural and creative industries, in consulting and marketing, actori brings not only experience and methodology but also an extensive network of decision-makers to the work at the Bavarian State Opera. Not lastly because of this, it has been possible to establish two sponsorship formats with nationwide appeal and well-known sponsors: The open-air festival "Opera for All", which is very popular in Munich, and the exclusive "Stage Dinner" for sponsors. These two formats alone not only contribute significantly to the annual sponsorship volume, they also strengthen the roots of the Bavarian State Opera with the region and underline its relevance as a state theatre in Germany. Both formats radiate beyond the state's borders.
Added Value
- Since the beginning of the partnership, sponsorship and advertising revenues have increased by over 500%, to around five million Euros in year.
- The additional financial resources, at low risk, support artistic freedom and create planning security for the institution and the state, while maintaining the same level of personnel expenditure.
- With sustainable concepts, around 250 partners (such as BMW, HVB - Member of Unicredit, Siemens) could be won.
- actori creates direct access to the house for business enterprises as well as private individuals ("money-can't-buy" experiences).
- Through the consulting perspective, a structured and efficient way of working (methodology) in project management is introduced, which helps the house to generate funds from its own resources in the long term.
- The different professional backgrounds of the staff bring together different areas of know-how the opera can tap into.
- With the additional funds raised, projects and concepts can be implemented that might otherwise have disappeared in a drawer: Opera studios, children's and youth programmes, purchases of instruments and much more.
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