ABA supports members through carefully scoped, commissioned projects that draw on our network and research expertise to accelerate strategy and address key challenges. These projects are designed to help where time, skillsets, or connections may be limited, extending your team’s capacity through targeted, high impact support. You will find completed projects here for reference.

Jump to Topics

Development | Digital | D.E.I.A. | Education & Community Engagement |
| Governance | Marketing | Operations | HR |

Development

• Supporting Film Festivals

• Fundraising Strategies for Youth Organizations

• Fundraising and Grant Landscape: EU Focus

• Fundraising Toolkit: Strategic Support Amid Grant Cancellations

• Opening Night Events and Donor Cultivation

• Designing a Loyalty-Building Membership Model

• The Impact of Book Fairs

• High-Impact Reporting: Embedding Storytelling and Visualization in Your Report Creation

• Donation Acknowledgement Process and Automation

• Demonstrating Return on Investment for Corporate Sponsors

• Directory of Corporate Support for the Arts

• Practices for Planning an Anniversary Celebration

• Benchmark of Membership Programs

• Best Practices for “American Friends Of” Programs

• Practices for Major Gift Efficiencies

• Arts Industry Practices for Moves Management

• Galas & Fundraising Events

• Fundraising & Major Gifts Analysis

• Establishing a Corporate Fundraising Strategy

• Strategies Around Naming Rights

• Corporate Membership Programs

• Impact Investment

• Endowments of Large Cultural Institutions

• Managing Alumni in Schools Attached to Arts Organizations

• Talking to Corporate Sponsors about Impressions

• Celebrating Big Anniversaries in Museums

• Starting a “Friends of” Foundation in the US for Fundraising

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Digital

• Applications of AI in Arts & Culture

• Building a Data-Driven Culture in the Arts: From Institutional Research to Cross-Sector Lessons

• Enterprise Learning Management Systems

• Streaming Platforms

• Online Business Education for Creatives

• Addressing Business Model Constraints through Digital Innovation

• Capturing the Digital Opportunity in Museums

• Digital Experiences in Museums

• Digital Monetization

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Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Access

• Practices for Increased Digital Access

• Young Adult Ticketing Programs

• Building Relationships in the Latinx Community

• Increasing Audience Diversification

• Inclusive Signage

• Administrative Fellowships for BIPOC

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Education & Community Engagement

• Expanding and Monetizing Education Programs

• Assessing the Need for Alumni Management Solutions in Music Educations

• Managing Community and Artist Collaborations

• Capacity Building Programs: Examples from the Field

• Approaches to Community Engagement in the Arts

• Santa Fe Community Survey

• Opera Education Program Impact Measurement

• Delivering High Quality Public Programs

• Community Engagement Programs with High Artist Involvement

• Benchmarking Education Programs in Theaters

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Governance

• Touring Realities: Financial Perspectives from Presenters and Dance Companies

• Navigating The Challenges in Today’s Music Industry

• The Potential of Strategic Alliances At Arts Organizations

• Diversifying Revenue Streams

• Understanding and Evaluating the Museum Accreditation Process

• Snapshot of Arts Organization Budget Metrics

• The Role of the Arts in Economic Revitalization

• Arts Organization Capitalization: A Primer

• Revenue from Education in Arts Organizations

• Governance Questions: Artists on Boards

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Marketing

• State of Box Office Sales & Marketing Spend- UK Orchestras

• Six Strategies for Refreshing and Evolving Arts and Culture Brands

• Best Practices for Building Customer Loyalty and Retention

• Preparing for an Opening: Strategies for Building Excitement and Sustained Momentum

• The Future of Live Events

• Building a World-Class End-to-End Customer Experience

• Out-of-Sector Lessons for Building Customer Loyalty

• Telemarketing and Telefunding Structures

• Pricing Strategies for Special Events and Programs

• Managing Your Brand Across Venues

• Attracting and Retaining Audiences at Symphonic Orchestras

• Subscriptions and Season Announcements

• Brand and Product Licensing

• Audience Persona Template

• Managing an Organizational Rebrand

• Increasing the Attendance of Older Audiences

• A/B Testing Frameworks for Arts Marketing

• Integrating CRM and Ticketing Systems (Specific to Continental Europe)

• Ticket Pricing and Discounting in Regional US Theaters: A Quick Poll

• Addressing Audience Decline: Taxonomy of Approaches

• Attracting Audiences Through Innovative Programs

• Museum Earned Revenue Benchmarking

• Starting a Loyalty Program

• Opera Season Analysis

• Innovative Subscriptions & Memberships

• Designing “Bring a Friend” Programs

• Using Facebook and Youtube for Marketing

• Understanding Empathy as a Shared Value

• State of Subscriptions in Dance

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Operations

• Enhancing On-site Engagement to Drive Visitor Spend

• 8 Tactics to Activate a Space: From Design Tweaks to a Third Place

• From a “Timed and Ticketed” to an All-day Destination

• Enhancing the On-Site Visitor Experience

• Integrating Communications, Branding & Ticketing across Multi-Entity Organizations

• Maximizing Rental Potential for Studio Spaces

• Industry Practices on Season Planning and Communications

• Café Space Management

• Ballet Schools & Academies Benchmark Report

• Performance Venue Rental Strategies

• Benchmark of Commercial Programming

• Scene Shop Management Models

• Organizational Structures for Resident & Subsidiary Companies

• Navigating Museum Library Best Practices

• Theater Business Model Benchmark

• Insights on Museum Renovations & Closures

• Venue Rental Pricing Benchmark

• Opportunities for Earned Revenue at Performing Arts Institutions

• Performing Venue Utilization Strategies

• Opera Touring Operations

• Opera Black Box Pricing

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Talent & HR

Engagement

• Template for Employee Exit Interviews

• Survey to Gauge Feelings on Return to the Office

• Crafting an Employee Engagement Survey

Onboarding

• Managing a Founding Leader Departure

• New Team Social Contracts

• Tips for Onboarding Staff

Organizational Structures

• Box Office & Patron Services Benchmark: Team Structures, Management and Processes

• Structuring Interpretation in Museums

• Marketing Team Structures at Performing Arts Organizations

• Employee Handbook Gallery

• Guidelines for Flat Organizational Structures

• Leadership Structures in Theaters

Performance Management

• Lean Operations: A Literature Overview

• ABA Guide to Performance Reviews

• Performance Management Tools To Improve Accountability

• Delivering Performance Feedback During COVID-19

Recruiting

• Potential Trial Tasks for a New Community Engagement Director

Unions

• Standard Contract Elements for Dancers, Digital & Health/Wellness

• Rights, Royalties, and Artist Benefits in Dance

Job Descriptions & Compensation

• Compensation Benchmark Analysis- 6 Example Roles

• Risk Officer Job Description

• Legal Counsel Job Description

• Corporate Council Job Description

• Compliance Officer Job Description

• Community Engagement Role Descriptions in Museums

• Capital Campaign Director Job Description

• Database Manager Job Descriptions

• Digital Education Job Descriptions in Schools

• Corporate Partnerships Manager Job Descriptions

• Commercial Director Job Descriptions

• Chief Marketing Officer Job Descriptions

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