Mount Baker Theater Public Relations Campaign
Research Paper
Executive Summary
The Mount Baker Theatre is a nonprofit organization in downtown Bellingham
that strives to provide quality and diverse entertainment for the community.
Currently, 750 contributing members, all donating an assortment of funds, ranging from $40 to $2,500, account for approximately $120,000 in the theater’s annual budget. Funding makes up a significant portion of annual income for the theater.
According to Kim Laskey, the theater’s deputy marketing director, the total number of members has declined for unknown reasons. However, attendance continues to fill approximately 1,000 of the 1,509 seats at the theater. XAct Public Relations believes that to build on the theater’s past and present success, the strategy of the public relations campaign should be to expand and broaden its appeal to attract new members. The group believes that increasing membership will therefore increase theater awareness and member involvement while also raising funds.
The theater is presently altering membership benefits, and XAct Public Relations believes changing membership benefits would be a good way to increase member satisfaction and eventually pull in more members. According to our research, Mount Baker Theatre members would like to have the benefit of pre-sale opportunities, while nonmember respondents would like ticket discounts.
According to our analysis, most respondents heard about membership opportunities at past theater performances while only one person heard about the opportunity on Mount Baker Theatre’s Web site. XAct Public Relations seeks to increase membership awareness in both performances and accessible Web site announcements.
Methodology
XAct Public Relations used the quantitative research survey method to
find out which publics to target for possible Mount Baker Theatre membership,
find out how to create awareness about theater membership opportunities
and how to raise awareness about the theater’s membership packages.
Initially, XAct Public Relations decided the best way to administer
the survey was by calling current members. The group planned to get
a member contact list from the Mount Baker Theatre office, but after
Laskey denied our request for the member contact information on Feb.
8, the group concluded that attend an upcoming show, in which case the
group could survey members as well as nonmembers in attendance, would
be a more effective method.
The group developed a survey for both members and nonmembers with a few overlapping questions such as gender and age. Other questions asked included where the attendees initially heard about membership opportunities, how many shows they have attended the previous season, what types of shows they would like to see more of and, family information.
Once the group developed the survey on Feb. 13, Laskey reviewed the questionnaire, decided it was well-organized and allowed to the group to proceed with sampling. XAct group members chose a date upon which to administer the surveys and agreed to meet at the Eileen Ivers concert on Feb. 15. —>
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