Don’t’ just attend! Send money: Marketing and Fundraising as key factors influencing performances of USA Art organizations

Objectives. The aim of the paper is to contribute to better understand the key factors influencing economic and financial performances of USA art organizations. Methodology. This paper uses desk research to investigate USA art museums, symphony orchestras and opera houses, selected thanks to Guidestar.com databases. Then a cluster analysis investigates 2015’s revenues and expenses out of a sample 300 USA art museums, symphony orchestras and opera houses with the highest total income in 2015. Findings. The paper highlights two poles: the Marketing Expert who is gaining most of revenues from audiences, and the Fundraiser who is maximizing revenues from donors. Marketing and fundraising affect business models of art organizations so that they innovate their management and targets. Research limits. Short-term analysis must be considered first. Then, the sample must be considered, because only 300 USA art museums, symphony orchestras and opera houses are investigated, consequently results cannot be generalized. Practical implications. Managerial implications for creative entrepreneurs concern the emerging trend of fundraising as a pivotal strategy, to increase resources and revenues. This may help mangers to outline innovative strategies, focused on segmentation of specific targets, aimed at ensuring non-profit art organizations sustainability in dire times. Originality of the study. K-means cluster analysis, that has been devoted to manufacturing industries for decades to classify segments and strategic groups, is applied in an innovative way in this paper. In fact, it is used here to capture significant performances and detect emerging revenue models of art organizations.