ArtsMarketing.org

CollaborAction: Arts Marketing, Sponsorship and Fundraising Strategies that Work
October 30–November 2, 2009
The Westin Providence and Rhode Island Convention Center
Providence, RI
A Program of Americans for the Arts

The 2009 CALL FOR PROPOSALS is closed.
Americans for the Arts invites you to submit a proposal for the National Arts Marketing Project Conference in Providence, RI, October 30-November 2, 2009. This internationally-recognized conference by and for arts marketers and fundraisers invites proposals that focus on all aspects revenue-generation for the arts. With a theme CollaborAction: Arts Marketing, Sponsorship and Fundraising Strategies that Work!, the conference focuses on skill-building, and is designed to provide attendees with concrete tools that have immediate practical application in the field.

We are seeking proposals for three types of presentations:

• Conference Sessions should be complete learning experiences with specific outcomes and learning objectives.
• Show & Tell Poster Presentations are a best practices showcase that gives you the opportunity to share your most innovative marketing and development practices!
• Roundtable Discussions are intimate, facilitated group conversations focused on topics of interest and importance to development professionals and arts marketers.

Americans for the Arts welcomes proposals from a wide range of professionals including:

• marketers and fundraisers from arts and culture organizations
• marketing and fundraising consultants
• corporate and foundation funders
• board members
• government agencies
• educators
• executive and/or artistic directors
• corporate sponsorship and/or marketing directors
• communications professionals
• technology professionals

PROPOSAL PREPARATION
Conference Sessions, Show & Tell Poster Presentations, and Roundtable Discussion topics will be developed primarily from this call for proposals.  The conference planning committee encourages sessions that are appropriate for basic to intermediate and intermediate to advanced levels. However, the NAMP Conference attendees are typically experienced marketing and fundraising professionals so advanced-level sessions are particularly in demand.  We also welcome and encourage sessions representing all arts and culture disciplines (including museums, visual arts organizations, performing arts centers, historic preservation, and science/botanical/zoological organizations).

Proposal Design
Please consider the following factors when developing your proposal.

• Target Audience: What type of audience is your session designed for? Executive Directors? Beginners in the field? Fundraisers? Marketing Directors? Large, medium, or small budgets? Various levels of professional experience?
• Learning Objectives: What three things do you expect attendees to learn from this session? Sixty minutes fly by! Focus your topic so that attendees know exactly what you did, how you did it, and what the results were. Allow time for questions as well. All sessions should be enriched by case examples or case sharing among participants.
• Relevance to Theme: How does your session link to the conference theme? Are there lessons about successful collaboration to be learned from your session?
• Program Replication/Applicability of Topic: Demonstrate how could your program be applied in a different size organization or differently resourced organization.  Show how the idea might be replicated outside of your own discipline.
• Level of Completion: The committee will consider projects across varying levels of completion:
• Tested knowledge that is supported by research and evaluation.
• Practices that appear to work based on empirical experience.
• Exciting new ideas that are still being tested and developed.

Proposals should focus on collaborative efforts and/or best practices in:

Marketing:

• Branding
• Public Relations
• Messaging for the arts
• For-profit & nonprofit partnerships
• Target segmentation
• Impact Measurement
• Budget management of online and off line marketing
• Technology and New Media
• Integrated social networking
• Optimizing collateral pieces
• Audience research findings
• Cultural tourism
• Audience development
• Marketing to diverse audiences
• Loyalty programs 
• Moving audiences and patrons along an integrated continuum

Fundraising:

• Sponsorships
• Planned giving
• Young philanthropists
• Values-based development
• Online cultivation of donors and ticket buyers 
• Donor research findings
• Fundraising during a recession
• Motivating your board to fundraise
• Annual funds: direct mail or online?
• Data mining and prospect research
• Venture philanthropy and the arts
• “Operationalizing” integrated marketing and fundraising
• Memberships
• Deepening relationships with donors
• Dynamic copywriting 
• Single voice communication
   

Selection Criteria and Process
A committee of arts marketers from the National Arts Marketing Project Conference Advisory Committee will review all proposals. They will present a slate of final sessions to the full committee for approval.  Session reviewers will consider the following aspects of all proposals:

• Relevance to the future of arts marketing, fundraising, and revenue optimization with practical application of the session across a variety of disciplines, organizational size, scope and budget;
• Overall quality, timeliness, focus, clarity and completeness of topic and proposal;
• Presentation skills and knowledge-level of suggested speakers;
• Relevance to the conference theme.

Please note: No single presenter may participate in more than two sessions. If two session proposals are similar, the presenters may be contacted to determine if they will be willing to collaborate on the session.