TCG Report: Donations Increasing, Attendance Decreasing at Non-Profit Theatres

As reported in The Los Angeles Times, a survey of 177 non-profit theatres across the United States determines that although donation dollars are on the rise, attendance has been decreasing.

The survey was conducted by Theatre Communications Group, a national service organization of non-profit theatres, and its findings summarize in the report, "Theatre Facts 2014."

Of the 88 theatre companies that have participated in the survey every year since 2005, average attendance, which peaked that year at 107,000, has dropped 8.7%, an average loss of 9,000 seats sold. Ticket prices during that period have been raised an average of 29%.

Donations, however, are on the rise among surveyed companies, averaging $3.5 million in 2014, an increase of 22.7% since 2010.

Though theatres are concerned about maintaining their donation base if attendance keeps falling, still, professional nonprofit companies that produce their own shows are outdrawing Broadway and Broadway tours by a wide margin, selling 32.8 million tickets in 2014 as compared with the The Broadway League's estimate of 26 million sold by Broadway and Broadway tours during the 2013-14 season.

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Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for the American theatre, was founded in 1961 with a grant from the Ford Foundation to foster communication among professional, community and university theatres. Today, TCG's constituency has grown from a handful of groundbreaking theatres to nearly 700 Member Theatres and Affiliate organizations and more than 12,000 individuals nationwide. TCG offers its members networking and knowledge-building opportunities through our conferences, events, research and communications; grants approximately $2 million per year to theatre companies and individual artists; advocates on the federal level and serves as the U.S. Center of the International Theatre Institute, connecting its constituents to the global theatre community. TCG is the nation's largest independent publisher of dramatic literature, with 13 Pulitzer Prizes for Best Play on our booklist; it also publishes the award-winning American Theatre magazine and ARTSEARCH®, the essential source for a career in the arts. In all of its endeavors, TCG seeks to increase the organizational efficiency of its member theatres, cultivate and celebrate the artistic talent and achievements of the field and promote a larger public understanding of, and appreciation for, the theatre.

In 2005, TCG received the Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre in recognition of its impact on the national field. TCG and its Member Theatres are major contributors to the American theatre sector, which employs more than 126,000 people, produces over 215,000 performances each year and contributes over $2 billion to the US economy annually. A 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, TCG is led by executive director Teresa Eyring and governed by a national board of directors representing the theatre field.

Visit tcg.org.