Community Database: Understanding “PATRON”

Erika Sung is an ASU doctoral student in community resources and development where she focuses on non-profit management.  Her analysis of the Arizona Arts & Cultural Census/Community Database is underwritten by a grant from the Lodestar Foundation.  

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When an organization plans to produce arts & cultural offerings, when & how do you consider the availability of audiences?

While a quality arts or cultural experience is at the heart of every organization’s mission, there is no question but that without the PATRON, there is no experience to be had.  As competition for patrons has (dramatically) increased, it is increasingly important to understand the characteristics of who comprises your organization’s audience.

The US Census (2010) reports that Arizona’s 6.4 million residents occupy nearly 2.9 million households.  At about 700,000 unique households (and growing), the Arizona Community Database tracks arts & cultural participation of nearly 20 percent of ALL Arizona households and reveals fascinating insight into where Arizona’s arts & cultural audiences call home:

Because the Community Database has been most quickly embraced by organizations in the Greater Phoenix area (though it is certainly open to Alliance for Audience members in Tucson, Flagstaff & Prescott!) the data shows a preponderance of audiences members residing in Maricopa County.  (The database tracks nearly 34% of ALL Maricopa County residents!)

It’s fascinating to note that 22% of the database resides outside of Arizona.  All 50 states are represented somewhere in the Arizona community database (which speaks strongly to Arizona’s role as a visitor destination) – and California (not surprisingly) is the state with the largest representation.

Several new organizations from around the state are poised to join the Arizona Community Database in the next several months.  It will be fascinating to measure how measuring arts & cultural participation in Tucson, Flagstaff & Prescott adds to these insights – and, in particular, to assess the extent to which the participation of Maricopa County-based residents powers arts & cultural participation around the state.