Case Study Analysis: Yellow Springs Kids Playhouse

Case Study Analysis Part I 

Environmental Scan

I. Economic Scan 

What economic factors are influencing the organization? Trends, Changes and Concerns: 

Contributed Income– Individual, grants/foundations, corporate Earned Income– ticket sales and earned income sources Government Income– local, state and national support 

Yellow Springs Kids Playhouse receives funding primarily through grants that have been awarded to them from organizations such as the Ohio Arts Council, National Endowment for the Arts and CultureWorks of Dayton. Grants also come from various private and community foundations including the Morgan Family Foundation, Yellow Springs Community Foundation, Turner Foundation and the Springfield Foundation. In addition, YSKP receives corporate sponsorship from local businesses including The Meadowlark Restaurant, The Winds Café and Wine Cellar, Home Depot in Beavercreek, Ohio and YSI. Finally, the Yellow Springs Kids Playhouse has many generous individual donors who factor into the contributed income of the organization. There is also income from ticket sales, concession sales, and merchandise. In 2013, Yellow Springs Kids Playhouse has $43,126 in contributed income and $29,096 in earned income for total revenue of $85,343.

Organizational economic past and present –what is the general financial health of organization, any budgetary concerns? 

In 2013, the Yellow Springs Kids Playhouse had total revenue of $85343 and total expenses of $92795. They did have net assets or fund balancing $27863 that they were able to take from, leaving them with a $20411 balance at the end of the fiscal year. Looking a few years back, this seems to have happened before; however there have been years that they spend much less that what has been budgeted. After speaking with the bookkeeper of the organization it seems that they are in generally financially healthy. They typically get anywhere between $40000 and $100000 in contributed income and around $25000 to $35000 in earned income every year. Most of their expenses go towards professional fees and payments to independent contractors. In the last few years it looks like the only expense that has changed drastically is salaries. With the artistic director retiring, the cost in this area has fluctuated. In 2011 it was $46930, he left without a replacement so in 2012 this expense was $3915, and now that he has been replaced the expense has gone back up to $24023. They seem to be pretty confident in the budget and there seem to be no budgetary concerns at the moment.

Are there other economic factors that influence the organization’s situation (touring trends, competition and other outside variables) 

Based on their financial records of the organization, their earned income seems to be pretty steady. The organization has just reached its 20th anniversary and there are no competing organizations in the area, therefore the audience has stayed consistent and it has not been impacted greatly by any other economic factors.

II. Demographic Scan 

What is the general audience or make up of the participants?
Any trends in sex, age, heritage, or education with participation level?
How do national trends compare to the organization’s demographic trends? What demographic characteristic is of most concern to the organization? 

Yellow Springs is a small town in Ohio with a population of about 3500 residents. Yellow Springs Kids Playhouse’s participants are aged 5-19 or K-12. Though the program is available to individuals not residing in the village of Yellow Springs, the participants are primarily local. The age range of those participating in YSKP makes up about 18% of the population of the village. There are two ticket tiers; adult and student, with most tickets being purchased are adults. YSKP has never done a demographic survey but based on demographic information from the Census Bureau it is safe to say that most attendees are in their 40’s and 50’s, with this age range being the average of the population. Based on census information, nearly 50% of the population of Yellow Springs has at least an associates degree with 75% of that number having bachelors degrees, masters degrees, and Ph.D.’s. Heavily education populations are more likely to show significant participation in the arts. Along with the population being well educated, it is also a fairly wealthy community for Ohio with the average income being around $75000.

III. Cultural Scan 

What is the general culture of the organization and board?
What local cultural elements or social values encourage participation?
What leisure trends influence the organization?
What popular culture elements influence the artistic offerings of the organization? How has the organization responded to the technology culture? 

The YSKP Board is made up of five individuals, all residents of Yellow Springs, and all with a background of involvement in the arts, specifically theatre. The staff consists of an Artistic Director, Bookkeeper, and Education Coordinator. The individuals on the staff are also local residents with strong involvement in the arts. The village of Yellow Springs is know for its strong sense of culture and dedication to the arts. Being such a small community YSKP often partners with other organizations to work with themes that might be going on around town. In the last few years, Yellow Springs Kids Playhouse has become much more involved in social media. They have a fairly active blog and active accounts on Twitter and Facebook, allowing them to stay more connected with their audience and participants.

Case Study Analysis Part II – SWOC Analysis

SWOC analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, challenges) of the organization’s cultural product, pricing strategies, product access (place), and promotional efforts:

Cultural Products

Strength: One of the only summer theatre programs for children in the region. Offers a unique mix of performances and classes allowing for a day-camp setting. Artists in residence are brought in from various locations, making each season a unique experience.

Weakness: For each individual it is a significant time commitment, making it hard for people from other towns to be involved. The performances take place outdoors making this program extremely dependent on the weather. With the retirement of the original artistic director this last year, people have become tentative of the changes being made in the program.

Opportunities: In a community dedicated to the arts there are many opportunities for this organization to grow. With the musicals every summer being written or adapted by writers all over the country and world, a focus in on the town or region would be a wonderful opportunity for individuals in the community to become more involved. There is not a strong theatre program for adults in the community so partnering with the local community theatre to provide workshops and programming for adults would be a great way to get more of the community involved.

Challenges: People in Yellow Springs don’t do well with change making it hard for the organization to grow and possibly expand. It has also become more difficult to find new local and regional artists to participate in summer programming.

Pricing 

Strengths: There are two pricing tiers, adult and student, with adults paying $7 and students paying S5. This pricing is extremely cheap in comparison to other children’s theatres in Ohio. For example, Town Hall Theatre in Centerville Ohio has three tiers of tickets, adults, seniors/students, and then children, with adults paying $15, students and seniors paying $13, and children under the age of 12 paying $10.  In order to increase attendance, the theatre offers one night where the performance is free to alumni of the program, and this is, historically, the most attended night.

Weakness: With the tickets being so low in price, Yellow Springs Kids Playhouse relies heavily on grants and fundraising events to maintain their program.

Opportunities: With the people of Yellow Springs having a relatively high average income, raising the prices of the tickets would not affect attendance much, if at all. In recent years, the high school theatre productions have almost doubled the cost of tickets with no significant affect to audience size.

Challenges: Audience members might make assumptions on the quality of the show with such inexpensive ticket prices.

Place (Access)

Strengths: All performances are held at the Antioch Amphitheatre in Yellow Springs. There is an abundance of free parking and it is a very accessible space. For local residents, it is most likely within walking distance from their homes. It is also a significant location on the campus of Antioch College and represents a location that is important to the village and its residents.

Weakness: It is an outdoor venue making the event totally dependent on the weather.

Opportunities: Finding other local indoor spaces in case of inclement weather and possible partnerships with other local organizations or businesses.

Challenges: For 20 years the Yellow Springs Kids Playhouse has been associated with Antioch College and, specifically, with the Antioch Amphitheatre. Moving to a new location could potentially diminish the nostalgia of the organization.

Promotional Efforts

Strengths: YSKP is present on multiple social media outlets. During their summer season they use print ads as well as social media and word of mouth to promote their performances.

Weakness: They rely too heavily on word of mouth to promote their events. They spend very little money on their printed media and have poorly designed posters as advertisement.

Opportunities: Budgeting a bit more money for marketing and promotional expenses. Approaching organizations and businesses in other towns to advertise their event.

Challenges: They do not have anyone on staff that specifically deals with marketing or promotion. The artistic director currently does this but is busy with running the entire program in addition to another full time teaching position at a nearby college so her time spent on marketing for the organization is not extensive.

Links:

http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/index.xhtml

http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2012/311/667/2012-311667767-0965a310-Z.pdf

http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2011/311/667/2011-311667767-08a40c53-Z.pdf

http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2013/311/667/2013-311667767-0a870b68-Z.pdf

 

 

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