[Organizers] encouraging regulars to come out more - thoughts on two approaches

Hi fellow organizers :) Following up on the discussion about attendance being down for some dance series, I wanted to get your thoughts on two appraoches. For context, we already use many different approaches for engaging our regular dancers here in Ottawa (e.g., membership for 'buy in' belonging; volunteering the same way, fun dress up dances, special events like a christmas mummers play.) However, with our numbers significantly declining this fall and knowing the best way to get new dancers is through 'word of mouth' (our regulars), we're considering sending out a letter letting our dancers know about the situation and asking for their help. I've included the letter below. Any thoughts???? Also - our committee hasn't yet talked about regular financial transparency but I have been enjoying the recent conversations (see Hollis Easter & Jeff Kaufmann blog posts) as well as the Youth Dance Weekend's work in this area. (We do make our financial statements available at the time of our AGM but that's not effective for informing the community.) Does anyone regularly communicate with their dancers re the cost of running the dances as a way to encourage buy in/engagement etc... ... if so, what strategies do you use? With thanks! Emily Addison in Ottawa ON ----------------------------------------- Dear fellow dancers, Happy holidays from the Ottawa Contra outreach committee. This is a special email where we're asking for *YOUR ENGAGEMENT/HELP*… please read on! We love contra dancing in Ottawa and hope you do too. We have such a great community of dancers plus really strong and diverse music and calling. We know visiting talent love coming to Ottawa and visiting dancers tell us we've got something really special. *A brief financial update:* As a non-profit, we want to break even over the years and we have been successful at doing this. We do lose money on some Saturday night dances but other more profitable nights balance things out. Membership money helps cover more financially-risky programming like our afternoon dances. We're proud of running a successful series and being able to offer lots of special initiatives that enhance the community and dancing. This fall has been quite tough for some reason. Our attendance has been down about 20-25 people each dance – lowest in 8yrs. While we are not at financial risk right now, we can't afford for this to continue over a long period of time, especially if we want to continue keeping entry fees low while having high quality talent. Thus, we are asking YOU, our community, for help over the next number of months and onward. If you love contra dancing in Ottawa, please consider … *ONE: Make contra more of a habit* If you don't do so already, make contra dancing more of a habit and come out more regularly. This would make a huge difference. Saturday nights, Saturday afternoons, and/or Tuesday evenings. *TWO: Invite friends/family/colleagues* It is a well-known fact that the best way to get new contra dancers is by current dancers bringing people they know. (We do lots of other outreach but the personal invite is the BEST way). *A simple invite often doesn't get results. *Instead, here are some tips that can make a real difference in terms of getting friends, family, colleagues, or other acquaintances out: 1. Invite your friend for dinner/potluck before the dance (e.g., organize a dinner with friends and then bring them to the dance) 2. Offer to travel with your friend to/from the dance the first few times 3. Participate in the beginner/intro lesson with them. 4. Help them find welcoming dancers who can be great dance partners. 5. Introduce them to various regulars at the break and at the pub to get them connected. 6. Help them get connected with our email list, and facebook group. etc. It's a bit of a hurdle to get started in contra dancing and it's great to help folks get over that hump. And all contra dance organizers know that *WORD OF MOUTH* is by far the best way to get new dancers! *THREE: Become a member* Consider becoming a member. In January, you can get a membership for $20 which provides benefits to you (like $2 off each dance) while also supporting the dance community. *FOUR: Welcome new dancers* Our community prides itself in being welcoming to new dancers. Here are some tips to increase our welcome: 1. Be a dance friend. Come to the introductory lesson to help beginner dancers. 2. Ask newer dancers to dance. Don’t forget the folks sitting on the sidelines. 3. At the end of a dance with a newer dancer, offer to find a them another experienced dancer for the next dance. 4. Take some time at the break to chat with someone you don’t already know… even a brief hello helps a newcomer feel welcomed. *FIVE: Give us feedback* Tell us about anything that you feel we need to do to make the dances better. We've done two community surveys over the last six years and we're constantly working on improving things. And, we're open to ideas. To help us, please provide your suggestions using this VERY brief form (EM created very brief form… we could do something like that in order to collect people's ideas if they did want to share...this is just an initial go.) *https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScYpGJlvg7w_3Tj3I_zEgfX4QOLP8ge4tjfRZyCGSL30m1MjQ/viewform?usp=send_form <https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScYpGJlvg7w_3Tj3I_zEgfX4QOLP8ge4tjfRZyCGSL30m1MjQ/viewform?usp=send_form>* *FIVE: Share the joy* Through your dancing and conversation, help to make the dances a welcoming and positive experience for everyone! It's up to our whole community to continue to make the Ottawa contra dances one of the best places to dance in Canada AND the US North-east. Thank you and we look forward to seeing you on the dance floor, List only outreach names or the whole committee? Think better if whole committee.