Boston Dance Alliance

1
Boston Dance Alliance
Annual Membership Survey 2006
2
Background and Objectives
This is the third annual BDA Membership Survey.

• The Boston Dance Alliance conducted its first
  membership survey in January 2003 and again in
  2005
  
• BDA intends to conduct a membership study each
  year to understand the needs of its membership

Background
Objectives

• Understand members current satisfaction with BDA
  and its service offerings
  
• Determine which services are important to offer
  in order to make the membership worthwhile
  
• Evaluate which services are good services and
  which need improving
  
• Discover what new services members want

3
Overview of Survey Process
Task
Research Phase
Description of Tasks
Research Design

• Provide an easy way to allow BDA members to
  provide feedback to the Board

Strategic Objectives
Targeted Market

• Reach as many as possible of all the FY05 members

Sample List
Data Collection

• Used most recent membership list

• Data collection was conducted in February
• The survey was conducted on line for the 192
  current and 74 former members with email
  contacts.
  
• For the 4 current members without emails, the
  survey was conducted by telephone
  

Survey Implementation
Data Preparation
Analysis And Reporting

• Data for the 102 respondents was downloaded
  directly into Excel database

Presentation Format

• Findings presented to Board and to members in
  weekly e-newsletter in March
  
• Full report available online in April

4
Description of Respondents
Compared to last year, participants have been
members longer, are more dependent on dance for
their income.

• 2006 Respondents
• 52 participated in the survey (compared to 56
  in 2005)
  
• 44 have been members more than 5 years (compared
  to 37 last year)
  
• 82 are between 25 and 55 years old (compared to
  79 last year)

• 2006 Membership Type
• 49 (37) of individual members derive 80 or
  more of their income from dance-related
  activities
  
• 53 (60)of organizations have annual operating
  budgets under 50,000 and 64 (73) have fewer
  than 5 employees

n92
n106
n107
n93
n102
5
Description of Our Dance Activities
More than 60 of the members teach dance and over
50 perform or choreograph.

• 2006 Organization Activities
• About 21 (25) of the organizations are involved
  with production support, or supplying products or
  services.

• 2006 Dance Functions
• 62 (54) of members teach
• 53 (37) perform or choreograph

n90
NOTE No comparison because 2006 allowed
individuals to select more than one 2005 asked
for primary only.
n46
n43
6
Public Performances
Sixty five percent of the members said they were
involved with performances in public spaces.

• 64 of those perform 10 or fewer times per years,
  and 60 expect to perform about the same amount
  this year.
  
• Most performances are with average audience size
  of 50 to 100 people, with over 50 stating that
  their smallest audience is less than 50 people.
  
• Public spaces mentioned are listed in the
  appendix.

7
Summary of Findings
How satisfied are members with BDA?

• Overall satisfaction with BDA is high
• 50 are very satisfied, compared to 28 last
  year.
  
• Most members still state the main benefit is
  connecting to other dancers.
  
• Most members who use the services rate them very
  good or excellent
  
• Most important offerings are the Directory,
  Advocacy, and the Performance Calendar.
  
• Ratings of the Directory and the Performance
  Calendar have increased since last year.
  
• However, awareness of advocacy activities is low

What new services do members want?

• Members most want Access to Grant Information and
  a Press List Updated Annual.
  
• Members are most willing to pay for Workshops on
  PR and Publicity and Audience Development.
  

8
Evaluation of BDA Membership and Current Offerings

• Overall Satisfaction with Membership
• Satisfaction Ratings
• Main Benefit of Membership

How satisfied are members with BDA?

• Awareness, Usage, Satisfaction and Importance of
  BDA Offerings
  
• Programs
• Workshops
• Information Services
• Website Features

9
Overall Satisfaction with BDA Membership
Eighty percent of all members are satisfied with
the BDA membership, with half stating that they
are very satisfied.
Percent by Level of Satisfaction with BDA
Total
Individual
M/B Only
Mgt
Product
Organization
No M/B
Modern/Ballet and Other
Perform
Teach
Membership Type
Dance Genre
Function
10
Main Benefit of Membership
BDA connects members to other dancers.
Percent of Main Benefit by Membership Type
Membership Type

• Both Organizations and Individuals feel BDA
  connects them to other dancers

Percent of Main Benefit by Dance Genre
Dance Genre

• Those involved with dance other than modern and
  ballet are more likely than others to find that
  the main benefit is that BDA helps them manage
  the business.

Percent of Main Benefit by Function
Dance Function

• Administrators and business managers are least
  likely to gain a sense of being connected to
  other dancers.

11
Evaluation of BDA Membership and Current Offerings

• Overall Satisfaction with Membership
• Satisfaction Ratings
• Main Benefit of Membership

How satisfied are members with BDA?

• Awareness, Usage, Satisfaction and Importance of
  BDA Offerings
  
• Programs
• Workshops
• Information Services
• Website Features

12
Awareness and Usage of BDA Offerings
Although workshop awareness has increased, usage
has not.
Programs
Workshops
Information Services
Website Features
13
Importance and Performance Ratings BDA Offerings
Advocacy for Dance, the Directory, and the
Performance Calendar are most important to
members.
Programs
Workshops
Information Services
Website Features
14
Overall Satisfaction with BDA Offerings
Two thirds of all members rate BDA offerings as
very good or excellent.
Percent by Level of Satisfaction with BDA
Total
Individual
M/B Only
Mgt
Produce
Organization
No M/B
Modern/Ballet and Other
Perform
Teach
Membership Type
Dance Genre
Function
15
Details on Service Offerings
Detailed open ended responses are in the appendix.

• Executive Director Networking 79 think this is
  very important. 27 have asked for help and were
  very satisfied.
  
• Advocacy 86 think this is very important.
  However, more than half had no opinion on how
  well BDA is doing on this front
  
• Annual Meeting 15 said they attended last year.
  Half said they were planning on attending this
  year.
  
• Web Site More than half the members visit the
  web site less than once a month, and 43 rated it
  very good to excellent.
  
• Dance Champion 33 people offered nominations.

16
Potential New Service Offerings
What new services do members want?

• Interest in New Services
• Interest in New Workshops

17
Overall Usefulness of New BDA Service Concepts
Members want access to grant information and a
press list updated annually.
Percent Rating New Services Very Useful
18
Interest in Workshops
Members are most interested in and most willing
to pay for workshops in Public Relations and
Audience Development.
Percent Rating New Workshops Very Useful
19
New Programs and Services
Some members offered other ideas for new BDA
offerings.

• WORKSHOPS
• Workshops geared specifically to college groups
• Workshops for teaching dance to young children
• we should only offer what we are experts in
  and. partner with orgs whose missions
  coincide with the topic. for example partner with
  CCTV to offer the video stuff instead of hosting
  the workshop ourselves.
• MARKETING AND DEVELOPMENT
• the lack of knowledge about dance and the dance
  community in the larger community is what i want
  the BDA to focus on more. How can we market and
  brand the BDA and dance more successfully?
• A big end showcase of dance companies in theatre
  district.
  
• mentoring
• Board development.
• some kind of grant partnership with studios to
  get a grant to subsidize the high cost of
  rehearsal space in partnership with green st
  studios and other higher priced spaces.
• INFORMATION SERVICES
• the Greater Boston dance community needs an
  organization to provide at a discount to
  members press list, mailing list, mailing
  services, health insurance, reservation service.
  
• better (more current) audition information.
  clearer information in general (see
  londondance.com as good example)
  
• List of referred videographers, and other
  services that have proven to be reliable and
  good.
  
• ADVOCACY
• Voice for dance in politics, community
  motivators,
  
• Professional Government lobbying on behalf of
  dance for ongoing funding. Much like DanceUSA
  
• Advocacy in the public domain.
• Group Liability Insurance

20
Managerial Implications
The Board will work with the Executive Director
to address the wishes of the membership.

• BDA needs to generate more awareness around
  services of greatest importance to the
  membership Advocacy for Dance and Access to
  Press List.
• Only about half of the members are aware of
  these.
  
• BDA needs to investigate why performance ratings
  are low for Fiscal Sponsorship, Health
  Insurance, Dance USA e-note, and website links to
  members and to non-members.

Existing Services
New Services

• Members find the most value in tactical
  information such as access to grant information,
  a press list, audience development.
  
• BDA workshops are most effective when they have
  very specific and targeted objectives.
  
• Strong interest in each workshop is within
  specific dance genres and occupations.