Welcome to Season 6 of The Offstage Mic! We are kicking things off with a massive milestone: our 50th episode. In this season premiere, host Aubrey Bergauer dives deep into the latest national data from SMU DataArts, JCA, and Advisory Board for the Arts to reveal the truth about the 'cutting death spiral' currently facing cultural institutions. This episode is for arts administrators, executive directors, and board members who are tired of short-term budget fixes and are looking for a sustainable path to growth.

You’ll learn how the ‘minimum viable product’ model applies to arts innovation, why cutting performances is actually hurting your bottom line, and the surprising reason your first-year subscribers are the key to unlocking long-term donor loyalty. Plus, Aubrey announces a major giveaway to celebrate 50 episodes, including gift cards, t-shirts, and a free Audience Development Bootcamp.

Subscribe to the show for more data-backed strategies to help your arts organization thrive. Whether you are listening or watching our new video format, we appreciate your support in changing the narrative for the arts.

Sponsors:

Bolero: hellobolero.com/changingthenarrative

EvolvArts: evolvearts.com

Morreale Digital: morreale.ca/podcast

Sources:

Edison Research: Podcast Listening Hits Record High https://www.edisonresearch.com/podcast-listening-hits-record-highs/#:~:text=The%20percentage%20of%20people%20age,100%20million%20weekly%20listeners%20milestone.

Riverside: Podcast Statistics and Trends for 2026

https://riverside.com/blog/podcast-statistics#:~:text=In%202023%2C%20podcasts%20were%20most,68%25%20listen%20to%20whole%20episodes

Podcast Hawk: 70% of the Audience Listen to a Full Podcast Episodes https://podcasthawk.com/70-of-the-audience-listen-to-a-full-podcast-episodes-the-key-to-targeting/#:~:text=The%20answer%20might%20surprise%20you,is%20the%20key%20to%20success

Signal Hill: YouTube’s Growth As a Podcast Power Player https://www.westwoodone.com/blog/2024/07/08/youtubes-growth-as-a-podcast-power-player-revealed-in-cumulus-media-and-signal-hill-insights-podcast-download-spring-2024-report/

SMU DataArts: National Trends 2025 https://culturaldata.org/national-trends/national-trends-2025/

Aubrey Bergauer: Scarcity Mindset is Killing Your Arts Organization https://aubreybergauer.medium.com/scarcity-mindset-is-killing-your-arts-organization-f4c023f1c844

JCA: Trends in Performing Arts Audience Behavior: 4 Key Takeaways for 2026 https://www.jcainc.com/trends-in-performing-arts-audience-behavior-4-key-takeaways-for-2026/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=sharpspring&sslid=M7e0MDAyMjMyNjI2AQA&sseid=MzEAAUMDS0tLMwNjEwA&jobid=3d003ea7-7129-4e80-9ea1-ece89d2b0133

Advisory Board for the Arts: 2025 Ticket and Subscriptions Sales and 2026 Forecasts https://www.advisoryboardarts.com/research-collector/2025salesrevenues2026projections

What does Changing the Narrative mean ten years later? That is what this season of The Offstage Mic with Aubrey Bergauer is all about. How can we continue to change the narrative for our cultural institutions today? How can we reverse the negative trends so pervasive these days?

This podcast is about running our business: how to grow audiences, develop high performing teams and leaders, get younger attendees in the seats and on the donor rolls, apply strategies working in other sectors, and generate more revenue, all in order to serve the mission and flourish in a changing world.

We are talking all things the business side of the arts, and it is not business as usual.

Season Six of The Offstage Mic launches April 14. Watch, listen and follow along wherever you get your podcasts.

If your days as an arts leader are consumed by never-ending to-do lists, last-minute fires, and reactive work—this episode is your call to break the cycle. In this Season 5 finale, we dig into a leadership struggle that nearly every arts executive, administrator, and manager faces: the battle between the urgent and the important.

Through honest reflection, personal experience, and practical tools, we unpack why time management in arts leadership isn’t just about productivity—it’s about reclaiming your role as a strategic visionary. You’ll learn how to identify the 20% of your work that drives real impact, why busyness can be a form of avoidance, and how to shift your focus toward building a thriving future for your organization. If you're ready to trade burnout for clarity and momentum, this episode offers both the mindset shift and tactical tools to help you get there.

The Offstage Mic is made possible by Artelize: their Audience Retention Dashboard is the one-stop place to access your audience data across every important metric. And also by Annual Fund Toolkit: they’ve built a support system to help grow your donor community and major gift pipeline.

One of the biggest mistakes arts organizations make is over relying on major donors. In this penultimate episode of the season, Aubrey Bergauer talks with Dana Snyder—author of The Monthly Giving Mastermind—about why major gifts alone won’t save your organization’s financial future. Together, they explore how a strong monthly giving program isn’t just smart strategy; it’s sustainable, reliable, and rooted in digital marketing best practices.

Learn how moving just 2% more charitable donations to monthly giving could unlock $9 billion in recurring revenue. Discover why recurring donors give 42% more per year, and how to build a donor pipeline that leads to more major gifts—not fewer. If you’re tired of chasing one-time checks and ready to grow real stability, this episode is a must-listen.

What You’ll Learn:

• Why over-relying on major donors puts your organization at risk
• The $9 billion opportunity in recurring giving
• How to launch and grow a thriving monthly giving program
• Why digital marketing skills are key to donor retention
• How to move monthly donors into major giving

The Offstage Mic is made possible by Artelize: their Audience Retention Dashboard is the one-stop place to access your audience data across every important metric. And also by Annual Fund Toolkit: they’ve built a support system to help grow your donor community and major gift pipeline.

Does managing operations at your arts organization feel tedious or unwieldy? Maybe you know your internal processes need a boost, but don’t you know where to begin. Good news: It’s actually more simple than you think. This episode, Aubrey talks about the Kaizen Method of sustained, incremental change. If it feels like you’re trying to turn a big ship, instead of letting perfect be the enemy of good, start by testing out small changes to see what yields the biggest results. This episode tells you how.

The Offstage Mic is made possible by Artelize: their Audience Retention Dashboard is the one-stop place to access your audience data across every important metric. And also by Annual Fund Toolkit: they’ve built a support system to help grow your donor community and major gift pipeline.

For arts organizations, the vast majority of your audience is not subscribers and donors; over 90% of your patrons are the ones who come and go, never to engage with another performance again. How can arts administrators capture that large segment of their audience base and stop the churn? Redesign the user experience. This episode, Aubrey talks with UX and product designer, Linda Hsieh Logston. She shares five steps to applying UX design to arts management.

The Offstage Mic is made possible by Artelize: their Audience Retention Dashboard is the one-stop place to access your audience data across every important metric. And also by Annual Fund Toolkit: they’ve built a support system to help grow your donor community and major gift pipeline.

Women in arts administration make up over half of the workforce. Yet arts leadership roles — on stage and off — are still male dominated. This episode, Aubrey shares some shocking statistics from the field and explains why this paradox is so common in arts organizations (Hint: it's not just about getting more women in the C-suite; the problem starts earlier than you might think). And most important, how arts administrators can change their systems to address gender bias in their own institutions.

The Offstage Mic is made possible by Artelize: their Audience Retention Dashboard is the one-stop place to access your audience data across every important metric. And also by Annual Fund Toolkit: they’ve built a support system to help grow your donor community and major gift pipeline.

Marketing has changed so much for arts administrators in recent years that you might not know how to maximize your marketing budget these days. What percentage should you allocate? What marketing channels are the most effective this year? How much should you spend? This episode, Aubrey explains how to think strategically about reaching the audience you want—and how to budget for it.

The Offstage Mic is made possible by Artelize: their Audience Retention Dashboard is the one-stop place to access your audience data across every important metric. And also by Annual Fund Toolkit: they’ve built a support system to help grow your donor community and major gift pipeline.