Dear Friends of Inside the Orchestra,
As we near the end of the fiscal year (June 30), I wanted to provide a few updates.
First of all, we are happy that parents and teachers continue to share their appreciation of our programs, for example:
“I cannot emphasize enough what an invaluable experience this (performance) was for our students. This was true enrichment – exposure and context to the arts that would otherwise be absent from our student’s lives”- Denver Teacher
We have much to celebrate. I’m pleased to share some highlights:
Fulfilling our Mission:
- Increased reach – Our overall attendance increased from 12,000 to 14,000 (with many of these individuals coming from our under-resourced neighborhoods.)
- We continue to provide free and discounted tickets through The Overture Outreach Ticket Project – we never turn anyone away due to an inability to pay. This year we have provided more than 3,000 free or reduced price tickets to Tiny Tots Concerts.
- New Partnerships – We have a few new partners this year to celebrate including the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, CPR Classical, Clayton Early Learning, PNC Bank, International School of Denver, Colorado Center for the Blind, and Mapleton Public Schools Preschool Programs. We are very grateful for our continued Tiny Tots partnerships with the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Central City Opera, and Kim Robards Dance.
- Continued Virtual Impact – We are pleased that more than 45,000 individuals outside of Colorado utilized our virtual content and programming last year AND we reached an additional 4,800 young people outside of the U.S. Inside the Orchestra continues to provide online content free to teachers. The most popular content is our free online orchestra games for students. All of our online enrichment activities were created during COVID and continue to be utilized every day.
- A Commitment to Accessibility– Our vision is that every child finds belonging in our programming. We continue our commitment to this vision by ensuring that at least 40% of our musical selections are by BIPOC and/or female composers. We exceeded this goal in our most recent Tiny Tots production. We have also started including an ASL interpreter at our Tiny Tots productions, and established additional accessibility initiatives like providing a quiet space for young audience members who are sensitive to sensory overstimulation (an endeavor financially supported by Developmental Pathways.)
Investments from the Community:
- The SCFD – We are beyond grateful for the continued support of the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD). Thanks to taxpayers like you, we are receiving substantial funds from the sales tax collected by the SCFD. We received more funding from the SCFD in 2024 than ever before.
- In November of 2023 we kicked off the Harmony Circle – a monthly giving program for generous supporters who commit to donating monthly. We now have a reliable revenue stream from our Harmony Circle donors.
- This year, we were particularly humbled to receive a generous donation from the Music Performance Trust Fund (MPTF). This gift was recommended by our musicians, who are members of the local and national music union.
- We raised more grant funds from foundations and government sources in 2024 (than 2023 and 2022). These grants are helping us fund our school programming, free tickets program, and general operating expenses.
- Our Tiny Tots ticket revenue increased 5% over last season. We are seeing more and more families at our shows.
- New Fundraising Events – As part of our strategic initiative to test new fundraising event models, we tried two new mission centric events in May and June of 2024 including a family Yoga Class and our Musical Makerspace events. We hosted more than 220 individuals between these two programs (in partnership with The International School of Denver and Washington Park Early Learning) and hope these programs will continue to grow next year.
- Sharing our Story – Hopefully you saw the wonderful publicity of our PNC and Clayton Early Learning programming that we received in April including coverage on 9 News and Colorado Public Radio. We are pleased to be spreading the word about the work we do.
Looking Ahead: We Need Your Continued Support
While our overall contributed revenue increased this year (compared to 2023), unfortunately we will still miss our revenue targets. As we emerged from the pandemic, we expected a somewhat slow recovery, but it’s been slower than anticipated. I have begun the difficult task of cutting costs where I can, including eliminating one of our full-time staff positions. Decisions to cut staff are never taken lightly; this was not an easy decision.
I have also decided to move out of our current office location. As of August 1, we will be operating out of the People’s Building in Aurora. The People’s Building is a non-profit venue driven by a mission of helping artists and non-profits access affordable performance and event space (owned by the city of Aurora). We are excited about this move and pleased that we will be able to save significantly on our rent.
Inside the Orchestra is happy to continue to have reserves in the bank thanks to our EIDL (Economic Injury Disaster Loan) from the Small Business Administration. This loan was taken out in 2021. We are grateful for this low interest loan and continue to make our monthly payments.
Looking Ahead: Tiny Tots Concerts
Next season, we will again be bringing more Tiny Tots programming to communities across the metro area – 45 concerts in total. We are very excited for our summer concerts in July which are selling well (The second show at Chatfield is already sold out) and of course, we are eagerly planning our fall series – Diverse Colorado which will feature music and dance from Mariachi, Indigenous American, Classical, Popular, and African traditions.
Per our Agreement with the Denver Musician’s Union, pay to our musicians will increase again next year. We will be increasing our ticket prices to mimic this increase. Tickets to Tiny Tots will increase from $13.50 to $15 per ticket. We will continue to provide free or reduced tickets to any families or schools who request them. No questions asked.
THANK YOU!
We are grateful to those of you who continue to support us as volunteers and donors. We have added a few members to the Board of Directors this year, and we are excited to have two additional members in the pipeline. If you, or anyone in your network might be a good fit for our Board, please let me know. We are eagerly seeking Board Members to support our mission and who bring expertise in nonprofit finance, marketing, fundraising, HR, and nonprofit program development.
I know Inside the Orchestra will continue to bring joy to young people for many, many years. I am committed to doing anything and everything possible to ensure the longevity of the program.
If you haven’t already, please consider making a donation before the end of our fiscal year (June 30, 2024). We can’t do what we do without you.
With Gratitude,
Tiffany Pallotto
Executive Director
