Kickstarter

Risks and challenges Learn about accountability on Kickstarter

Since the iDiOM makes a big effort to buy from local businesses, that can mean buying things that are a bit more expensive, which makes it much easier to go over budget. In order to combat that, we try to buy used or recycled products when possible, which helps us stay within our production budget, but still lets us buy locally.

One of our main challenges as a non-profit is keeping low ticket prices, and thus keeping our ticket sales consistent. In order to try to keep people coming back and allowing people to try out theater, we offer 10 free Public Tickets to every show in our season to allow people to come see art who otherwise would not or could not. These Public Tickets are sponsored by local businesses, but with economic decline, getting business sponsors is becoming increasingly difficult. Thankfully, because we make an effort to support local businesses, they are also willing to support us.

We also face the challenge of building and retaining a strong volunteer base. Working the box office, painting and building sets, photographing and video taping shows, creating and putting up posters; having enough volunteers who are willing and capable to put forth the time that is necessary for completing these tasks is a challenge in itself. In order to keep a strong volunteer base, we compensate our volunteers with gifts from our business sponsors.

Even if we don't get funding from Kickstarter, our season will continue. If that is the case, we will have to find the money elsewhere; business sponsorships, grants, ticket revenue, ect.