Springfield Dance Alliance3 Year Program PlanCreated by Bri Hopkins

A HistoryAccording to the website, Springfield Dance Alliance was started as a non-profit organization in 2012. They present a wide variety of dance styles and bring together dancers of all different backgrounds. A typical year includes events such as two formal concerts, classes/workshops, and dance slams.

The Mission and VisionA collective of movement artists in the Springfield area who are passionate about bringing modern dance to our community. It is our goal to create performing opportunities for dancers and open a dialog exploring the role of dance in everyday life. We are choreographers, teachers, dancers, and students.

An Evaluation Based upon research and personal experiences, the Springfield Dance Alliance is in the Start Up stage of their organization. Strengths:

- Unique opportunity for the people of Springfield

- High energy - Amazing product quality

Weakness- Man power- Low budget- Not much awareness

The Three Year Program Plan

Goals:1. Engage the community2. Create dialog and awareness3. Increase new audience attendance

Programs:

Outreach ProgramTargets| Goal number 1. Objective| Plan outgoing and inclusive events for the community as

well as dancers Evaluation| Track attendance and provide opportunities for feedbackExecution| While the Springfield Dance Alliance has plenty of

opportunities to involve the dancers of the community, a lot of their current program is exclusively for dancers. If the Alliance were to create a program that was inclusive to a wider part of the community, the benefits would be endless. More people would feel invested in organization, volunteering and man power would increase, a large pool of networking, and much more. The following is the three year projection of the Outreach Program:

Year one: Fitness Classes Incorporating classes such as Jazzercise, Pilates, and other conditioning

classes can be a great source of revenue and a way to introduce SDA into the daily routine of more community members. This also will be a benefit to SDA dancers by giving them a discount rate for classes that benefit their physical fitness as well. Year two: Cultural Fusion

One of the goals in the Springfield Dance Alliance mission and vision is to open the dialog as to how dance is incorporated in everyday life. While Springfield itself may not have a strong dance culture, other smaller cultures represented in the area do. For example, the Springfield Dance Alliance could partner with heritage groups such as the Latin American Group to learn their native dances. Together the two groups could dance at events like First Friday Art Walk, special events at Café Cusco, and much more.

The benefit to this section of the Outreach Program is it starts the conversation as to how dance can be a part of everyday life while also bringing in the topics of diversity and culture. The Springfield Dance Alliance could become an active part in making Springfield a more diverse and colorful place.Year three: Surveys and Revaluation

By the third year, I think it would be important to look back on the past two years and ask a few questions to the organization and to the community. This two year mark is a good time for the Alliance to look back and see how the fitness classes and culture fusion have contributed to their Outreach program. Are the fitness classes brining in enough revenue? Do the dancers enjoy learning the dances of other cultures? Has there been a greater increase in community involvement or support? Surveys after a few fitness classes and

being open to feedback are keys to knowing the effectiveness of the Outreach Program.

Buzz ProgramTarget| Goal number 2Objective| Create an aggressive PR campaign to increase awareness

over 3 yearsEvaluate| Interactions on social mediaExecution| After spending a semester being part of Springfield Dance

Alliance, I noticed that not many members of the community are aware of this organization that are outside of the dancing community. Even the art community is foggy on what the Alliance does. So to combat this problem, I have put together a very aggressive PR campaign to get SDA on the artistic map.

Year one: Create a Social Media Calendar Social media can be completely overwhelming for an organization.

Keeping track of posting what where and in enough time can be time consuming and frustrating without the proper tools. On page 5, I have created a social media calendar template that presents what a healthy social media campaign would look like for the time span of one month. Posting an average of 3 times a week is just enough to not come off as annoying while still being able to create a relationship with social media followers. It is also important to now just post about promotional events. This can make followers feel like they are always being asked for something. By doing posts like “Dancer of the Month” the organization will not only be giving recognition to the people in the group but also will be showing the community a deeper side of the organization. The posts “Dancer’s Tip” are also important in creating a stronger relationship and opportunity for awareness in other dancers around the community. Now they can follow SDA not just for information about upcoming events but also for relatable information.

Year two: Create a Promotional Video A promotional video is the visual stimulation this organization needs to

really get its name out in the community. The video will be dynamic in showing the different reasons why the members of the Springfield Dance Alliance joined or why they love to dance. All different age groups and performance levels will be represented in the video. The purpose this project will be to show the community who SDA is and how talented our members are. This will put us on the map and create the buzz around the organization’s name that needs to happen.

Year three: Flash Mob Flash mobs are gaining in popularity as a form of gorilla marketing.

Luckily, dance is one of the easiest forms of flash mob and can even be done in an improvisational style. It just takes two dancers (or more) to get a buzz going. These

flash mobs can happen during an art fest, art walk, in the mall, anywhere. It is a fun an exciting way to get a community curious about an organization and fits well with the tone of Springfield Dance Alliance.

Audience ProgramTarget| Goal number 3Objective| Increasing tickets purchases outside of immediate friends

and familyEvaluation| Surveys in programs/ Track new ticket buyersExecution| During my performance at the Bloom Concert this spring, I

couldn’t help but notice the quantity of the audience. After asking a few questions at the end of the show, it seems like the most common audience members of a Springfield Dance Alliance concert are close friends and family members of the dancers. While having a great support system is great, it is important for the Alliance to grow into a wider audience base since ticket sales are the main source of income. The following are a few ideas to reaching out to a wider audience base:

Year one: BOGO Everyone loves a deal. By having a “Buy One Get One” deal it encourages new

audience members to attend a concert and to bring a friend as well. The discounts can be given away at art walks, flash mob events, the dance slams, and any other place that SDA is interacting with the community.

Year two: Surveys and Improvement Continue the ticket promotions but this time, have a survey in the program.

The survey can answer questions like “How did you hear about our concert?” and “What promotion sounds most appealing to you?” to help give the marketing efforts of SDA some guidance on where to grow from the past two years. The results can help SDA find the right marketing strategy for the organization and what works best in the Springfield Community.

Year two: Exciting Places Springfield Dance Alliance is all about modern dance and modern dance is all

about having an edge. To bring that edge to the formal concerts, Springfield Dance Alliance should start holding its spring concerts in unconventional areas in the Springfield area. These areas can be parks, interesting warehouses or older buildings, urban places like the bridge on c-street, and much more. The idea is since the concert is being held some place outside of a traditional theatre hall, the organization is just as fun and unconventional. The excitement and buzz would create a better opportunity for higher ticket sales and greater awareness of the organization.