I play bass in the Charlottesville Symphony at UVA, along with peers, music faculty, and community members. There is also the Charlottesville Symphony Society, a non-profit that aims to raise donations for the Symphony and its professionals. In the 2022-2023 season, about 2/3 of total revenue came from donations versus 1/3 ticket sales. However, there was also a deficit of $195,007.
Orchestras face challenges of waning public interest, decreased funding, and high fixed costs. One alternative is to make orchestra concerts like a public good. Multiple people can enjoy the music (non-rival). Many European governments fund orchestras and make tickets more affordable (non-excludability). But this is only efficient if the sum of marginal valuations to consumers is at least the marginal cost of providing orchestra concerts.
That is likely not the case here. It would be a Pareto inefficient outcome if the University funded the orchestra and its professionals. Employees' wages would be redistributed, tuition would be raised upon students, and the orchestra would be a stagnant monopoly. Under the non-profit structure, orchestras act like competitive firms and strategize to increase demand and extract consumer surplus, mainly from donors.
Pops concerts, competitive concerts (two orchestras play in the same concert), and subscriptions can boost demand. There's potential future demand as baby boomers factor in art and entertainment venues for their retirement plans. Moreover, the Symphony Society connects meaningfully with their donors and offers special benefits. Opening receptions, complimentary tickets, VIP parking, dinners, etc. These incentives seem to work as donations increase.
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