An Interview With Tim Whalen, Director of External Affairs, American Conservatory Theater

FS: What are the biggest challenges your organization faces as far as fundraising is concerned? How do you overcome them?
TW: Like many arts and cultural organizations, ACT has been impacted by the economic recession, experiencing a decline in subscriptions and ticket sales, and with this decline a drop in annual fund contributions from individuals. With a shrinking donor base, we have focused on building a major-gifts program to leverage greater giving from our most generous long-time donors. This effort has paid off, and we have been successful growing our major-gifts program over the past two years and have raised more dollars from fewer individuals.