Conference 2023: Shared Services: How the Downtown Pittsburgh Cultural Organizations Benefit by Working Together to Lift All Boats

Speaker(s): Marilyn Coleman, Consultant and Director of Shared Services; Christopher Hahn, General Director, Pittsburgh Opera; Aleta King, Vice President Marketing & Sales, Pittsburgh Symphony; Rona Nesbit, Executive Vice President, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust; Janet Sarbaugh, Retired Vice President of Creativity, The Heinz Endowments

Orchestras large and small can benefit from cost savings, and one model is to partner with sister organizations in the same community. The Pittsburgh Cultural District’s unique program of Shared Services, an innovative operational collaboration, provides the seven major arts organizations in the district with scaled fees depending on budget to purchase healthcare together, to screen Tessitura data for marketing mailings across the district, and to create joint brochures and marketing campaigns. This collaboration offers human and employee resources to the seven companies and pools the purchasing of office supplies as well as program book advertising and printing.

The idea was founded by the Board leadership of a few of the seven major arts organizations in the district with seed funding provided from the foundation community. Over 20 years later, Shared Services is now a self-funded model. Learn how your community could replicate this hugely beneficial program that saves the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra about $1 million a year in healthcare alone.