Does anyone offer single ticket insurance? There is some talk about offering single ticket insurance so that single ticket buyers can do an exchange. They would still have to pay the difference if the performance costs more they are moving into but not a per ticket fee on top of the price difference.
If you have offered single ticket insurance has it been successful? Have the single ticket buyers liked the option or do they think it is a waste of money.
Thanks!
We waive exchange fees for donors and have successfully converted non-donors into donors using this tact when a patron calls to do an exchange.
Hi Sara,
I am curious to learn more about your policy on waiving exchange fees for donors... is this true for all donors to your organization, or do the donors needs to be of a certain giving level before the waiving of fees begins?
Thank you!
Beth Jones
Last season (our first using Tessitura), we waived the exchange fee for anyone who donated an amount equal to or more than what their exchange fees would have been (without telling patrons that was our strategy). It was a good way to convert a few non-donors who were balking about exchange fees. For example, I had a patron who was going to be charged $10 in exchange fees and started raising a huge fuss. I explained that we waived the fee for donors, which she thought made sense but she was still not budging. When she kept complaining, I just reiterated that we waived the fee for donors so she asked how much she had to donate. I said $10 (since I already knew she wasn't willing to pay that in fees I figured no point in asking for more). She thought that was fair, made the donation and was a satisfied customer.
This season we might set a minimum threshold (likely $100), but last season's strategy worked well, so who knows.
We do not waive exchange capture fees for anyone. In other words, even if a donor wants to exchange to cheaper seats we keep the difference and just waive the $5 per seat exchange fee. No one has complained about this yet.
We also don't serve as a liaison for patrons who wish to resell their seats even when we're on a wait list. I have however waived exchange fees for non-donors if we have patrons who've purchased wait list tickets. It makes both the exchanger and the person looking for tickets happy. It also keeps donors from complaining to development, which in the end almost always seems to trump box office. I'm trying very hard to train our donors to come to the box office instead of development for their ticketing needs.