Resource Center

Does soliciting donors create stress, invoke fear, or cause anxiety? Learn some easy steps as well as "do's and don'ts" to ensure your fundraising campaign is a huge success! You will be armed with tried-and-true techniques and a fundraising philosophy that will make you comfortable with masking the ask. This session is for people of all roles and will be particularly helpful for staff and Board members who want to transform your chorus and realize your organization's artistic and educational goals.

With this issue of the Research Memorandum Series, Matthew Bumbach assumes the editorship. The issue focuses on restoring Renaissance repertoire for women’s ensembles using the convent archives of Spain. Compiled by Kathryn Longo.

With dozens of options for database software, features and pricing plans to sort through, how do you choose the right system for your organization? Learn how to select your software with confidence using a proven process. Idealware will cover how to evaluate your organization's needs, assemble a software selection team, sort through your options, review and test the software, and manage a smooth implementation. Whether you are considering your very first donor management system, or you hope to switch in the next year, you'll save yourself a lot of headaches by following these best practices

Educational partnerships that serve school-age children are a focus for teachers and community choir leaders alike. In this webinar, our panel of experts will explore the different types of partnerships, talk about potential program models, and discuss how to create the ideal program for your community. Participants will walk away with a range of program styles to use in the future and a first-hand account of how programs work in different settings.

Understanding more about choral conducting as an occupation can help choral conductors plan their careers and choral leaders make better decisions. This report uses data drawn from the survey responses of more than 600 conductors to examine conductors' career paths, training, responsibilities, salaries, and more. These key findings provide an overview of both important challenges and reasons to feel confident about the health of the profession, as well as developments since Chorus America's first choral conductor survey over a decade ago. Access the full report, available to Chorus America members, here. 

With this issue of the American Choral Review, Timothy Newton assumes the editorship. The lead article examines new perspectives on Howells’ compositional activity in America by presenting three case studies. The issue also includes a concert report from Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie, and reviews of recent recordings The Wonder of Christmas and The ABC’s of Russian Diction.

Are you looking for the right social media mix for your chorus? Perhaps you have a Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. account set up, but need some help using these platforms to effectively engage your audiences and support your chorus' mission. Join Anne Longmore, director of marketing at the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and a public relations professor at Humber College to discuss strategies and goals so that you can reach the people you need to reach without falling down the social media rabbit hole.

A strong development plan can help map out your chorus’s fundraising strategy for the whole year. Development specialists Shayla Hines from Chorus America and Emma Moores from The Washington Chorus will walk you through the fundamentals of creating a plan that sets your organization up for success. In this hands-on webinar, you’ll work through a template in real-time, walking away with a first draft that can help you build a year-long plan. If this is your first time building a plan, or you just need a refresher of the basics, this is a session you won’t want to miss!

This webinar will provide participants with an overview of specific anatomic, physiologic, and technical issues for singers of all ages. Voice pathologist and singing voice specialist Wendy LeBorgne will explore health and wellness practices and vocal exercises. Participants will come away from this session with increased knowledge related to vocal health and wellness, along with tips for voice maximization for all singers.

Chorus America's annual survey of the operations of choruses, the Chorus Operations Survey Report includes more than 45 different analyses, from number of board meetings to board giving, from ticket pricing to chorus dues amounts, from accompanist pay practices to marketing efficiency. The 2016 report features data from the 2014-2015 season, as well as a new series on board terms and director term limits.

Securing the rights to perform, commission, record or distribute music is an enduring and evolving landscape for choruses. Composer Abbie Betinis will explain each of the different types of rights relevant to choruses, how to secure those rights, their importance to composers, and how evolving technology plays a role.

To achieve patron engagement and loyalty, you need a core strategy by which to evaluate, understand, and serve your audiences. In this webinar, Matt Lehrman of Audience Avenue, LLC presents a framework that empowers a “whole-organization approach” to building, sorting, and targeting the different audiences your chorus wants to reach. He’ll focus on how to drive deep loyalty, how to inspire return attendance, how to pursue awareness and participation from entirely new population segments, and how to deliver extraordinary experiences that really matter