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Funding the Future: Audience-Driven Models for Financing and Support

As traditional arts funding structures face mounting pressure, new models are emerging that place audiences at the heart of financial sustainability.

This session explores how theatres, companies, and collectives are building alternative funding ecosystems — shifting audiences from passive consumers to active supporters.

Using real-world examples, we examine a range of approaches: membership and supporters’ programmes, private patronage, pay-what-you-can models, community-driven financing, and hybrid revenue strategies that combine public subsidies with direct audience contributions.

What can we learn from organisations already working with alternative models? How do these strategies enhance artistic independence, deepen engagement, and improve access? What challenges and risks do they entail — and how can they be adapted or scaled across different contexts?

This session invites theatre professionals, fundraisers, producers, and cultural leaders to reimagine financial strategies, cultivate closer audience relationships, and invest in more resilient, community-powered futures.

Moderator: Maaike Muis

Panel members:
Peter Hendrikx (director Performing at De Nieuwe Oost & Theater a/d Rijn)
Sahand Sahebdivani & Karl Giesriegl, creative directors at Mezrab )
Justus van Dillen & Linde van den Heuvel (theatre makers at theatre group Dronken Mensen)
Alyssa Mahler (voordekunst, platform for crowdfunding in the creative sector)