Ticketing keeps the lights on. Fundraising is what lets you grow.
We learned that the hard way at East Jessamine High School in Nicholasville, Kentucky. Our drama club had momentum, but without a set budget, every season felt like a scramble.
Every high school theatre program knows this challenge: you can have student interest and administrative support, but without real funding, it’s hard to keep up and even more difficult to grow.
That’s where we were. Our drama club was active and motivated, but we didn’t have a set budget. The money we brought in from productions barely covered the rising costs of putting on a show. To make matters worse, our ticketing system took a 10% cut of every sale, which meant a significant portion of our hard-earned revenue never made it back to the program.
Then our district arts coordinator introduced us to Ludus.
Right away, the difference was noticeable. With Ludus, we were able to keep all of our ticket revenue, and the system was simple enough that we didn’t lose time learning how to use it. We made the switch mid-season and never looked back. By the end of the year, the added income gave us something we hadn’t had before: flexibility. For the first time, we were able to add an additional production to the following season.
Once ticketing was running smoothly, we started exploring what else Ludus could do. That’s when we discovered the sponsorship and donation tools. Like every director knows, theatre doesn’t survive without community support. We had always welcomed donations and partnered with local businesses, but without an organized system, it was difficult to build meaningful, consistent sponsorships.
With Ludus, ticketing is only the first step. Here’s what we did:
- Get ticketing under your belt first.
- Enable Donor Tips and then processing fees on all fundraisers will be 0%.
- Suggest giving levels that allow patrons to donate with one click at checkout.
- Accept a one-time gift or allow patrons to opt into monthly or annual recurring donations.
- Use Ludus to email receipts and personalize a thank you message for each donation.
On our unique branded Ludus page, we set up clear sponsorship levels that were easy for businesses to understand and easy for us to manage. Because the platform was school-approved and straightforward to use, it removed a lot of the barriers that had slowed us down before. The result? Substantial sponsorships, new community relationships, and even support from national brands.
When we first switched to Ludus, we were just looking for a better way to sell tickets. What we found was something bigger. Our program gained stability, our opportunities expanded, and our drama club finally had the support it needed to thrive.
Nicole Adams has directed at East Jessamine High School for three years, where she also teaches math. She strives to make theatre accessible and equitable to all, with a focus on Appalachia and the surrounding areas.
