Photo: The Joffrey’s production of The Nutcracker. Photo by Cheryl Mann.

The Joffrey Ballet has received a $1 million grant from the Alphawood Foundation to fund a three-year project aimed at audience expansion and sustainability. To implement the stipulations of the grant, the organization has added three positions to its Marketing and Development team. Joining the Joffrey are: Associate Director of Corporate Sponsorships Mimi de Castro, Director of Audience Development Christina Grant, and Director of Communications Matt de la Peña.

“The Joffrey is growing at its fastest rate in history,” said Executive Director Greg Cameron. “The addition of three full-time positions with specialized skill-sets is another chance to engage our partners and our patrons in new ways. We want to thank the Alphawood Foundation for its long-time support of the Joffrey and for making this opportunity possible.”

Over the next three years, the Joffrey intends to increase ticket sales and revenue by attempting to deepen relationships with audiences, theoretically resulting in repeat ticket purchases, subscriptions, and contributed revenue. The Joffrey audience has grown by 19% over the past three years. At the end of the 2016-2017 season, the organization reached a total ticket revenue of $7 million—its highest ever. Through the audience development project, the Joffrey aims to improve upon those numbers to serve an even broader population.

Alphawood Foundation Executive Director James McDonough added, “In recent years, The Joffrey Ballet has shown impressive growth in several key areas. The successful implementation of Joffrey’s new audience development plan is an important next step in the Company’s continued success. We are pleased to provide the financial resources to keep this momentum going.”