Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 2020 - 53

for money. Asking for support can be one
of the scariest tasks, but it must be done
by the people in your organization who
represent the project. Resist the urge to
ask local business owners at a cocktail
party, soccer game, or in the supermarket
if they will give you money to support the
project. All "asks" for money should be
researched, planned, and rehearsed. This
process can help you identify who will
do the asking, how the ask will be made,
and how much should be requested. One
common pitfall is asking for too little. For
example, you want to avoid asking a potential donor for $10,000 when, given an
informed approach, the donor might have
been willing to give $100,000 or more.
If you're considering hiring a fundraising consultant, you want to avoid a couple
of pitfalls:
* Never hire a consultant to only identify
prospects. You could end up with a list
of potential donors, but you might not
know what to do with them.
* Never hire a consultant for a fee based
on a percentage of what is targeted or
raised. This is against Association of
Fundraising Professionals rules, and illegal in many states.
Look for consultants who charge a
flat fee for services and who specify the
amount of on-site time they will spend,
the number of people involved in your
campaign, and expected expenses, and
then negotiate a maximum 30-day escape
clause.
No matter your resources, you must
develop your story so that you can work
on engaging other community and business leaders and asking for advice and
assistance on how to go about executing a
comprehensive development plan, which
ultimately will lead to individuals wanting
to be a part of your success by donating.
Consulting with and possibly recruiting
the potential big donors in your community can be a way to build your network and
engage the people who might ultimately
not only give but also inspire others to
give.

Identify the Project Team

Most capital projects, especially those
involving comprehensive facilities planning, will require the services of an experienced architect, who leads the design
team with responsibility for the overall design of the project as well as coordinating
the efforts of engineering and other team

consultants. In addition to typical duties
such as programming, building design,
code research and life safety compliance,
accessibility design, interior and exterior
design and finish selections, drawing coordination, specifications development,
and providing services during bidding
and construction, the architect will provide overall design vision and serve as
a project advocate. Most architects are
comfortable with and welcome speaking
on behalf of their projects to stakeholders, potential donors, city representatives,
and other influencers on the merits of the
planned work, the reasons behind specific design solutions, and the complexity
and cost of the project.
The typical project team consists of
the owner, the architect, and the contractor. Like the legs of a stool, all three need
to provide support; otherwise, we find
ourselves on the floor. This model functions most critically during the construction process. However, your organization
might enlist the services of a contractor during design to provide estimating,
constructability reviews, and logistics
planning.
The owner is in charge and has the
responsibility of providing leadership on
behalf of the organization from project
conception through construction. Many
organizations find it advantageous to
set up a steering or facilities committee
charged with facility stewardship. In addition to planning for regular maintenance,
the committee's duties would likely include overseeing capital project planning,
design, and construction. This committee
typically consists of board members, and
depending on the size of the committee or
project, may employ a subcommittee consisting of staff, board members, and possibly volunteer professionals outside your
organization who might have relevant
expertise and time to deal with the specifics of a project. If your organization has
little or no experience with capital project
planning, design, and construction (or
the capacity to take on more managerial
roles), you might also choose to engage
an owner's representative to act as your
eyes and ears on the project. The search
for, and hiring of, an owner's representative should be performed with the same
care as hiring the architect. You could be
collaborating with these teammates for a
long time, so you need to be comfortable
professionally and personally with the

people with whom you are going to be
working.
Plan for regular coordination with
and updating of your development committee throughout the design process. As
project details evolve and designs solidify,
the importance and focus of individual design elements may ebb and flow, and the
costs of construction become clearer. It
is essential to have an ongoing dialogue
with the development team so that they
are aware of any changes and can weigh
in on detailed requirements for donor recognition and amenities.
In most traditional arrangements,
the architect and your organization will
be under direct contract with one another. The architect is professionally and
contractually required to act on your behalf. Similarly, you will be under contract
directly with your selected contractor.
While the architect and contractor are not
bound directly by contract, they are typically bound indirectly to provide services
to the owner that are dependent upon
and influence the services of one another. The American Institute of Architects
(www.aia.org) has developed over its long
history a set of standardized contract
documents such as Owner-Architect and
Owner-Contractor Agreements that coordinate with one another. Publicly owned
facilities might be subject to specific municipal, state, or federal government contract requirements and regulations. There
are many forms of agreement, and you
should consult an attorney experienced in
design and construction contracts before
entering into any contract.
Selecting and hiring an architect
should be approached thoughtfully, with
a fair and informed process. Because
theatres are complex buildings, experience with the specific issues of design
for public assembly, including lobby,
ticketing, concessions, accessibility, and
other patron services, as well as the technical aspects of show production and
backstage/performer design and access,
should be key factors when searching for
an architect. The AIA has an online tool
to generally search for architects (http://
architectfinder.aia.org) and organizations
such as the League of Historic American
Theatres have member architects who
are specifically experienced with theatre
design and historic renovations. These
organizations also list other service providers who are part of the design team,

WINTER 2020 | THEATRE DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY

| 53

http://www.aia.org http://architectfinder.aia.org http://architectfinder.aia.org

Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 2020