Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council

Important Dates
 

Big-business marketing for small arts nonprofits

If you run an arts organization, the Pittsburgh Arts Community Database can save you time and money by streamlining your access to substantial, targeted, arts patron data. Once you upload your patron lists, the user-friendly eMerge interface allows you to manage and analyze those lists in powerful ways. It’s as easy as 1-2-3:

One. The Database regularly cleans your lists using the National Change of Address (NCOA) Registry. If someone has moved, the database automatically updates their information and generates a report of changes for you.

Two. The Database compares your patron data with information from powerful, national marketing databases, and tells you more about your attendees. You’ll learn how many of them have kids, read certain magazines, fit into specific income brackets, attend other arts events, and more.

Three. The Database allows you to trade mailing lists simply and easily with other organizations. Don’t worry—each organization retains complete control over their data: all list trades are permission-based. Also, the system does not permit the trading of email lists.

Best of all, using the system is FREE for active GPAC members. Follow the links below for more details, or contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . GPAC hosts the Pittsburgh Arts Community Database in partnership with TRG Arts.

Want To Learn More?

The Basics
Current Member List
Easy Steps to Join 
Upload/Update Schedule
Resources 
FAQs    
Contact

Already a Participant?

Newsletter Archive
Current Member List 
Upload/Update Schedule 
I’ve Uploaded My Data. Now What?  
Resources  
Contact

Back to top

The Basics

How does it work?

After “segmenting” (that is, labeling and categorizing) your organization's patron data, you upload it into the Community Database, choosing which lists are visible to other participants and available for trade and which are for your organization's eyes only. TRG Arts runs all the data through the National Change of Address (NCOA) each quarter, and provides you a report of the changes so that you can keep your records up to date.

After your data is loaded, you can run personalized reports, analyze community-wide data, build lists, approve trades, and communicate with your colleagues, all using TRG Arts' web-based eMerge system. You can access your data from anywhere with an internet connection.

What can the Community Database do for me and my organization?

• Help keep your patron data current. Patron data is cleaned each quarter (for free!) through the National Change Of Address.
• Help you to identify the best organizations for partnering. Cross-penetration reports can help you work towards successful partnerships, such as list trades, program ads, collaborative events, and more!
• Make the process of building direct mail lists easier than ever. With one-click trade requests, automatic merge/purge functionality, and nearly infinite filtering possibilities—all within the permission-based system—creating mail lists is no longer the chore it used to be.
• Gain a deeper understanding of your patrons. By using the geographic, demographic, and psychographic information that is appended to households, you’ll know more about your patrons than ever before.

Back to menu

Current Member List

Forty organizations in the Pittsburgh region have uploaded data into the Community Database:

Back to menu

Easy Steps to Join
 

1.  Complete and submit the Participant Forms
2. Prepare (segment) your data. Allow a minimum of 8 hours!
3. Upload your data by the deadline date.
4. Attend a training webinar to get your eMerge login.
5. Review the eMerge Top Ten and try some!

Complete and Submit the Participant Forms

Completing the Participant Forms should only take about 5 minutes. The Participant package includes the Pittsburgh Arts Community Database Agreement, NCOA form, and a fax cover sheet. The forms can be submitted via fax, hard copy, or email (scanned and saved as PDF).

Prepare (segment) your data

This is the step that helps the database categorize and organize your data. You identify individuals with categories like year, event, and “Single Ticket Buyer” or “Subscriber.”  Depending on the current state of your data, this may take some time, but it is worth it! Make sure you leave yourself plenty of time to complete this step.

TRG has provided preparation instructions and a template for you here (coming soon).

Upload your data by the deadline date

The data upload date is a HARD date; ALL data must be submitted by the deadline. Any data that is submitted after the current deadline will be processed at the next data deadline. If you have questions about uploading your data, contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it at GPAC or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it at TRG.

Attend a training webinar to get your eMerge login

Wednesdays at 1 pm Eastern, TRG Arts offers a basic eMerge webinar that is required before you receive your login. This is a great tutorial for current participants, new users, and prospective participants to get a better understanding of the system. Organizations may have as many users/logins as they need, and we encourage organizations to have several users. All trainings take place via phone and web-based desktop sharing. There is no need to register in advance.

At the appointed time, call into the audio portion of the session and use the access code indicated in the chart below. Then click on the linked date below to access the web-based portion. The webinar password is "cooptrain".

Review the eMerge Top Ten and try some!

You can download the eMerge Top Ten list here. Contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it at TRG for help with pulling or reading the reports mentioned. If you learn something exciting, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and tell her about it!

Back to menu

Upload/Update Schedule

Newsletter Archive

 Community Database Newsletter Summer 2012

 Community Database Newsletter Fall 2012

Back to menu

I’ve Uploaded My Data. Now what?

1. Attend a training webinar to get your eMerge login
2. Review the eMerge Top Ten and try some!
3. Continue to collect patron data and segment as you go

Attend a training webinar to get your eMerge login

Wednesdays at 1 pm Eastern, TRG Arts offers a basic eMerge webinar that is required before you receive your login. This is a great tutorial for current participants, new users, and prospective participants to get a better understanding of the system. Organizations may have as many users/logins as they need.

All trainings take place via phone and web-based desktop sharing. There is no need to register in advance.

At the appointed time, call into the audio portion of the session and use the access code indicated in the chart below. Then click on the linked date below to access the web-based portion. The webinar password is "cooptrain".

Review the eMerge Top Ten and try some!

You can download the eMerge Top Ten list here. Contact  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it at TRG for help with pulling or reading the reports mentioned. If you learn something exciting,  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  and tell her about it!

Continue to Collect Patron Data and Segment As You Go

The more patron data you upload into the database, the more you can learn and do. Be sure you are collecting data from all of your patrons, including walk-up sales, comps, and attendees at free events. As you gather and catalog the data, keep your segmentation in mind and enter it as you enter the data. By segmenting as you go, in manageable chunks, you’ll save yourself a lot of time and be prepared for the annual data update.

Back to menu

 Resources

 Video demo of eMerge from TRG Arts (Password: TRG.coops123)

  Download GPAC's September 9 Presentation

 Download our Community Database flyer

  Download eMerge Top Ten: Where to Start: The first 10 things you should do when you log in to eMerge for the first time.

 Download How-To Guide for pulling mailing lists

 Upload Wizard Template-Returning Users

 Upload Wizard Guide-Returning Users.pdf 

Back to menu

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Who is eligible to participate? Is there a minimum number of lists or patrons that I can upload?
A: Any organization with an active GPAC membership can participate. (Click here to learn more about membership or check your membership status.) You may upload one list or one hundred, but you must upload at least one. Your organization can choose which, if any, to make available for trade.

Q: How much is this going to cost?
A: Nothing but your time. This program is completely free to all GPAC members. For additional fees, you can take advantage of other premium services from TRG Arts, including pulling lists based on demographic filters, campaign response reporting, or TRG Arts' assistance in pulling prospect lists. But the NCOA, basic reporting, and self-serve list pulls are all free.

Q: Will this program work for a visual arts or other non-performing arts organization?
A:  Yes! The Pittsburgh Arts Community Database can help ANY organization manage any type of patron data they use. Whether you track ticket buyers, members, subscribers, or visitors, this system can help you understand the way those people interact with your organization and other organizations in the community.

Q: My organization rarely does direct mail. What's in this for me?
A: The Pittsburgh Arts Community Database gives you a secure, internet-based way to store and manage all of your patron data, to have it regularly cleaned and updated, and to learn more about your audience so that you can more effectively communicate with them. GPAC will also analyze this aggregate data to learn more about arts patrons in the Pittsburgh area and to support the advocacy efforts we perform on behalf of the arts community.  

Q: Who will have access to my data?
A: You and whomever you choose to release it to. TRG Arts builds many levels of security into each community database. Patron information is secured on servers that are inaccessible to the public. Data is also secured through TRG Arts' permission-based list trading model. Each organization has complete control over which lists they will trade and when. Authorized database member users can access only the data other organizations choose to provide. Ethical data-sharing is built into the eMerge system, including the prohibition of phone list and email trades, which are governed by national and, often, local regulation

Q: What if I don't want to share any of my lists?
A: Trading is a perk, not an obligation of TRG Arts' database programs. Data that member organizations choose not to share is completely hidden from other users. This allows all members to use all of their data for their own research and analysis purposes while blocking data they do not wish to trade. 

Q: When can I get involved?
A: We will be accepting new organizations to the Database every other month (deadlines at the beginning of June, August, October, and December). 

Q: How much time and work will this be for me?
A: For the first submission, you will be asked to submit patron data for the past five years. TRG Arts recommends that you allot approximately 8-12 hours of staff time to organize and format your data. After the first submission, it should take significantly less time.

Back to menu

Contact 

Back to top