The University Musical Society (UMS), based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is one of the country’s leading performing arts presenters. In 2005, facing a significant and unexpected revenue shortfall revenue, the Board of UMS commissioned AEA Consulting to lead a strategic initiative to review the organization’s mission and business model, analyze the evolving context for UMS’s work, and develop a plan for making it a sustainable, healthy organization.

Through interviews with Board, staff, funders and other UMS stakeholders; an analysis of UMS’s strategic environment; the development of a financial model; and a review of practices of other leading arts presenters, AEA developed a series of recommendations to help the organization plan realistically and pro-actively in order to avoid a similar situation in the future.

UMS subsequently had one of the most successful presenting seasons in its history and used AEA’s report as the foundation for a more extended long-range planning process.

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