Deeper Insights Through Nonprofit Ticketing And Fundraising Software

Client: Honens Location: Calgary, Alberta Client type: Festival

The only ticketing and fundraising solution that met Honens's needs

The annual Honens Festival is one of Canada’s premier classical music events, and the prestigious Honens International Piano Competition attracts global audiences every three years.

As a nonprofit arts organisation, Honens chose Spektrix as a connected way to manage ticketing, CRM, marketing, and fundraising, helping the organisation build philanthropy and earned revenue side by side. Honens switched to Spektrix in 2020 to manage donor data and relationships more effectively, help the whole team feel confident using their CRM system, and bring ticketing in-house to better understand audience behaviour.

For Honens, choosing Spektrix as their ticketing and fundraising software meant bringing those tools together in one connected solution.

80%

of requirements met after a detailed review of Spektrix
Automated insights

giving leaders bespoke reports they can rely on.
Shared donor knowledge

so any team member can prepare for conversations

Ease of use across the team

Amanda Smith, Director of Marketing & Communications, first discovered Spektrix at an Arts Reach conference. When she began comparing ticketing systems more seriously, she wanted to replace an overcomplicated CRM with something the whole team could use with confidence. It soon became clear that Spektrix was the only option that met Honens’s needs.

“The consultant we worked with had us go through a list of functions we might require, and Spektrix checked more than 80% of the boxes.”

Many team members were unwilling to use the previous event ticketing software, or struggled to run basic reports. Amanda soon discovered that Spektrix is designed to make everyday ticketing work easier, with usability and access to connected data as a priority. If you are looking for practical ideas, there are also six ways to make the most of time in the box office, helping teams turn quieter moments into long-term gains.

The user experience of Spektrix was superior in so many ways to anything else out there.

Amanda Smith

Director of Marketing & Communications

Better access to data and insight

After just six months with Spektrix, Amanda and her colleague Jennifer Weihmann, Director of Audience & Donor Engagement, were confident that everyone in the organisation could find the information they needed, while senior colleagues benefited from regular, automated insight and tailored reports. Jennifer told us that Spektrix gives her greater flexibility and more streamlined workflows, helping the whole team store and access patron data more efficiently.

Those efforts to design relevant prompts for every stage of the customer journey can be supported by event email automation that lets templates and data handle more of the routine work.

“The four or five steps that I would have to do in our previous system, I can do in one step in Spektrix. The efficiency of it all is very appealing for me.”

“I was in Spektrix playing with some reports and was amazed – I was getting the data I needed without even trying! It was very exciting.”
– Amanda Smith, Director of Marketing & Communications

Working together

With the whole team using the same connected solution, it is easier for Honens to communicate with ticket buyers, streamline booking paths, identify potential donors, and nurture relationships with supporters over time.

“I appreciate that I can add and customize notes for each person. The team can see them, and prepare for conversations with donors more effectively when I’m not available.”

There have already been conversations among the five nonprofit arts organisations using Spektrix in Calgary about starting a user group. Honens looks forward to connecting with the wider Spektrix community through its regular program of webinars, in-person events, and conferences.

“I’m hopeful this will create better communication between arts organisations – sharing best practices both in regard to Spektrix, and in general arts management.”

Simplicity and support from day one

Once Honens decided to join Spektrix, they were matched with a dedicated project manager, Samantha, to support their implementation. Every new user organisation works with a dedicated implementation project manager, and Sam brought an extra level of fundraising expertise to help the Honens team get started.

“During the onboarding process, Sam was great, she was so supportive.”

Now that they are live, Honens can continue to rely on the client success team at Spektrix. With expertise ranging from web integrations and event ticketing to marketing and nonprofit fundraising, help is available when it is needed most through an online Support Centre, on-demand training, regular events, and a dedicated team. They are there to provide in-depth guidance for new users, configure the system to meet their needs, and work together to find solutions.

It's reassuring… We felt listened to. They're professional and creative, working together as a team to find creative solutions to our problems.

Amanda Smith

Director of Marketing & Communications

One connected solution for long-term success

Spektrix gives Honens a stronger foundation for audience engagement by connecting ticketing, donor relationships, reporting, and day-to-day workflows in one solution. That makes it easier for the team to work with confidence today while building stronger patron and donor relationships over time.

By choosing technology that not only supports ticketing and fundraising, but also helps teams build skills and use connected data more effectively, organisations can strengthen internal confidence and create better experiences for patrons and supporters. Honens’ experience shows how the right ticketing and fundraising software can make those gains feel achievable for a small team.

Together with tools that deliver higher email engagement with less effort, that connected approach helps teams keep communications effective without adding extra workload.