7 Things Every Arts Leader Should Stop Doing in 2026

Because your 2026 challenges won’t be solved with 2015 habits.

Arts leaders are entering 2026 carrying the weight of tight budgets, stretched teams, and a field still trying to rebuild predictable income. But here’s the good news: many of the biggest obstacles to revenue resilience are self-inflicted, baked into habits, structures, and assumptions we’ve simply carried forward.

If 2026 is the year you want real change, start by stopping the things that are draining time, diluting focus, and preventing recurring revenue from taking root.

Here are a few things TRG believes you should leave behind in 2025.

1. Stop putting all your energy into finding new audiences while the people who already came slip away

Arts organizations absolutely need new and different audiences. Fresh voices and fresh relationships matter; for mission, for relevance, and for long-term growth. But the field has spent years chasing the “new” at the expense of nurturing the “nearly there.”

We still see a pattern everywhere: an enormous investment in getting someone in the door for the first time… and almost no investment in getting them back for the second. Yet 80% of databases don’t have a future booking, which means your strongest opportunities for dependable revenue are often the people you’ve already met once.

This isn’t about choosing one group over another. It’s about recognizing that first-timers can’t become loyal audiences, members, or donors if we never invite them back.

Try this instead for 2026:

Shift budgets, staff time, and KPIs toward second visits, multi-buying, and recency. You probably don’t need more people at the top of the funnel. At least, not until you’ve stopped the leaks in the middle.

Think of it this way:

Welcoming new audiences is essential.
Helping them come back is transformational.

2. Stop treating subscriptions as the thing you must save

Subscriptions aren’t the point, they’re just one way to help people come more often. What matters isn’t the product, it’s the frequency of the relationship. Frequency is what strengthens trust, deepens loyalty, and eventually fuels membership and giving.

And frequency can be built in many forms: fixed packages, flex passes, monthly models, memberships, points schemes, Choose-Your-Owns. Younger audiences often prefer flexibility. Longtime audiences may prefer stability. Both are valid. The product should meet the behavior, not the other way around.

Trying to force one model to work for everyone creates stress for your team and confusion for your customers.

Try this instead for 2026:

Let 2026 be the year you take the pressure off the product and refocus on the outcome: more frequent attendance. Focus on getting people back sooner, in whatever format fits your business model. Let the product mold to the behavior, not the other way around.

Don’t chase the “perfect” format. Instead, nurture the behavior underneath it.

3. Stop planning one year at a time

Most organizations still plan budgets in 12-month cycles. But recurring revenue (whether from ticketing, membership, or giving) doesn’t grow on a one-season cycle. It grows through steady, predictable behavior over time.

We often find that very few organizations can actually name the multi-year path from first timer to repeat attender to subscriber/member to donor. Without that view, every year feels like starting from scratch.

Try this instead for 2026:

Choose one relationship segment (first-timers, lapsed attenders, multi-buyers, early donors) and sketch out what the next three years could look like for them.

Even one multi-year pathway gives your team clarity, reduces seasonal panic, and starts building the predictability you’ve been craving.

4. Stop structuring your organization as if your audience sees three separate departments

Audiences experience one organization. But internally, marketing, box office, and development often work toward separate goals, timelines, and definitions of success.

This episode of Leading the Way called this out: siloed goals create friction for your customers and heavy strain for your teams. And shared KPIs, like “donor-ready patrons,” used by North Carolina Symphony, are still the exception, not the norm.

Try this instead for 2026:

Pick one patron journey and design it collaboratively across teams; marketing, box office, development. Don’t reorganize everything at once. Just choose one journey (first-time attender, multi-buyer, new member) and decide together what “next steps” look like. Clarity grows trust both internally and externally.

Read: Stop Working in Silos. Start Selling Smarter.

5. Stop trying to do everything, every season

The pressure to deliver “all the things” leads to fatigue, rushed priorities, and a constant feeling of not doing enough. Leaders and their teams must get more comfortable with not doing everything.

This isn’t a lack of ambition. It’s respect for reality, and for your team’s energy.

Try this instead for 2026:

Choose a couple of important things that your organization will focus on this year, and let the rest wait.

Make space for the work that actually supports recurring revenue: getting people back, deepening relationships, and strengthening your pipeline. Less chaos. More progress.

6. Stop thinking of the box office as “just the box office”

Your box office probably has more direct human contact than any other part of your organization, and therefore more power to spark the next visit.

Yet most box office teams aren’t equipped or empowered to play a strategic role. Even a simple prompt like, “Your favorite seat is available next month, want me to save it for you?” can meaningfully shift behavior.

Try this instead for 2026:

Give your box office team a small set of “next visit” prompts and the freedom to use them.

Even a tiny increase in return visits compounds across a year. This is frequency work at its most human, and often the most effective.

7. Stop reaching for discounts the moment sales feel shaky

Discounting often feels like the quickest fix, and in moments of pressure, the field tends to turn to it far too quickly. But remember, discounting is a tool, not a strategy. Used out of habit, it erodes value and trains audiences to wait.

Try this instead for 2026:

Hold your pricing strategy steady long enough to learn from it. And when you do use discounts, use them with intention: early, limited, purposeful, and aligned with your value.

A thoughtful price strategy builds more trust, and often better revenue, than a desperate one. Have a look at some of these relevant resources: