Guild Hall has announced that it has been selected to join the Bloomberg Philanthropies Digital Accelerator Program, an initiative to strengthen technology and management practices and deliver dynamic programming.
Over the past three years, the Digital Accelerator Program has been a catalyst for strengthening nearly 150 cultural organizations across the U.S. and U.K. To date, the 40 institutions that were part of the first cohort cumulatively grew an additional $20 million in new revenue, including through fundraising, reached over 1 million new audience members, and engaged more than 4,000 new artists and partners.
Bloomberg Philanthropies held an open call for U.S.- and U.K.-based cultural organizations to apply for the program and evaluated applications based on each institution’s programmatic excellence, service to diverse communities, strong leadership and a sense of how they want to use technology for a specific goal aligned with the Digital Accelerator Program, as well as a plan to implement it.
Guild Hall is one of 200 nonprofit cultural organizations in 52 U.S. cities and 28 U.K. cities accepted into the program.
“This opportunity is one of the most important ones in Guild Hall’s 94-year history,” said Guild Hall Executive Director Andrea Grover. “We’ve just completed a physical renovation, and the Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Digital Accelerator Program will enable us to match the quality of our CRM to our new facility. Once completed, the patron experience will be easier and Guild Hall will be more sustainable and better equipped to serve our mission.”
Jennifer Brondo, Guild Hall’s Director of Operations, has been selected as the Tech Fellow for this vital project, with the goal of acquiring and implementing an all-encompassing Customer Relationship Management system (CRM) to more efficiently manage and build upon their constituents. The project will also include a new ticketing and membership system, to be launched in 2026.
Since 2021, Bloomberg Philanthropies has invested $128 million in the Digital Accelerator Program, helping what now totals nearly 350 arts organizations invest in new digital tools and training. The exact grant size for each organization is still in development for 2025 and is determined based on the scope of the proposed project.
Staff Writer on Jan 20, 2025