Interview: Logan Vaden of DEVELOPMENT AT TUTS at Theatre Under The Stars

Logan Vaden has been a fixture on the Houston theater scene since he was a kid, and improbably, he still kind of is that young new kid on the block. Recently, he has joined Theatre Under the Stars as a Development Officer. BROADWAY WORLD writer Brett Cullum got a chance to talk to him about his new role raising money for TUTS!  Development in any arts or non-profit organization is a rough gig, so Logan reveals what it is like for him. 

Brett Cullum: This is an exciting new opportunity for you in the business that we know as show. So, Logan, what are you doing now? What does this title mean that you are doing for TUTS?

Logan Vaden: Yeah, so I am the development officer for Theater Under the Stars, and what that means is, I handle fundraising, but in particular, higher-level donors, so anything $10,000 and above.

Brett Cullum: So, how the heck do you find donors that are $10,000 and above? Because I know you can call me and ask me for money, but I'm probably not going to give you $20,000. 

Logan Vaden: Never say never. Well, that's the development mantra: never say never, but it's honestly a lot of research. We have what we call portfolios, and a portfolio is a group of people, usually ranging from 50 to 100 individuals, that you are focusing on cultivating a relationship with, with the goal of making significant donations from them. The portfolio that I received when I started working with Theater Under the Stars includes people who have attended our events, donated at our events, but have not necessarily converted into full-time donors or anything outside of event donations. My job, in particular, right now, with my current portfolio, is to research and see if they have an interest in the arts. Were they just the guest of someone who happened to have an extra ticket to the gala, or do they actually come to our shows? What do they do for a living? Are they able to make larger donations, $10,000 and above? So it's mainly a lot of research, and there are a lot of development tools that have been developed over the years that make that a lot easier, but it is a lot of (I hate to say it), but Facebook stalking, LinkedIn stalking, things like that, to figure out who your people are and what they're about.

Brett Cullum: Good ol' standbys, yes. I sometimes wish I could get paid for Facebook stalking! How long has Theatre Under the Stars been around? 

Logan Vaden: Since 1968.

Brett Cullum: Yes. It's a very well-established artistic group, so I think a lot of people think, “Well, shoot, don't they get all their money off of ticket sales, and season subscribers, and all of that?”

Logan Vaden: You would think so! Many people think that, but an arts group, any arts group —meaning not just theater; the museums are the same way, and the symphony is the same way. Ticket sales only cover about 60% of what we do at arts organizations. The rest of it is made up through donations and grants, which I wish were more widely known, because that 40% is a significant amount of money, and it's something that we need to survive.

Brett Cullum: So, what do you think is the biggest challenge of doing this for an organization like Theater Under the Stars?

Logan Vaden: I think it's exactly what you just said. It's an assumption that they've been around forever; surely they already have a pool of donors that have been giving for decades, and that's been enough. However, the thing with Tuts is that we're always looking to grow and create new work. We're always looking for higher-quality productions, which means more money. So, even though we have a fairly solid base of donors, there will always be a need for more, as we continually strive to expand our efforts. This is because the arts in Houston continue to grow, and the expectation of quality also continues to rise. And TUTS is at the forefront of that.

Brett Cullum: Yes, definitely. You have the most expensive shows in town. These huge musicals feature large sets, elaborate costumes, and impressive special effects. You host a lot of events, and I've seen on Facebook that you organize some events and other similar activities. Speaking of stalking on social media, I noticed that you offer opportunities for people to donate at a lower level. Can you tell me a little bit about that? Because, obviously, not everybody's going to be a $10,000 donor.

Logan Vaden: Sure, yeah, our events are a ton of fun, especially if you're a theater lover. We do our annual gala, which this year is completely BACK TO THE FUTURE themed, and that is in November. BACK TO THE FUTURE is one of our upcoming shows. And Jeremy Jordan will be on hand to perform for us, which is truly exciting. I'm a huge fan of Jeremy Jordan. Additionally, aside from the gala, which is our largest fundraising event of the year, we also host our Leading Ladies Luncheon. The Leading Ladies is what we call an affinity group here at TUTS. They make a donation to be part of this group, but they get to be behind the scenes, so they are present at our first meet-and-greets with the cast. They help serve food to the cast. They help organize small events that are essentially stewardship events between the artists and the TUTS staff. We host a luncheon every year with them, which specifically benefits our education programs. We honor an educator each year at that luncheon.

And then the newest event that we have is our Tony party, called “Brews and Broadway.” We did this for the first time this past summer. I was in charge of that event. It was a ton of fun. It was also something that, quite literally, the first day I walked into TUTS, I got called in to Lauren Herpin, our Director of Development's office, and she said, “Hey, we want to do this. It's in a month and a half; we haven't announced it yet. It's yours. Plan it!”

Brett Cullum: Welcome, and happy first day at TUTS!

Logan Vaden: Yeah, that was my first day at Theatre Under the Stars, and it was a blast. It was, it was, definitely more of a party crowd than, say, our gala, but it was at a brewery, and we showed the Tonys, we had Tony trivia, and Tony parties, and Tony games, and Tony Bingo, and it was just a ton of fun. And you know, you're raising money for something that's important, but having a blast while doing it.

Brett Cullum: Yeah, that's something I'm very jealous of. Rarely does my job involve breweries, parties, or galas with Jeremy Jordan. We just don't do that. So, I have known you since way back when! I know you've been involved in the entertainment and performing arts for decades. Did you ever think you'd be on the business side of show business? Did you see this in your future, or is it a new development?

Logan Vaden: I don't think I realized it at the time, but when I was probably about 13 years old, I grew up at a theater company called Applause Theatre Company, which was out in the Spring area. It was around for about 20 years; it's no longer there, but they would always mention it in the pre-show speeches, and even on the voicemail when you called the theater's phone, stating that we're a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization. And at 13, I was like, “What is this combination of letters and numbers? Like, what does that mean?” And so I started asking a lot of questions about nonprofits, how they work, what it means, and how to become a nonprofit. I didn't really think that would eventually translate into a career on the other side of the curtain, but here we are, and I'm glad I asked those questions. Full disclosure: this is not something I went to school for. I went to school for musical theater, and even then, I didn't finish. However, it's because of my curiosity at a young age and the education I received through several nonprofit organizations that I am here today.

Brett Cullum: Well, you've always been a producer. I mean, you've always been somebody who raises money for projects around town, so now you're just doing it on a much larger scale. It's a natural progression for you, which makes it exciting.

Logan Vaden: Right, and I grew up at TUTS. I was never an official student of the Humphreys School, but I started seeing TUTS shows when I was 11 or 12 years old. Never did I dream that I would actually work in this building at the Hobby Center, but here we are, and it's a really cool thing for me. I think my first TUTS show was GREASE, and Frankie Avalon played the teen angel.

I really chased this job. This job was listed for about six months or so. I had applied for it when it was first listed, and then I didn't hear anything back. And then, in casual job searching, it popped up again, and I went to apply, only to find that I had already applied for this. I was like, “Well, it's still open, they clearly haven't found, like, the perfect person, and I really think I'm the perfect person for this.” So I ended up reaching out to Lauren, our development director, and saying, “Hey, I think I'm the perfect person. Can we talk?” And we set up a time to talk, and then the rest is history.