Tessitura is a mission-based nonprofit technology company dedicated to helping cultural organizations thrive. We were founded by seven cultural organizations as a member-owned cooperative. Today, we serve more than 800 arts and culture organizations in ten countries around the globe.

In 2001, the year Tessitura was founded, the profit-centered goals of the ticketing industry were at odds with the needs of the arts and culture sector. And that misalignment has persisted since that time. The Tessitura software was purpose-built for the needs of cultural organizations, and a consortium of seven nonprofit arts organizations came together to license the technology. Those founding organizations created Tessitura as a nonprofit for a simple and pragmatic reason: to support the business and technology needs of the arts and culture sector. Our nonprofit business model ensures that we can stay focused on our mission to help cultural organizations thrive.

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Tessitura incorporated as a co-op to ensure that everything from governance to community to innovation would stay focused on the needs of the arts and culture organizations it serves. A traditional tech company answers to investors who set corporate direction to maximize profits; Tessitura’s 15-person Board is composed of leaders from Tessitura’s member organizations, which are nonprofits themselves. This means that the organizations that use Tessitura’s technology are members, not traditional clients.

You can read more about our business model in this blog post.

No. Tessitura’s nonprofit status guides everything we do, from the markets we serve to the programs we offer. As a member-owned co-op, Tessitura focuses on meeting the needs of our member organizations — the arts and culture institutions that we serve via our products and services.

We have also made a commitment to serving the entire arts and culture sector. For example, we offer free quarterly webinars, open to the public, on topics related to increasing diversity, equity, accessibility and inclusion. Our Early Career Development program provides training and mentorship free of charge with the long-term goal of increasing racial and ethnic diversity in the workforce.

You can read more about our non-profit status in this blog post.

Tessitura’s board is comprised entirely of leaders of our member organizations. The board approves the annual budget, conducts nominating activities for new members, hires the CEO, and approves the business plans. As they are all dedicated to the success of their own non-profits, they are invested in ensuring that Tessitura is making decisions in the best interests of its members.

While our mission has remained the same since our founding, Tessitura’s leadership and vision have changed. In our first decade, we were in startup growth mode. Since that time, we have become dominant in many markets. As we start our third decade, we recognize that we have the potential to be a unique, galvanizing force in the arts and culture sector.

Under new leadership, Tessitura has adopted a vision: Working toward a day when every human in every community we serve has arts and culture as a meaningful part of their life. The ability to fundraise as a non-profit will allow us to bring that vision into reality.

Tessitura has a membership of more than 775 cultural organizations in ten countries. Most of the major orchestras, opera companies, dance companies, performing arts centers, theaters, art museums and science centers in the English-speaking world are now Tessitura members. More importantly, the ethos of collaboration that Tessitura has fostered among these organizations means that the Tessitura community genuinely works together to share ideas, learn and improve their businesses.

Perhaps what makes Tessitura unique in the sector is that we pervade a multitude of subsections of the broader cultural world:

• We are the only service organization in the arts and culture sector that crosses multiple genres.
• We are the only multinational arts and culture organizations that serves 10 countries around the world.
• We successfully provide valuable solutions and resources for both large and small cultural organizations, serving their unique needs.
• We are the only organization that provides support across multiple disciplines — ticketing, marketing, fundraising and beyond — within the arts and culture sector.

Tessitura sits at the intersection of all cultural organization and arts disciplines. We are accountable to our members and to our mission. Our work is dedicated to advancing the arts and culture sector.

The vision we set forth is not possible until the sector as a whole is healthy and thriving. We believe that a healthy technological infrastructure is an essential step toward building a healthy and thriving cultural sector. Over 20 years, Tessitura has proven a strong track record in providing sustainable infrastructure for arts and cultural organizations. To achieve our vision, we believe we need to start working at the systemic level. We aim to do that by being a pervasive and positive force for good that can fortify the entire sector.