When I first started reading your message, I was really struck by the similarity between our groups. We're 50 years old, our budget runs about $30,000 a year, we perform in a former church, and we usually see between 60 and 100 audience members per show. The differences are that we only have a 100-seat house, our community numbers about 30,000, so we have a much larger base to draw from (I'm impressed that you pull in 100 per show!), we do 5 shows a season, and we either break even or come out a little ahead each year. No grants, just ticket sales. A few suggestions come to mind, none of which may work for you, but I'll give it a whirl. The first is to raise ticket prices to generate more income; only look at that option if you've been charging the same price for years, and other similar venues are charging more. The second is to hold a fundraiser during your slack time -- our theater puts on a musical-comedy cabaret-type show with song parodies about our dear state of Delaware (believe me, I write most of the lyrics, and it ain't hard to come up with stuff to make fun of!). We do it at the end of each season, and it's one of the hottest tickets in town -- along with the show, we sell beer, wine, mixed drinks and snacks throughout the performance, and before and during the show, we sell raffle tickets for prizes donated by local merchants. The fundraiser's 6 performances sell out regularly, and last year we netted about $7500 from it.

Finally, take a look at increasing the number of season ticket holders with some sort of drive or campaign. The beauty of season ticket holders is that they're loyal to you, they give you great word-of-mouth publicity, they bring their friends (who may in turn become season ticket holders), and if they don't show up for a show, you still have their money! Treat them well -- they're your best asset.