Since its inception as a US$15,000 event in the 1960s, the festival has been growing and this year it attracted some 10,000 visitors to Adelaide for the 17-day event, which generated more than $15 million for the local economy.

Ed Parker, Adelaide Bank Festival of Arts financial controller, said the organization had developed a diverse revenue base requiring contact management and project tracking processes. A non-integrated accounting system made it difficult for the festival to reconcile committed versus received money.

In previous years, each database was managed by sales and marketing staff and was not integrated with the organization's core financial system.

Now the festival has integrated its Sage CRM system with a Sage ERP accounts management system to handle its 20,000 sponsors. The system will also manage a long list of supporters and ticket buyers for its biennial program of 130 performances.

In order to keep its sponsorship pipeline fully fuelled and informed, the festival is in regular contact with up to 300 different companies during the year.