> The serious business of circus

> Promoting arts in Europe

> The everyman philanthropist

> Fundraising and marketing ISSUE 54 | APRIL 2014

A few of our favourite fans

Merging fundraising and marketing

Giving is good for you

A few of our favourite fans

Contents

> RegularsSpotlight ................................................................. 3Research round up ............................................ 4Arts Fundraising & Philanthropy Programme ........................ 12Just a minute ..................................................... 22

> Fundraising and marketing A few of our favourite fans ........................... 6Merging fundraising and marketing .......... 9Case study: Promoting arts in Europe .... 14Case study: The serious business of circus ......................................................................... 16The everyman philanthropist ..................... 18 Giving is good for you ................................... 20

Research Roundup

JAM is sponsored byJAM is published by

www.a-m-a.co.uk

Merging fundraising and marketing

Giving is good for you

JAM is compiled and edited by Helen Bolt with Cath Hume.

JAM is published by the Arts Marketing Association7a Clifton Court, Cambridge CB1 7BNt 01223 578078e info@a-m-a.co.ukw www.a-m-a.co.ukTw @amadigital

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JAM is published four times per annum.UK subscription rates £39 per annumOverseas subscription rates £59 per annum6-month trial membership: receive JAM and benefit from member rates for training events, workshops and conference for just £59 + VAT. e sophie@a-m-a.co.uk

© Arts Marketing Association, 2014. All rights are reserved and reproduction of any parts is not allowed without the written permission of the publishers.Opinions expressed in JAM are not necessarily those of the AMA and no responsibility is accepted for advertising content. Any material submitted for publication may be edited for reasons of style, content or available space. Meanings will not be altered without permission from the author.ISSN 1474-1172

Make JAM for the AMAJAM is always on the lookout for new writers with good ideas for case studies and features, especially from some of those smaller organisations out there.

If you would like to contribute, please email: helen@a-m-a.co.uk

JAM is available in large print or electronic format.

e helen@a-m-a.co.ukt 01223 578078

JAM is available at www.a-m-a.co.uk/jam

In a Circus: © Florence Delahaye /plainpicture

Just a minute

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www.target-live.co.uk

> EDITORIAL

A united front

Spotlight on Jake Young

I’ve come to arts marketing via an … eclectic route. Happily / hopefully this means I bring with me eclectic experience and eclectic skills.

I grew up in Cambridgeshire and have always had a love for art and expression. Growing up with a mechanically-minded brother meant that from a young age my love of making things that look pretty was fused with – and often destroyed by – a rigorous process of testing, dismantling, understanding and improving (although usually this went wrong at the dismantling phase.) This was combined with the influence of a talented older sister with a penchant for sociology, communications and media, for whom my friends and I were often bribed into morally questionable case studies.

When the time came, all these influences pointed me towards a degree that combines art, sociology

and engineering – architecture. I studied architecture at the Leeds

School of Architecture, Landscape and Design. Upon graduating while the construction industry was at a standstill I moved to Norwich to pursue freelance design, all the while subsidising myself with that gold-standard of wandering graduate practices – making below-par cappuccinos in pretentious cafes. It was through the freelance work I undertook that I had my first flirtations with marketing and sales collateral.

My travels then took me back to my home city of Cambridge where I began working for the world’s largest, very corporate, car club. In a short period of time I moved from a member of the field marketing team to having responsibility for the entire Cambridge operation, covering the whole marketing mix and running a field team. I found that I had a budding knack for marketing despite the lack of

formal training, yet was yearning to be more involved with design again.

When I saw an opportunity to join the AMA’s team not only as a marketer, but also as a designer, I jumped at the opportunity. For the last 9 months I have enjoyed fusing my design background with growing marketing experience, and look forward to the onward journey.

> SPOTLIGHT

Jake Young Marketing and Design Coordinator Arts Marketing Association e jake@a-m-a.co.uk w www.a-m-a.co.uk

Fundraising and marketing is the timely topic for this spring issue of JAM. We’ve been here before. A long-ago JAM discussed the

importance of these two functions working successfully together and it seems that now, more than ever before, this is something of an important relationship to which we should aspire.

Heather Maitland rounds up some research into changes in attitudes to charitable giving in this economic climate (page 4) while Laura Greenfield explores how we can use our databases of attenders to find our favourite fans and possible donors (page 6).

On page 9 Sarah Gee looks at how we can successfully merge fundraising

and marketing and how the different functions can and should work together for the benefit of the organisation.

Michelle Wright from the Arts Fundraising & Philanthropy programme, of which the AMA is a consortium partner, takes over the Middle Pages to explain why increasing fundraising expertise is so very important and how you can get involved.

Dr Alan Clarke shares some of his experiences of ‘going into Europe’ with a range of European-funded projects (page 14) and Craig Gamble Pugh from Greentop Circus takes a look at how Circus schools are uniting to develop a culture of Circus and a culture of fundraising (page 16).

Caroline McCormick explores the possibilities of taking philanthropy further than cash gift giving while on

page 20 John Nickson considers if the arts and cultural sector is doing a good job of asking.

We head to Aspex in Portsmouth to spend 60 seconds finding out about their Communications and Audience Development Manager; Gareth Colwell and a well-designed spotlight falls on the AMA’s Jake Young.

Helen Bolt Marketing Manager, AMA conferenceand JAM editore helen@a-m-a.co.uktw @amadigital

JAM 54 > 3

We’re in the UK’s longest, deepest post war recession and Middle England has fled to Aldi

and Lidl. That has to be bad news for charitable giving.

But is it? The number giving to charity in a typical month has held steady for 30 years1 at around 56%. There have been ups and downs of, at most, two or three percentage points in the past decade. So, 28.4 million individuals gave £9.3 billion in 2011/122 (and 1% of this goes to the arts). Just a quarter of us do little or no charitable activity.3

So why hasn’t the recession had more of an impact? Maybe it’s because we don’t give in proportion to our disposable income. The least well off give most: the poorest 10% of households donate 3.6% of their total household spending while the richest donate 1.1% of theirs.

In 2011/12, the median monthly gift was £10.2 This has fallen, but only in line with overall household spending.1 A small number of donors give very large amounts and the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) estimates that these fell from 100 gifts worth a total of £1 billion in 2008/9 to 80 worth £872 million in 2011/12.2

Charities paint a mixed picture, though. The top 500 say their income in 2011/2 was down by £70 million on the previous year with the largest losing the most.4 But over five years since 2008, the opposite is true. Bigger charities grew more than smaller charities although this was not at their expense.1

The real difference is made by just a few people: 9% of the population are responsible for two thirds of all charitable activity. These are people who believe it is important to help others and feel rewarded by doing so. They feel a sense of connection to their community and are much more likely to say ‘hello’ to people on the street in their neighbourhood. Perhaps this sense of connection is why they are interested in a greater variety of social causes than those who give less time and money.

But there has been a shift in what we give to. Donations to social causes are down and those to animal charities significantly up.4 How can this be, if community is so important to the people who do the most?

Research commissioned by the Centre for Charitable Giving and Philanthropy (CGAP) indicates some resistance to giving as a substitute for public spending.1 And people want to help make a lasting change, not provide a temporary solution.5

But this is too simplistic an explanation. A passionate belief in social justice is not necessarily followed up by action. People don’t donate where the money is most urgently needed but to causes that promote their own preferences, support people like themselves and relate to their own life experiences.1 97% say their donations reflect their personal values. Experiences like seeing severe hardship at first hand when travelling, being ill or suffering a loss in the family can all spark a long-term commitment to a particular cause.6

What people give to depends on their moral framework. Moral conventionalists tend to be passive citizens and so donate to local causes that are relevant to their own family’s needs and concerns. Moral individualists give to get something back, like social recognition or career advancement. Moral critics are committed to social change but tend to be idealists so become disappointed with how charities operate.1

It’s complicated. Donors talk about how choosing causes to support is stressful and, because they are aware of how little they really know about

Exasperated, cynical and brokeHeather Maitland looks at changes in attitudes to charitable giving in this economic climate

The real difference is made by just a few people: 9% of the population are responsible for two thirds of all charitable activity

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the cause, ultimately exasperating.1 This means the proportion of those feeling under pressure from charities has increased from 60% in 2010 to 68% in 2012, with charity workers on the street and high volumes of direct mail a particular irritation.6

Of those who do not donate, 42% say it’s because they cannot afford it.4 But is this just an excuse? Nowadays, not everybody agrees we need charities with a social focus. People who give at least £10 a month are more likely to believe that there is ‘quite a lot of poverty in Britain today’ and that it is caused by social injustice. They are much less likely to blame poverty on laziness or a lack of willpower.3

There is some evidence that we are increasingly seeing what we give as an investment rather than altruism.3 We want a return. Just less than three quarters of people said they would only give to charities that demonstrated their impact clearly and 83% that more hard evidence would be likely to prompt a big increase in their giving. Three quarters of donors, though, are happy with the information they already receive.6

Corporate donors have also become more focused on getting a return, albeit in the long term, especially since leading economists in the 80s argued that altruistic donations were a misuse of shareholders’ money. This enlightened self-interest comes from a belief that a better society produces a better business environment.7

We’ve got cynical, too. Many people are suspicious about the motives of people who give money to charity.6 Only half of those who do not donate think that charities are trustworthy. A third thinks that charities spend

too much on administration.4 There doesn’t appear to be anything as serious as a crisis of confidence, though. A third of people say their views of charities have grown more positive against a quarter who say their views are now less positive.7

As people get older, they become more likely to give, peaking at 65% of over 65s compared to 39% of under 24s.8 So it may be a cause for concern that older people are more likely to feel increasingly negative about charities. Negative views focus around expenditure on running costs and executive salaries.7 These views are possibly ill-informed. One study found, depressingly, that perceptions of a charity’s efficiency are often judged by the frequency and quality of direct mail.1

This trend towards cynicism also applies to corporate sponsorship. Three studies in the past five years have found a positive relationship between the amount of corporate giving and financial performance.8 Sponsors believe this is because their relationship with a cause means customers and stakeholders view them more positively.9

Convention says that this positive view depends on a clear logic for the sponsorship. Customers need to understand the common area of interest between the charity and the company – the ‘fit’. An oil company and a conservation charity, for example, both have an interest in the environment, which makes them a good fit.

Recent research, however, points out that consumers and stakeholders are not stupid. They can spot that partners like these have opposing impacts on the common area of concern – one tends to conserve the environment and the other to pollute it. This makes them

suspicious of the company’s motives. As a result they view both company and the cause less positively.9

Consumers and stakeholders take their cues for this from just a few signals as they don’t have the knowledge, time and motivation to evaluate the sponsorship deal properly. Their judgements about the fit are based on the type of company and the type of cause. Their judgements about the sincerity of the relationship come from associations specific to the company and charity brands. They are particularly suspicious if messages come from the sponsor rather than the charity and if they overemphasise the company not the cause.9

The more touch points between the cause and the company, the more suspicious they are. The researchers suggest that both charities and companies should choose partners in a different area to themselves.9

Another study supports this, showing that cause-related marketing campaigns more effectively drive sales of frivolous, luxury products.8

So, in an age of consumer cynicism, maybe the oil company would benefit more if it focused on healthcare or even the arts rather than ducks.

> RESEARCH ROUND-UP

FOOTNOTES

Heather MaitlandConsultant and Associate Fellow at the Centre for Cultural Policy Studies, University of Warwicke heather@heathermaitland.co.ukw www.heathermaitland.co.uk

1. CGAP Five-year review 2008-2013, Centre for Charitable Giving and Philanthropy, 2013

2. Karl Wilding, ‘Charitable Giving in Britain: where now and what next?’ NCVO, October 2013 downloaded on 21/2/2014 from www.slideshare.net/karlwilding/charitable-giving-in-the-uk?qid=aa9079d0-8749-4d1f-930c-41187381425e&v=default&b=&from_search=1

3. Britain’s Civic Core: who are the people powering Britain’s charities?, Charities Aid Foundation, September 2013

4. Michael Wagstaff, ‘How the public is responding to charitable causes in the current climate’, YouGov downloaded on

21/2/2014 from www.slideshare.net/iof_events/how-the-public-is-responding-to-charitable-causes-in-the-current-climate-michael-wagstaff-you-gov?qid=ad2ebf56-0bbf-4a27-af57-f1cb56b8e532&v=defa-ult&b=&from_search=1

5. Why We Give, Charities Aid Foundation, 2014

6. Bobby Duffy, ‘Mind the Gap: a new crisis of trust?’, Ipsos MORI Social Research Institute, March 2014 downloaded 6/3/2014 from www.slideshare.net/IpsosMORI/mind-the-gap-a-new-crisis-of-trust-31952896?qid=0f288f2a-8a0d-4937-bc79-1a116f593c58&v=qf1&b=&from_search=1

7. Arthur Gautier and Anne Claire Pache, ‘Corporate Philanthropy: a review and assessment’, Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, November 2013

8. A Year of Giving, Charities Aid Foundation, November 2013

9. Ravi Pappu and T. Bettina Cornwell, ‘Corporate Sponsorship as an Image Platform: understanding the roles of relationship fit and sponsor-sponsee similarity’, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, 2014

JAM 54 > 5

Laura Greenfield looks at using your database of attenders to find the donors to help support your organisation

The people who donate money to your organisation are among your most devoted fans. Your donors don’t just care enough to buy tickets: they care so much they are happy to pay ‘over the odds’ to do so.

Donors tend to share some key characteristics: they are loyal, engaged and enthusiastic. At the moment it seems as though almost all arts organisations are attempting to identify new potential donors, and being able to pinpoint the audience members who share these characteristics is an ideal starting point. These groups are the most likely to sign up for regular giving or membership if you ask them and while more people will always say ‘no’ rather than ‘yes’, focusing on the people in this group will give you the best chance of success.

If you can identify individuals who are not only dedicated but also wealthy, then you have a pool of prospects that may be able to make major and transformative gifts. In 2012 Arts Quarter surveyed 126 arts organisations and found that 3.4% of the individuals in their databases had personal wealth (not including the value of their homes) of more than £1m (Increasing Individual Giving to the Arts

A few of our favourite fans

www.artsquarter.co.uk/reports.html). These individuals are likely to be able to make or influence donations of £5,000 or more if cultivated well. While only a small proportion of these people will ever make major donations to your organisation, this is still a very promising statistic. For example, if your database has 150,000 people in it, you would only need 0.034% of people to donate £5,000 in order to raise £250,000.

Many organisations have an amazing but under- used resource for identifying the devoted and wealthy audience members who are likely to become their next donors. Ticketing databases contain a huge amount of information on audience behaviour and preferences, and even on their wealth.

Michael Nabarro, Co-founder and Managing Director of Spektrix, says: ‘Identifying major donors among your audience base may feel a bit like finding a needle in a hay stack. But your database is one of the key tools you have to shrink that hay stack. Ticketing systems typically provide a set of tools to allow marketers to segment their audiences, and these tools are often underused when it comes to fundraising’.

6 > JAM 54

> FEATURE

The data available from organisation to organisation can vary hugely, and of course no-one has a tick box that allows you to segment by ‘enthusiasm’ or ‘loyalty’. Despite this, every database should contain some information to allow you to make conclusions about these characteristics, as illustrated below. While data on wealth might initially seem even more limited, there should be some information to guide you, as well as the option to augment your existing data with ‘wealth screening’.

QUESTIONS TO ASK WHEN LOOKING FOR YOUR MOST DEDICATED AUDIENCE MEMBERS:

How often do they visit?How often do your most enthusiastic audience members visit? Once you have worked out the ‘peak’ attendance for your organisation, you can segment based on this data.

For a gallery with quarterly exhibitions ‘peak’ attendance may be four times per year, as most people will only visit each exhibition once. For a theatre with a different production every week, four times a year might be relatively low. Attendance levels will also vary based on location: in the centre of London people can split their

time between many venues, but in a rural area they have limited choice.

How long have they been coming to your venue?You may have audience members who have been visiting for decades – maybe since your venue or organisation was founded. In fact, for almost all organisations, some audience members have been visiting for longer than data has been collected about their visits. Nonetheless, it can be a key indicator of loyalty. While attendance may drop at different times of life (for example, if someone has young children or has mobility issues) this does not necessarily mean that enthusiasm has dropped.

Are they signed up for your mailing list?Your most engaged audience members will want to know what’s going on, and may even be signed up to multiple mailing lists (for example, both post and email, or mailing lists for both dance and drama). You can also look at how often people open the emails, and how often they click through to find out more. If information about memberships or donations is included in newsletters, these click throughs will be particularly relevant.

Many organisations have an amazing but under-used resource for identifying the devoted and wealthy audience members who are likely to become their next donors. Ticketing databases contain a huge amount of information on audience behaviour and preferences, and even on their wealth

JAM 54 > 7

Do they make small donations or buy extras regularly?If you ask people to make small donations while buying tickets online, look at the individuals who choose to do this every time they buy a ticket. Better yet, look at those who choose to donate more than the suggested amount. Alternatively, look at people who always choose to add on merchandise, like programmes or play texts.

QUESTIONS TO ASK WHEN LOOKING FOR YOUR WEALTHIEST AUDIENCE MEMBERS

How expensive are the tickets they buy?Audience members who always sit in your most expensive seats or buy your premium tickets are more likely to have the capacity to donate than those who take advantage of standby or restricted-view prices. An audience member’s total spend per year may also be significant. Like everything else, this will vary from organisation to organisation, but anyone who spends more than £1,000 a year on tickets seems like a strong prospect.

Where do they live?You know your local area, and can identify where the most expensive house are. You could look for people in particular postcodes or boroughs, or even on particular streets. You can also cross reference addresses against Land Registry data through websites like www.mouseprice.com and www.zoopla.co.uk in order to find out property prices.

Have they been identified as wealthy?It is possible pay to have your database ‘wealth screened’. This involves matching the people in your database against a ‘wealth intelligence database’ of people with the capacity to give or influence donations of £5,000 or more. You pay to find out who the wealthy people in your database are, but you can usually get a free summary report to start with. This service is offered by a number of organisations, including Prospecting for Gold (www.prospectingforgold.co.uk) and Arts Quarter (www.artsquarter.co.uk). While there are costs involved and the information provided can only be used as a guide (the wealth databases are not infallible) it can be a helpful tool to identify major donor prospects, and perhaps kick start a major giving programme.

By asking these questions, you should be able to identify the people most likely to become your new members, regular donors, and even major donors. Your ticketing database can then continue to support you as you begin the process of cultivating your prospects, providing valuable information on the exhibitions or productions they enjoy, when they like to visit, and even how far in advance they like to plan

Laura GreenfieldArts fundraiser, Head of Development at Cambridge Arts Theatre. Trustee at Phakama UK Tw @LauraVNG e laura.greenfield.fr@gmail.com

By asking these questions, you should be able to identify the people most likely to become your new members, regular donors, and even major donors

> FEATURE

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Merging fundraising and marketingSarah Gee takes a look at how different functions can, and should, work together for the benefit of the organisation

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity.

> FEATURE

The opening lines of A Tale of Two Cities seem curiously apt for the landscape in which we operate today; these truly

could be revolutionary times. We have never known so much about our audiences, had access to so much data, and yet we have never ignored so much potential to reach so many people. Put simply, we cannot afford to do that any longer. We have to concentrate on building relationships, of all sorts, with our audiences as it’s this fan base that will help sustain us as other types of funding and monetary investment dwindle.

Let’s start by examining what we know about audiences per se. There’s a proven link between frequency, loyalty and propensity to give – customers who visit regularly are more likely to support philanthropically. Through profiling, we can tell what media they consume, where they shop, how often they buy a new car. Through wealth screening, we can pinpoint decision makers, FTSE 500 Directors, and trustees of charitable foundations who are already our fans. Through geo-tagging, we can

find where our Twitter followers are located. Through Area Profile Reports, we can find more people like our existing attenders. And so on … that’s all information that could be gold dust to a fundraiser, and yet it often stays buried in other departments, for want of a conversation and a sharing session.

So why is this information not shared? There are many complex reasons, but the most common ones in my experience are silo-working and personal fiefdoms – in other words, marketers and fundraisers not talking to each other, as they believe they have different disciplines, and they jealously guard ‘their’ people, rather than thinking of them as organisational contacts. I find that baffling. As a regular attender at a

range of arts and cultural venues, I don’t think someone should be ‘owned’ by one department or another. I have a relationship with the overall brand, I want to feel that I’m being treated with respect and my support is being appreciated.

In some cases I may wish to join a membership scheme to get advance information, feel more involved or grab tickets before anyone else can get their hands on them (David Tennant in Richard II, anyone?); in others I may make a one-off or a regular donation to support the company’s work. I am, of course, more likely to give if I’m asked and I’m happy for someone to make suggestions, but I really don’t want to feel (or worse still, know) that I’m being passed from one team to another in the process.

I don’t think someone should be ‘owned’ by one department or another. I have a relationship with the overall brand, and I want to feel that I’m being treated with respect, and my support is being appreciated

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For me, it has always made sense for marketing, communications and fundraising to work closely together – or even to be part of a single team – because these functions are fundamentally about your organisation’s interaction, externally, with people.

Marketing has a key role to play in helping fundraisers raise more money, particularly from individual giving. Think about it, marketers know where potential donors live, in the same way that the development team knows where the current and

lapsed donors live. One plus one can equal three if you work together. And by all working together, we can put customers – visitors, donors, audiences, stakeholders and any other descriptor you care to deploy – at the centre of an organisation’s decision-making processes, which is something we all aspire to. You will break down organisational silos, and you’ll ensure that there’s a single external message and greater clarity on your brand (fundraisers know this as the Case for Support – it’s basically the same thing). You’ll

So why is this information not shared? There are many complex reasons, but the most common ones in my experience are silo-working and personal fiefdoms – in other words, marketers and fundraisers not talking to each other, as they believe they have different disciplines, and they jealously guard ‘their’ people, rather than thinking of them as organisational contacts

probably be able to devote more resources to internal and external research because there will be two teams needing the same or similar information. As a company/charity, you’ll raise more money, and donors are more likely to buy tickets and visit more often, so a virtuous circle is established.

On the communications side too, colleagues can provide enormous support, as how the organisation is perceived in the wider world is absolutely key for successful fundraising. Think about the key people in your business – the visionaries, the artistic leaders – and how much easier it would be to convince people to support your work if they were household names. We live in an era where the cult of celebrity is difficult to ignore.

I know a fair bit about that, as I joined the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra just after Sir Simon Rattle left. The external perception was that it was an organisation in flux, without strong leadership, and it made fundraising challenging until the new Music Director became more established. The way we changed perceptions, and turned around the fundraising situation, was through a sustained campaign of positive news stories,

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which saw fundraisers working very closely with the communications team to pump out clear and consistent key messages.

So how could we work better together in the future? Well, it seems that the revolution starts here. The recent announcement by Arts Council England (ACE) that those bidding for National Portfolio Organisation status should ‘be committed to sharing approaches (across arts and museums) to the capture of audience data, using industry standards for capture, sharing, reporting and audience analytics’ is a hugely exciting step forward for the entire sector, as the more we know about our audiences, the more we know about our existing, potential and lapsed donors. Presenting organisations, touring companies, and free-entry venues have most definitely had a more difficult time to date, without direct access to audience data, if at all. This edict from ACE could be a game changer, and let’s hope that it’s rolled out across the UK soon.

What else could we do to ensure a good relationship between fundraising, communications and marketing? Here are some simple tips:

Start thinking about things from the end user’s perspectiveWalk through an individual’s relationship with your organisation and spot opportunities where a more coherent and integrated approach might build a stronger relationship with them. I’m not talking about finding new points to sell things to them; I’m talking about giving

support and information, rather than concentrating solely on getting money; and connecting with them, not conning them.

Stop making assumptions about peopleFor sure, we can use segmentation tools, and extrapolate data until we’re blue in the face, but these are people we could speak to. So let’s find out more about them directly, in particular why they love your arts or cultural organisation, and what might motivate them to give. There’s an old fundraising adage: ask for money and you’ll get advice; ask for advice and you’ll get money. True!

Start connecting with colleaguesIn this brave new world, we are all ambassadors for our organisations. Everyone has a role to play in fundraising, and we all have friends, neighbours, family members, or professional contacts who could help secure funds. Think of it as a big game of ‘six degrees of Kevin Bacon’: we can all reach people within six

A DEFINITION: FUNDRAISED MONEY COVERS

Individual giving, covering everything from bucket collections to major donors and legacies--------------------------------------------------

Awards from trusts and foundations--------------------------------------------------

Corporate support (sponsorship, donations, gifts in kind, corporate memberships, etc.)--------------------------------------------------

Public sector funds --------------------------------------------------

Community and other fundraising activities--------------------------------------------------

For the purposes of this article, it does not cover generated income (e.g. revenue from bars and catering) and it does not cover entrepreneurial activities (e.g. brand extensions, consultancy services, merchandise).

Sarah GeeManaging Partner, Indigo-Ltd Tw @IndigoLtd e sarah.gee@indigo-ltd.com w www.indigo-ltd.com

Like all relationships, getting it right can be magic, but getting marketing, development and communications to bond will take work and investing time in hanging out together. And lots of talking and maybe some drinking – doesn’t sound so bad, does it?

connections if we try hard enough. Talk to colleagues about what you are trying to achieve, harness the influence of your work crowd, and find new connections to secure the future.

Like all relationships, getting it right can be magic, but getting marketing, development and communications to bond will take work and investing time in hanging out together. And lots of talking and maybe some drinking – doesn’t sound so bad, does it?

JAM 54 > 11

> FEATURE

The difficulties facing arts organisations in this economic climate are well documented. We know from our work with a wide range of cultural organisations that as private-sector giving in the arts comes under increasing

pressure, and with Government adamant that it will not restore lost funding to the arts but will rely instead on a drive to increase philanthropy, that the UK faces a situation where pressure on our sector’s leaders and associated fundraising departments is intensifying. With arts organisations now fundraising for their survival, it has never been more important to increase the level of knowledge and skills across the sector. And not just for dedicated fundraising staff. Those organisations that are most successful at fundraising develop a culture where it’s the responsibility of everyone in the organisation to play an active role in generating new sources of income. The Arts Fundraising & Philanthropy Programme came into existence in mid-2013 as a result of a Catalyst grant from Arts Council England and as part of an aptly named programme entitled Transforming Arts Fundraising. From 2013 to 2016, the programme aims to improve the perceptions of the arts as a charitable cause and enhance fundraising practice, encouraging leadership and entrepreneurialism. Working with trustees, leaders, senior managers and emerging talent our ambition is that the programme will inspire, train and develop people at all levels, helping to achieve a networked, skilled and resilient arts workforce.

The AF&P Programme has been developed and led by a consortium that includes the DARE Partnership of Opera North and the University of Leeds, my own organisation Cause4 and the Arts Marketing Association (AMA).

THE FIVE MAIN PROGRAMME STRANDS TO THE ARTS FUNDRAISING & PHILANTHROPY PROGRAMME ARE:

1. Fundraising and development trainingWe offer a range of affordable one-day fundraising training courses at Introductory, Practical and Strategic levels for people working in arts organisations, or as freelancers, to improve fundraising skills, confidence and success. All courses are led by expert trainers who offer practical guidance and recommend ways for participants to implement what they have learned immediately into their work. A modular leadership programme for Development Directors will launch in autumn 2014. We also run half-day training courses in Trustee Leadership in Arts Fundraising & Philanthropy, designed for CEOs and Trustees to attend together, to explore ways in which Trustees can lead and support their organisation’s fundraising strategies. Our Coaching and Action Learning training programme aims to support busy people who are leading arts organisations or development teams. We want to help foster confident, resilient arts leaders and develop a peer-to-peer leadership community that will help people to share working practices and learn from each other.

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Michelle Wright, CEO of Cause4 and Programme Director of the Arts Fundraising & Philanthropy Programme (AF&P) tells us why increasing fundraising expertise is so important and how you can get involved

Arts Fundraising & Philanthropy Programme

> FEATURE

A number of Charity Placements have recently been announced for people working in arts fundraising who are keen to expand their knowledge and understanding of the Third Sector. The initial placements during spring / summer 2014 include the British Heart Foundation, the Science Museum, WaterAid and World Vision.

Working in partnership with The University of Leeds we are developing a National Summer School for Arts Fundraising and Leadership. This accredited residential course will run for the first time from 31 August to 5 September 2014, offering an intensive programme of study for emerging cultural entrepreneurs and led by renowned academics from the arts and business schools.

2. Fundraising traineeshipsOur Arts Fundraising Fellowship Programme, the first of its kind in the UK, aims to create the next generation of Development Directors and leaders skilled with the vision, entrepreneurial expertise and ingenuity to make a significant difference to the arts fundraising landscape. From the 250 applications that we received in 2013, we recruited 15 graduate Arts Fundraising Fellows who are all based within a host arts organisation. For our inaugural year we have three Fellowship hubs in the North and South West of England and in London. Our Fellows are participating in an intensive 12-month learning and development programme, while meeting ambitious fundraising objectives for their host organisation. We will shortly be recruiting for host organisations and Fellows for Year Two of the Programme.

3. Peer-to-peer leadership communityWe work closely with arts sector partners to ensure that our work is reaching, and is relevant to, people working across the arts landscape in England. Sector-specific events for 2014 include partnership projects with Dance UK, Sound and Music, and the Visual Arts & Galleries Association (VAGA). We also have ongoing partnerships with the Association of British Orchestras (ABO), Free Word and UK Theatre. We are working in partnership with the Arts Marketing Association and their annual conferences in 2014 and 2015 will include a fundraising programme strand along with heavily-subsidised delegate rates for arts professionals working in fundraising and development: www.a-m-a.co.uk/AMAconference2014fundraisers We are also working with Regional Co-ordinators, development specialists working in arts organisations across England, to encourage live and digital networking and collaboration.

4. Research and digital developmentThe Arts Marketing Association is leading on the creation of National Occupational Standards for fundraising. They are also extending CultureHive.co.uk to include resources and tools to help fundraising and development professionals discover and share examples of best practice. Working in partnership with The Audience Agency we are developing Donor Finder to explore the potential to develop the understanding and use of consumer intelligence in fundraising. Other work includes development of a series of seminars with the European Sponsorship Association (ESA) and plans to develop pathways into the ESA Diploma for arts fundraisers.

5. Innovation and internationalDiscussions are on-going with the British Council and other international organisations regarding the possibility of extending the Programme into other European countries.

Follow us on Twitter and sign up for the Arts Fundraising & Philanthropy newsletter so that we can keep you up to date with the many exciting opportunities emerging over the next couple of years – the Programme team, trainers, and Fellows also regularly blog about various aspects of the Programme: www.artsfundraising.org.uk We welcome ideas to help us develop the programme so please get in touch and help us shape these exciting opportunities to develop arts fundraising for the years to come.

Michelle WrightProgramme DirectorArts Fundraising & PhilanthropyTw @artsfundraising / @MWCause4e michelle.wright@cause4.co.uk w www.artsfundraising.org.uk

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Participating in European projects can be complicated and demanding, but, in my experience, the rewards are worth it. The first thing to

be clear about is why you want to ‘go into Europe’. There are many possible and perfectly acceptable reasons and I have worked on a wide range of projects where I have been lucky enough to experience most of them:

Expanding your current activities to a wider audienceThe Big Picture Network identified good practice in using the arts in further education colleges across Europe.

Initiating creative activities at international levelThe Will to Dream project promoted theatre with inmates while Movable Barres supported good practice in music and dance in European prisons.

Sharing innovative practice with those in other countriesArt and Culture in Prison published a detailed survey of prison arts in Italy, Germany, Catalonia and the UK, and has been widely circulated.

Developing specific ‘products’ using the expertise of different cultures: Dialogue developed a new approach to delivering European literature in

secondary schools, while Cred-Ability is currently creating internationally-accredited training programmes for artists working in prisons: www.cred-ability.eu

Linking up with groups working in a similar area through an international networkThe PAN European Prison Arts Network brought together artists and educationalists working in offender learning across Europe, while the PriMedia Network encourages the use of ICT and multimedia in prisons: www.pri-media.eu

In all these cases the impact for most of the participants has been extremely positive. However, you do need to be very clear on whether the specific aims of your particular initiative are in line with the objectives of the particular funding strand through which you are applying. A word of warning: you cannot use this funding to make a direct financial profit.

The European Commission (EC)awards money in the form of grants in order to implement projects or activities in relation to European Union policies in a number of fields, including research, education, humanitarian aid, etc. The specific funding strand supporting artistic and cultural activities, particularly at professional level, is the Culture Programme

(http://ec.europa.eu/culture).Under its European Agenda for

Culture the EC has encouraged cultural diversity and dialogue, promoted culture as a catalyst for creativity and innovation and supported the role of culture in international relations. In recent years it has focused particularly on increasing awareness of the importance of the cultural and creative industries at EU level. Specific funds are available for all these areas, alongside encouragement for integrating art and culture into other fields, such as education (see below).

In my experience the main problem with bids under the Culture Programme is that the application conditions are complicated and demanding, along with the insistence on at least 50% matched funding, compared with the usual 25% for the education strand. Matched funding is the contribution made by the project partners in addition to the European allocation, usually covered through in-house staff costs but also accommodation, equipment hire, etc.

The main financial support I have received for cultural initiatives has been through the education strand, although I have also been funded through projects under the culture and youth programmes. Prior to this year the education funding was through the Life Long Learning Programme, but

Promoting arts in EuropeDr Alan Clarke shares some of his experiences of ‘going into Europe’ with a range of European-funded arts projects

Alan Clarke e alanruscoe@yahoo.co.uk

Alan Clarke is an international consultant and European project coordinator, currently for The College of Teachers (TCOT). He trained and worked as an actor, before completing a doctorate in theatre at the Humboldt University in

East Berlin. On returning to England he gained a PGCE at Goldsmiths College and lectured in performing arts in further and higher education for 25 years. He has participated in around 20 European arts education

initiatives, half as coordinator, and currently runs two prison arts projects for TCOT: the PriMedia Network, promoting ICT and multimedia in offender learning, and CredAbility, developing internationally accredited

training courses for artists to work in European prisons. He has devised and performed drama pieces on Shakespeare and the plight of the prisoner in over a dozen European countries.

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> CASE STUDY

Cred-Ability pilot, Goldsmiths, University of London. Photo: © Christine Cellier

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since January these have been brought together under Erasmus +, covering the fields of education, training, youth and sport for the period 2014 – 2020. Given that Erasmus + has only just started, the best way of identifying its suitability for arts interventions is through the EC website: http://ec.europa.eu/education or, if you are still unclear, contacting the Commission directly. A more user-friendly way is to register for one of their regular information days – usually in Brussels. You can also get really helpful advice from the UK national agency www.erasmusplus.org.uk, which also arranges regular briefing sessions. An additional advantage of these sessions is the opportunity for networking with other organisations working in similar areas.

Another potential funding source for culture is the Structural Funds, which supports the economic benefits of

culture. Other opportunities can be found through sympathetic regional authorities or independent charities and foundations, such as the European Cultural Foundation, which may also be willing to supplement existing EU grants.

As mentioned earlier, participating in European initiatives can bring a wide range of benefits both to your organisation and the individuals within it. However, it is crucial that you avoid the various pitfalls in order to ensure that your experience is a positive one:• make sure you are clear that the aims

of the funding programme meet the intended objectives of your project.Once approved the proposal is the ‘bible’ by which the eligibility of your activities is assessed,

• most of the problems with partners arise through lack of understanding of the financial demands. Make sure you have a strong finance manager

who is fully aware of the EC’s requirements and communicates these to the partners,

• make sure your partnership has a wide geographical spread, a diversity of skills, a mix of experiences, a strong commitment to the project and includes an effective webmaster,

• your work programme and planned outcomes need to be clearly laid down with realistic deadlines,

• your evaluation, dissemination and sustainability strategies must be clearly identified from the start.

As I pressed ‘submit’ on Greentop’s application for continued Arts Council England (ACE) National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) funding, I had one of those moments where it felt like my whole life flashed before my eyes. An

increasingly large and complex part of my life has become the challenge of fundraising and income generation.

Greentop Circus is the principle centre for Circus arts in the north of England, with a Circus school in Sheffield, and we’ve worked hard to augment our northern perspective on fundraising by working with partners nationally.

The Circus Training Action Group (CTAG) is a national partnership between Greentop in the north, Circomedia in the south west, and the London-based National Centre for Circus Arts. CTAG takes forward our shared commitment to developing a strong Circus Arts sector and encouraging a culture of Circus in the UK. In the regular meetings of the Chief Executives of the schools over the five years since we formed the partnership, fundraising has been a constant source of discussion.

Together we’re learning how alongside that shared vision to create a culture of Circus in the UK, there is also a need to develop the culture of our organisations. We’re grappling with the need to shed the snobbery that Circus is somehow inferior to other artforms while still harnessing the unparalleled appeal of Circus as something outside the mainstream. We’re developing the broadest case for support, from grass roots community giving to high net worth donors, taking in Social Enterprise and major in-kind corporate donations along the way.

Each of the three CTAG schools has explored differing approaches to fundraising and diversification of income, and we’ve all benefitted from sharing and learning from one another’s successes and setbacks.

The National Centre for Circus Arts, formerly Circus Space, was awarded an ACE Catalyst Arts: capacity building and match funding grant which has helped them to secure a number of donations, including a $1 million pledge from philanthropist Aileen Getty.

Crucially, the fund has enabled Joint Chief Executives Kate White and Jane Rice Bowen to lead a significant shift in the organisational culture around fundraising – with everyone in the organisation being aware that they have a

Craig Gamble Pugh explores how Circus schools are uniting to develop a culture of Circus and a culture of fundraising

part to play in encouraging philanthropic giving.In terms of million-dollar-success-stories Greentop,

too, has hit the jackpot, having secured over $2.5m in in-kind donations of advertising and IT systems. The schemes, offering licenses for our new Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software and a phenomenal pay-per-click advertising credit worth up to $40,000 dollars a month were competitive to join, and have stringent entry criteria. We have discovered that pay-per-click and CRM are both technically challenging, and without significant additional capacity we’re unlikely to be able to wring the maximum benefit from these donated resources. It’s clear that developing overall capacity is crucial to maximising funding and income generating opportunities.

The second round of ACE Catalyst focused on Fundraising Capacity, so, inspired by the successes of our London ally, Greentop led on a consortium bid alongside Circomedia and aerial theatre company Upswing. The bid was unsuccessful but setting aside the time to produce the requisite plans and stratagems helped focus our thoughts and actions. Key lessons learned were the need to embed a broad spectrum of income sources and to develop capacity and skills at every level of the companies.

Since then, Circomedia have been making changes to help develop their own capacity and sustainability, which have included the appointment of a Business Manager, and the announcement last year that the Bristol-based centre had been selected to host one of the Arts Fundraising & Philanthropy fellowships www.artsfundraising.org.uk/south-west-fellows/. Fellow Miriam Battye will work with Circomedia to explore how to embed the Programme’s aims, which straddle the development of individual giving and the development of income generation.

Income generation makes up a high proportion of Greentop’s turnover, between 50% and 70%, and we have been establishing a subsidiary company to generate income via corporate performance commissions and other services including Circus team building and Circus workshops for schools and youth groups. This trading arm will build on the work we have done in providing these services since becoming a pioneering Yorkshire example of the Social Enterprise in 2001, six years after Greentop,

The serious business of circus

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which is itself a registered charity, was born. The aim over the next three years is to develop an independent brand for the company and for it to become the UK’s foremost provider of these services and a leading national Social Enterprise. We’re confident that by growing this social enterprise division, the income raised will subsidise Greentop’s core services by 2018. The extra activity will also help us increase the audience, and demand, for Circus.

Greentop is already creating waves of interest in the approach, having been granted a prestigious School for Social Entrepreneurs Fellowship with an associated bursary from Lloyds Bank to help develop the enterprise.

Also creating waves of interest has been the formal re-launch of Circus Space as the National Centre for Circus Arts in March this year. Mirrored in the north by Circus North, a Greentop initiative to develop Circus in the north of England, this is part of a CTAG-backed movement to fundamentally shift how Circus is perceived. While there is no reason that major philanthropic gifts should be the preserve of the ‘traditional’ artforms and institutions, these new brands will certainly help those within Circus and those weighing up the value of Circus arts see that Circus is coming of age. Just as we take it for granted that we need a National Theatre, National Ballet or English National Opera, a Northern Ballet or an Opera North so we need a National Centre for Circus Arts and Circus North.

The strategy to ensure Circus is seen as a serious business, worthy of serious support, cannot detract from the fact that Circus is a fantastically fun and engaging artform. With this in mind, at Greentop, we’re preparing for a resurgence of old-school grass roots fundraising, with a fundraising team of Youth Circus members and supporters primed and ready to get out on a fundraising blitz ranging from sponsored stilt walking to supermarket bag-packing – our roots in community and participatory arts equip us well.

As Greentop looks ahead to its 20th anniversary next year, the foundations of diverse income which we’ve been laying will be the key to the long-term growth and success of ourselves, our national partners and the sector as a whole.

Craig Gamble Pugh Chief Executive of Greentop Circuse craig@greentop.org t 0114 2448828w www.greentop.org

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Images: James Gilbert; Greentop Cabaret;

Zombie Trapeze by ©James Clark Photography

The aim of this brief, bright experiment is to create a cultural centre curated not by me, but by the community

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By most people’s standards I’m a terrible business woman. I’ve just taken on a project that will take one day a week of my time and will definitely lose me money. What’s more, I gave more than £50,000 to charity last year and won’t be getting

a penny of tax rebate on the gifts I made. I’ve made these choices because I consider myself a philanthropist and while I’m not wealthy, what I can give as a self-employed person is time and like many people in this country, that’s how I make the majority of my donations to the charities I support. As a fundraiser and former charity Chief Executive, I know that cash gifts are critical, but I’m conscious that they aren’t the only way of being philanthropic, and right now encouraging other ways of becoming involved in cultural charities is key to growing our relatively limited arts voluntary giving base.

The definition of a philanthropist is ‘someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes’. I’m simply unusual in my approach in that I send the charities to which I donate my time a pro bono invoice, so that they can quantify the value of my gift. By putting my donation through their accounts, the charity not only places a real value on the gift, they are also able to demonstrate a growing income base and attract other supporters.

In a world where major corporations seek to pay as little tax as they can, the philosophy I established when I became fully self-employed four years ago of running my two consultancy companies three days a week, writing for and running the theatre company I’m part of; Riotous Company one day a week, and giving one day a week of my time away, may seem a little quaint, but I wanted to give back to the sector which I’m passionate about and which sustains me. As a Strategy and Fundraising consultant I’ve been

The everyman philanthropistCaroline McCormick explores taking philanthropy further than cash gift giving

extremely fortunate in the clients I’ve worked with and I am now advising on my tenth capital campaign, having worked with organisations as prestigious and diverse as the Old Vic, Garsington Opera, DanceEast and the creation of a new National Centre for Writing in Norwich. And my ever growing list of pro bono clients which includes the Gate, the Yard and the Mosaic Rooms, means that my philosophy seems increasingly relevant in challenging economic times when we all need to be ever more creative about how to go on generating more income.

Preferring to help charities directly through my pro bono support, I rarely speak at conferences, but when I was asked to be a keynote speaker on the subject of a holistic approach to philanthropy at the inaugural Spektrix conference recently, I was pleased to do so, knowing that they champion institutions which often find it more challenging to attract financial support. As I listened to the excellent speakers from other disciplines, I noted each in turn saying that in order to be successful, their area needed to be at the heart of the organisation and I reflected on the challenge for cultural bodies in building a staff in which each is cognisant of the workings of the organisation as a whole. But it also gave me further pause for thought; are we still treating cultural organisations in the abstract, as self-contained systems outside of society, thinking primarily of what benefits us and overlooking the broader social context our donors operate within? Does that mean we are missing opportunities to engage a wider donor base in our work?

The dichotomous tension between art and engagement that has raged in the arts for more than ten years, while clearly driven by pressure on funding, has always seemed something of a fallacy to me. Art is always it’s own priority and end; but art that doesn’t engage with society is rarely of quality, so in order to produce great art we need to participate in life.

My first formal job in the arts almost 20 years ago was as Head of Trust Fundraising at the National Theatre (NT). When I arrived at the NT all those years ago, I was saddened to learn that some staff had decided not to

> FEATURE

Caroline McCormick e rienquibouge@gmail.com

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speak to me and my fellow newly-recruited colleagues – fundraisers were a necessary evil, to be tolerated and not indulged. It was with wry amusement that I noted the warm welcome I received when I returned a couple of years ago to work on the strategy for the NT Future Campaign. Fundraising was now truly part of the institution.

I’m very proud of the donor base we established at the NT and while the income from that sector has doubled in the years since I left, I always look in the back of the programme whenever I attend a show to see which names have been added to the list of donors and it’s shocking to me that in the income area of trusts and foundations, the list has barely changed.

Membership schemes along with the quality of the cultural offer and enhanced public engagement programmes, have of course transformed individual giving in recent years, but the committed on-going philanthropy of trusts and foundations remains slow to grow. Many of us puzzle over how we can enhance philanthropy in this country and address the continuing challenge of developing a broader understanding of the arts as charitable and worthy of support. I’m pleased that my fundraising consultancy company, Achates Philanthropy, will be working with BOP consulting on the review of Arts Council England’s Catalyst programme, because I believe this is a challenge we urgently need to face. Donor schemes are undoubtedly important but it seems to me that a focus on economic efficiency alone means that we sometimes overlook the opportunity to engage people in other ways and to encourage more people into giving. Volunteering and pro bono working are gateway drugs to philanthropy and in a sector that is commonly misunderstood in terms of its charitable role, I’m keen to explore how we can bridge that gap.

This is why I’ve taken on Brixton No 6; a former meals-on-wheels kitchen on Somerleyton Road in Brixton, as a temporary cultural centre for the next 18 months under the guise of my cultural projects company; Rien Qui Bouge Ltd. Brixton No 6 is a ‘Meanwhile’ project within the redevelopment of Somerleyton Road, the largest community-led development in the UK. This inspirational development, is led by Lambeth Council, in partnership with the community group Brixton Green (a Cabinet Office community-share pilot) and Ovalhouse theatre, who will relocate to the site.

A light, bright rehearsal room space, the size of a tennis

court, with room for offices for community groups, as well as a former walk-in freezer of black box size, has quickly been converted with limited funds and the energy of many volunteers, into a space I can offer to eminent cultural organisations and community groups alike, for a fee that simply covers the cost of utilities. The aim of this brief, bright experiment is to create a cultural centre curated not by me, but by the community. By taking away the barriers of finance and establishing a link to a hard-to-reach area, suddenly many things become possible and projects from organisations as eclectic as English National Opera (ENO), the Old Vic, Mono Box, Corali and Figs in Wigs are being explored. One of the wonderful things that’s already happened is that I’ve discovered what so many people I know in one capacity, also do with their lives, as they tell me about projects they work on privately and I realise that I’m surrounded by philanthropists, people giving their time to the things they feel passionately about.

But let’s be frank, this is always philanthropy and not altruism, at least not in its purest sense. All of us undertake these projects because it’s what we want to do; there is always a reward, even if it’s just that warm feeling inside. For me, there are many motivations for taking on Brixton No 6, not least among them is knowing that I’m going to learn a great deal from this project; is there a possibility to replicate this kind of project through a wider empty space programme where landlords could have formal recognition of in-kind support? Could there be a scheme to establish community liaison points so that cultural organisations can more easily work in hard-to-reach areas? What does it mean for an emerging artist to have the community as a patron, how will that change their practice and development? I am sure that there are many more questions I haven’t even thought of yet and I’m looking forward to finding out what they are and to developing my understanding of how we can perhaps become not just a nation of volunteers, but of philanthropists.

Photo: ©

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Marketing people and fundraisers should always walk hand in hand. We are more effective when we

do. I learned this lesson during more than twenty years as a director of fundraising and I need not explain why to this readership. The arts have done phenomenally well in generating new income because they have had to. I was responsible for fundraising at The British Council, English National Opera, The Royal Academy of Arts and Tate from 1987 to 2011 and during this time central and local government grants fell from around 80% of budget to less than 30% in some cases. The shortfall has been made up by a combination of fundraising, increased admissions and new commercial enterprises. We can proudly demonstrate real return on investment. Those of us who had a clear and well-articulated mission and

vision, informing both marketing and fundraising, did best of all.

Could we do better? The answer must be; ‘yes’. I was forced to confront reality when I wrote Giving Is Good for You last year. My book is about fundraising but has a message for all in marketing. I have written a polemic in praise of philanthropy and my primary purpose is to persuade those who are not giving to follow the generous example of those who do. After publication, it became clear that the book has another purpose: to reveal what motivates those who give, what would motivate them to give more and their attitudes to those who ask for money.

I hope that Giving Is Good for You may help all who are responsible for generating income because we know that success is dependent upon understanding our public. On the basis of the interviews I conducted with donors in various parts of the UK,

my conclusion is that fundraising is not yet fulfilling its potential and the remedy has implications for all charity managers and their trustees. The arts and cultural sector have performed particularly well but, according to those who give, performance is patchy and the verdict is ‘could do better’.

I interviewed almost 80 donors, charity and public sector leaders and fundraisers in various parts of the country. Everyone I met told me that giving had transformed their lives, whether they were funding a refuge and re-education centre for sex workers in Newcastle, or research into poverty with positive outcomes for slum dwellers in Bangladesh and the rural poor in Zimbabwe.

I learned how people become homeless in Britain, how music helped Manchester become one of the wealthiest cities in Europe and has transformed the academic

John Nickson considers if the arts and cultural sector is doing a good job of asking

Giving is good for you

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performance of primary school children in Brixton. I learned how philanthropy is helping to save the lives of those with cancer who need oral and maxillofacial surgery and how the death of a young woman in Afghanistan prompted her parents to support those who suffer most in war: women and children. Everyone I spoke to, whether they were giving or receiving, spoke to me with great feeling and conviction. Decisions about giving are deeply rooted in the emotions of those who give and this has profound implications for those us who are seeking their support.

We need some context. According to the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) and the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) in 2013, charitable giving is declining in the UK while inequality is growing. There has been a colossal increase in the wealth of the top 1% and their share of national wealth in the past 30 years. Only a minority of the wealthy is giving. Coutts bank estimates 10% of those selling their businesses are philanthropic. This matters as we now have international evidence proving how damaging and destabilising inequality can be in terms of health, violent crime and governance.

Those who give are the fiercest critics of those who do not. Some were so outspoken that their comments had to be censored. They are acutely aware of their responsibility to society and

concerned that a more widespread lack of a sense of obligation to others may become a threat to the civil society so many of us take for granted. Together, we produced a manifesto for change and the need to create a culture of giving and gratitude in Britain. We have recommended measures ranging from changes to tax relief, national honours and education.

What are the specific lessons to be learned by the arts? Some have been infuriated by Maria Miller, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, who has said the arts should get better at asking. She has a point. Despite conspicuous fundraising success, our case for supporting the arts is not strong enough. We fear competition with welfare charities. How can culture compete with cancer research? Perfectly well if we are more robust about saying that life is not worth living without culture.

Donors are clear that they will give and give more only if they feel engaged with a cause, that they are inspired by a mission and vision that is articulated by everyone in the executive team and on the board, that they have confidence

in governance and the ability of the executive to deliver and that they are convinced they are adding value. How will they know? By being acknowledged and thanked in a meaningful and sophisticated manner. This requires a commitment by everyone, not least by trustees who must all be seen to be giving, however little.

I asked a donor friend for her views after attending a recent museum and galleries conference. She told me: ‘Despite honourable exceptions, the arts need to make a much better case, both individually and collectively, they are too defeatist and defensive, their trustees don’t have a clue, they aren’t willing to invest and they don’t take a long-term view about developing relationships’.

Public spending will continue to fall whoever wins the next election. The state is in retreat, the voluntary sector faces growing demand and there will be increasing competition for both discretionary spending and charitable giving. The arts need to think hard about how they position themselves as a deserving cause whether they are pitching for public, corporate or private money.

Between 1987 and 2011 central and local government grants fell from around 80% of budget to less than 30% in some cases.

John Nickson is one of Britain’s most experienced fundraisers. He is the author of Giving Is Good for You: Why Britain Should Be Bothered and Give More. (www.bitebackpublishing.com)

He is donating his royalties to the Royal College of Music Scholarship Fund and to MQ: transforming mental health (formerly known as Insight). He blogs regularly for The Huffington Post UK and is on Twitter @johndnickson.

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Gareth Colwell Communications and Audience Development Manager, aspexe gareth@aspex.org.uk w www.aspex.org.uk

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Get to know other AMA members in just six questions

What is your first memory of the arts?My first memory of the arts was a visit to the beautiful Frank Matcham designed Kings

Theatre in Southsea when I was four years old. Slightly embarrassingly it wasn’t to see anything particularly highbrow but to see Timmy Mallett on tour! It is great to see the theatre still prospering today, alongside the New Theatre Royal in the city centre, which is undergoing a massive refurbishment. I now enjoy spotting pantomime stars in the stage door pub of The Kings, which coincidentally is now my local.

How did you get into arts marketing?Well, I’d love to say it was planned – but it certainly wasn’t. I spent my twenties going

through a few different careers after a false start at university including retail, IT and even being a self-employed gardener. I eventually decided to go back to university here in Portsmouth to complete a degree in Politics. I graduated in 2011 and after an internship in the Public Affairs Team at WWF, saw the position at Aspex and haven’t looked back since.

What attracted you to the arts sector?As a life-long resident of the city of Portsmouth, I’ve always been passionate about what the city

has to offer culturally, encouraging people to visit and also changing some people’s perceptions of the area.

The role at Aspex allows me now to channel this passion through the organisation, using it as a catalyst to tell the world about not only the great exhibitions and events we have here, but across Portsmouth at different venues. I regularly share events on our social media channels from all sorts of different places, from the Historic Dockyard through to other contemporary art galleries in the city. I also enjoy the variety of work at Aspex, our frequently changing exhibitions means there is always something new going on in one part of the building.

Finally, I also get to use my advocacy skills from my Politics degree regularly. Examples would be persuading potential donors and encouraging the local authority to continue to support the organisation.

When and why did you join the AMA?When I started at Aspex in 2012, our Director, Joanne Bushnell, got me to sign up straight

away. I successfully applied for a bursary for AMA conference 2012 in Brighton, which was excellent for somebody not originally from an arts background, with so many workshops and colleagues to talk to from across the country. Since then I have also attended a number of the workshops offered by the AMA which have really helped with my professional development.

What is your proudest moment?Well, apart from being interviewed for JAM (of course), one of my biggest achievements since being at Aspex was getting the sports reporter

from BBC Breakfast; Mike Bushell, to come down and play in our Wrong Pong ping pong exhibition. The feature was then shown nationally on BBC One, internationally on BBC World and featured on the BBC Website. It generated some great visitor figures last summer and a massive spike in traffic to our website. This is closely followed by running a successful campaign to retain our local authority funding late last year.

Personally? Well, it’s got to be marrying my wife in 2011, who I’ve been together with since 17 years old.

And what is your greatest indulgence?In recent years I’ve become a bit of an ale fan, and have a developed a taste for hoppy beers.

This is to the point that I’ve become a bit obsessed to find the most ridiculously hopped ale I can find – I recently settled on a 9.5% Mikkeller/Brewdog I Hardcore You which has managed to slake my thirst. Not an ale to be messed with mind!

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A one day service design workshop designed to help

improve customer experiences at your organisation

Explore Design Implement

What you’ll learn

Service Design In a Day7th May 14Manchester

Find out more at designthinkinguk.com

TARGET LIVEA BOUTIQUE AGENCY ACROSS THE ARTS

Target Live and the Visual Arts

Visit out website to find out more target-live.co.uk

One of the key sectors for Target Live is the Visual Artsmarketplace, and we are very well placed to offer marketing

and media services within this field.

Our media planning tools (such as TGI) allow us to analyse thespecific audiences for any particular venue and exhibition, looking

at their day to day habits, their regionality, their demographicbreakdown, and of course, their media consumption.

This insight, coupled with our own in-house knowledge of the sector, ensures that we can bring

focused and strategic thought to the media plan, making each budget work that little bit harder.

Recent, current and upcoming Visual Arts work include:

Barbican - Pop ArtBarbican - Jean-Paul GaultierBarbican - Digital Revolution

Somerset House - Isabella BlowSomerset House - Pick Me Up

The Hospital Club - James Bond PostersThe Hospital Club - Kabuki (photos by Frederic Aranda)

The Hospital Club - Hear My Train A’ Comin’ (Jimi Hendrix memorabilia)

Leeds City General - Leeds CanvasPolska In Edinburgh - Robert Kusmirowski’s site

specific installation ‘Pain Thing’