When approaching fundraising for specific developments, it is possible to leave a legacy of donors and investors prepared to contribute to an organisation?s future. Alice Devitt explains.
When historians look back on our era they will almost certainly identify a distinct Millennial Lottery architectural style. The belle époque of capital arts projects made every arts organisation believe ?it could be us? and resulted in a frenzy of newly-built and redeveloped galleries, theatres and studios. The matched funding required by the Lottery resulted in even more frenzied capital-fundraising appeals.
Recent capital fundraising in the arts has been very successful, raising many multiples of annual revenue budgets in just two or three years. Organisations have generally recruited a dedicated appeal team or specialist consultants. It is now becoming apparent that many appeals have left nothing but scorched earth for ongoing fundraising activity. Viewing a capital appeal as an entirely discrete project and leaving it to the ?experts? is an understandable way of responding to such a huge challenge. It can, however, lead to a disastrously disjointed approach to donors and to overall fundraising planning. It can also damage ongoing fundraising for many years to come.
It is common to employ target-driven ?hunters? for this sort of project. It seems obvious that if a huge amount of money needs to be raised in a very short time, this somewhat testosterone-fuelled approach will achieve its aims. However, a specialised capital fundraiser or agency can sometimes fail to understand or show much interest in the overall strategic picture. The long term is not their problem. This approach can work if the appeal breaks out and identifies new donors. In the best scenarios, a large proportion of these new donors will ally themselves with your organisation, becoming valuable long-term supporters. However, there is often a tendency to cherry-pick all the best existing donors and revenue prospects rather than develop new relationships.
I have recently come across several outwardly successful appeals that raised millions of pounds for high-profile redevelopments. One was run by a terrifyingly carnivorous in-house fundraiser who knew the organisation well. Others were run by very focused, but somewhat short-sighted, agencies. They have all left exhausted donor bases unable to offer any significant support, whilst signally failing to recruit any significant new supporters. Subsequent ongoing fundraising is now severely compromised and warm, loyal relationships have been overloaded to breaking point.
It is natural to springboard an appeal with one?s closest supporters but it does need some thought and preplanning. It can help if the capital appeal is just seen as another product one can offer to donors. It might be the biggest and most compelling product but it is one of several offerings. I am currently developing an integrated capital appeal where capital asks are being dovetailed into an overall relationship plan. When approaching an appeal team or agency it is vital to ask them to consider their exit strategy. Just how will they manage the transition back to long-term revenue fundraising? This is as important as the initial feasibility study.
Volunteer leadership is the key to most successful capital campaigns. The hierarchical nature of British society is generally a pretty bad thing. In fundraising it is probably better to use it to your advantage than vainly rail against it. Relying on the Chair and the usual Board suspects to lead the appeal is frequently a sign of laziness or political spinelessness. Too often the Chair or awkward Board member is appointed Appeal Chair to keep him/her quiet, regardless of fundraising ability. Can the leader of your appeal really give significantly and lead you to new contacts? Will each new contact then provide you with at least another five leads? Many highly visible donors are now tapped out or fully committed. They now add lustre to the donor list rather than offer serious financial support. Converting your patrons into seat namers is not a replacement for a properly thought-through contact plan.
Paul Molloy, Managing Director of Compton International Fundraising, is one of the most experienced capital specialists and works across the educational, health, social, ecclesiastical and arts sectors. He notes that roughly 80% of the money raised from Compton?s current twenty appeals comes from new sources. The ?usual suspects? seem to be performing rather poorly. Interestingly, Paul rejects the ?hunter? model of fundraising, preferring to see the fundraiser as an ?insistent voice? who keeps the whole process on track. He works with the organisation to ensure that the volunteer leadership of the appeal really does ?break out? and seek new donors. He sees volunteer leadership as the key to success and he takes an integrated approach to capital fundraising. He ensures that an exit strategy is in place and that the capital appeal is dovetailed with overall fundraising strategy. Above all, he ensures that new donors are recruited with a view to their long-term value to the organisation after the life of the appeal.
A capital appeal is one of the most exhilarating but demanding projects an organisation can contend with. It can open the door to a vigorous new level of fundraising as it offers clear and, quite literally, concrete reasons to support your organisation. New contacts can be made and new opportunities can present themselves. It would be a terrible shame to go through the stress and effort of a capital campaign and not benefit beyond the life of the appeal. It would be even worse if you were to find that your entire donor base and fundraising strategy have been laid waste by a ?hunter? who was just passing through.
Alice Devitt runs Mongoose Arts Marketing.
t: 07766 635552;
e: mongoosearts@yahoo.co.uk
She has worked as a fundraiser and marketer for charities and for arts organisations.