Arts organisations can learn a lot about effective planning from the practices of big business, thereby opening up opportunities for fundraising and improved management. Ruth Beckinsale explains.
Project-management methodologies have now been in use for 50 years, having first been developed in the US as part of the Polaris missile submarine programme. In the UK, project management (PM) is now very much the norm within the big-budget IT and building industries, and is becoming more common within the public sector. The benefits PM can bring to the not-for-profit arts organisation have yet to be fully explored, though a small number of arts development teams have turned to the central services unit approach, which adopts many of the tried and tested PM techniques.
Streamlined approach
The primary purpose of a central services unit combined with project management is to provide all the tools and materials required by fundraising teams to enable them to effectively fulfil their role bringing in the money. Central services can involve research and the management of information, budgeting, events and print production, as well as interfacing with other internal departments. Another key area is offering a prospects-tracking mechanism particularly valuable in long-term campaigns. All of these disciplines, streamlined under one unit and managed by a project manager, ensure ease of access to information for the preparation of fundraising proposals. Updated information on the campaign is easily stored and the monitoring of income, payment schedules and donor stewardship does not slip off the agenda.
Research underpins much of the fundraising process and kick-starts the cultivation process. Essential to this units research is a centralised database. When information is held centrally, fundraisers waste less time trying to track down information from across the organisation a particularly common scenario in larger organisations. The use of common rules of engagement ensures consistency of usage and, as a result, the extraction of meaningful, accurate data to aid the cultivation and tracking of prospects. The central services unit must establish and manage these rules of engagement. Too often a database can quickly be filled with inaccurate, out-of-date information that contravenes the Data Protection Act, and with the Information Commissioner becoming increasingly hands-on in approaching adherence, clear and comprehensive database guidelines become even more critical.
Centralising information
The South Bank Centre is one of the few arts organisations that has integrated project management into a centralised unit within its development team, and is leading the way in establishing PM methodology throughout other areas of its business. Particular PM techniques used include providing a schedule of key deliverable funding targets for the Festival Halls reopening in June 2007, which fits into the overall delivery strategy. The South Bank Centre, comprising the Royal Festival Hall, the Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Purcell Room and the Hayward Gallery, is currently undergoing a £111m transformation project. Its Development Services Unit was established at the end of 2004 and has tackled issues including data protection, information management, and consistent usage of a common database, as well as implementing systems to enable and co-ordinate the corporate and individual giving fundraising teams. The structure of the development team has allowed the fundraisers to focus on their own goals and created a capacity within the fundraising team to look at the long-term.
It may seem a luxury to invest in an entire team within a development department that does not undertake any fundraising activity, and simply focuses on research, planning and generic project management. However, there are many benefits to this approach, particularly in the context of a capital-raising campaign. So far £1.6m has been raised from 17,000 audience members. The campaign has also received significant support from Arts Council England, Heritage Lottery Fund and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and generous contributions from companies. £9.8m is required to complete the funding. By providing solid research, managing the centralised database and liaising over key campaign initiatives, the central Development Services Unit is able to help deliver this final tranche of funding.
Managing complexity
So what does the future hold for project management and capital campaigns? Many lessons can be learnt from previous projects in this area. Project magazine, in its article Back to the Future, explored the importance of preserving Britains built heritage and the issues around this. Steve Child argued that it often becomes a more complex process to renovate historic buildings because of the diversity of the key stakeholders. As well as fulfilling a challenging brief within strict economic limits, the stakeholders such as funders, contractors and independent experts all need to be kept on side. This is where PM techniques, applied appropriately across the entire project, can keep the project on budget and schedule. Karen Whitehouse, Director of Development at the South Bank Centre, reinforces this view: In such a big campaign, its crucial for fundraisers time to be maximised. The Unit is also setting up systems and processes which will be utilised in the long term, beyond the re-opening of the Royal Festival Hall; this ultimately underpins the longer-term fundraising capacity for the organisation.
Ruth Beckinsale is Head of Development Services at the South Bank Centre.
t: 020 7921 0722;
e: rbeckinsale@rfh.org.uk