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John Gilhooly asks how a regular and enthusiastic audience can be persuaded to contribute to a campaign.

Photo: Nick Gutteridge

The Wigmore Hall Trust acquired a 250-year lease on Wigmore Hall in January 2006 for £3.1m. The purchase was financed by bank loans, payable by 31 December 2008. Most of the required money has already been raised through our ‘Foundations For Our Future’ appeal. Wigmore Hall is regarded as one of the world’s leading chamber music and recital venues and is held in great affection by artists and audiences. In 2004, the Hall underwent a £3.2m refurbishment, funded by the first phase of the appeal. The second phase, seeking an additional £3.1m for the lease, was launched in Spring 2006.

Analysis of our core audience has been the key to our funding strategy. Over 170,000 tickets are sold for concerts and events at the Hall each season, there are some 15,000 people on the Hall’s free mailing list, including almost 5,000 Friends of Wigmore Hall, whose annual membership fees vary from £35 to £2,500 per season, depending on their level of commitment. The Hall is an intimate venue of 550 seats and has a legendarily loyal audience. Over the past eight years I have made myself very visible, greeting audiences in the foyer and chatting to patrons before concerts and during the interval. This has resulted in our most important donor relationships. We never underestimate the ‘personal touch’ and the importance of a senior person engaging with every potential donor. From this comes trust, and from trust comes the ability to communicate openly with a donor, often over many years, starting perhaps with a smallish initial gift and culminating in a key donation, sometimes hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Without a clearly defined vision and an accurate (and passionate) account of need, successful fundraising is not possible. The necessity of purchasing the lease is a very good example: had we not purchased the lease in 2005, the Hall would have been exposed to crippling rent increases, which would have severely curtailed the artistic programme and damaged the Hall’s international standing. Purchasing the lease frees up more than £145,000 in annual rental, which can now bolster the traditional programme, as well as underpinning new jazz and commissioning strands. Because we explained the need to purchase the lease (and the risks associated with not purchasing it), our donor constituency felt informed, involved and engaged. Through messages in our newsletter and printed concert programmes, we informed the audience of the need and the intention to purchase. By the time we finalised the lease negotiations and launched the appeal, the support was there. Without this strategic planning, the appeal would not have reached a successful conclusion so quickly.

I am always taken aback when donors tell me that they are forgotten by arts organisations once they have made an initial donation. They are sometimes not properly thanked or acknowledged, and this results in a disgruntled donor and the door being closed to future donations. We ignore the necessity of acknowledgement, ongoing interaction and care at our peril. Timely communication on a personal level, through printed materials and, where possible, through the media, is the key to a successful capital appeal. Focus groups drawn from the core audience will help you to ‘road test’ your key messages. Nothing attracts donors more than a viable organisation with a clear vision and a record of success – you cannot afford to be modest about it. Tasteful articulation of success is a key component of the message, and you need to use every possible avenue to get those messages where you need them to be heard.

John Gilhooly is Artistic and Executive Director of Wigmore Hall.
t: 020 7935 2141