Meaning business

Many years on the front line of fundraising for the cultural sector have helped me to identify what helps and what doesn’t, what works and what doesn’t, and which elements prevent or accelerate success. I am delighted to be the first National Arts Director for Arts & Business (A&B), delivering a programme of practical, appropriate advice, guidance, research, advocacy, and a range of learning and development techniques. Fundraising during the last recession, a mere blip compared to this one, clarified the importance of well-built relationships, long-term planning, clarity of communications and the need for the stalwart fundraising tenants of determination and tenacity. When everyone around you is panicking – and they will – it helps if the fundraiser doesn’t.
A large part of my career has been spent either as an in-house fundraiser or as a consultant. That involved working to find funding solutions for organisations in the cultural sector, where, almost without exception, I have been inspired by the level of capability, ingenuity and creativity of the people on the front line. A&B is a pragmatic organisation, seeking practical solutions to the sector’s needs through its 32 years of experience with business and its interface with the UK’s cultural world. Given the current climate, there has never been a greater need for this critical work. Development professionals are used to tough conditions. In some respects, the recession is just another set of tough circumstances in which we find ourselves operating. Fundraisers have to act with conviction and confidence. They have no hope of putting across a compelling case for support unless they do. Whatever the economic environment and whatever the stage in a fundraiser’s career, there are specific skills, knowledge and support that cultural development professionals require.
 

A new menu
Between July and September 2008, A&B consulted with arts and cultural organisations across the UK, to ensure that our offer matched the sector’s needs. In January we announced a refreshed product and service offer in response to the five elements the sector said they most wanted: providing business sector intelligence; professional development in fundraising and private sector partnerships; good governance, commercial and fundraising awareness for boards; advocacy on behalf of the sector and research data; a notice-board for development jobs. A&B has a specific range of materials to provide sustained help at the entry, mid and senior points of an individual fundraiser’s career, which will go online from the end of May. A programme of seminars will begin in September. Our work in research, advocacy and board development form equally pertinent parts of the menu. We will help cultural organisations examine their current and potential areas of income. This will enable fundraisers to audit their own skills, to plan for the long term, to measure performance, to ensure that everything that can be done is being done, and that everyone in the organisation is equally engaged in that process. In addition, ‘how to’ guides on securing funds from the full range of fundraising sources will be downloadable, together with examples of best practice. Innovative solutions from others in the field will also be available, as will master classes, workshops, lectures and debates.
Across the board
Development Board training, in addition to A&B’s existing work through its Board Bank, will ensure the fundraising mechanics and messages are adopted at every level. Boards made up of individuals who are fully engaged with a cultural organisation, as well as having up to date knowledge of good governance, add tremendous strength to that organisation. Standard practice for members of main and development boards should include providing contacts from their own peer group, learning the case for support as thoroughly as the fundraiser and of course putting their hand in their own pocket. Taking up a place on the board of a cultural organisation should be regarded as a privilege rather than a drop-in for a meeting three or four times a year.
Our advocacy work spans tax issues with the Treasury in relation to individual giving, the value of engagement with the cultural sector for philanthropists and extensive work with the corporate sector as it faces one of its most challenging times. In 2007/08, business investment was greater than individual giving by £17m, and individual giving grew by nine per cent year on year. What is clearly emerging from this picture is that museums and heritage organisations increasingly account for more of the private investment in the cultural sector. In 2007/08 private investment in museums and heritage was almost the same as the aggregated private investment of the remaining 15 artforms. It is Arts & Business’s role to help the arts get better at tapping into different funding streams.
To help attain this goal, A&B has launched a raft of activity. We encourage philanthropy by celebrating the work of people who support our cultural sector; by supporting cultural fundraisers who want to learn more about philanthropy; by exploring the facts that influence mid-level giving; by improving the use of Gift Aid and other tax breaks by the cultural sector; and by lobbying the government for better tax treatment of cultural philanthropy. A key focus of training and advocacy will be on the improvement of relationships with prospects and donors. There is a need to educate boards to support their development teams so that they can continue to create and maintain relationships with individuals even when money is scarce. The support that a relationship with an engaged individual can bring has the potential to outlast any economic cycle. A&B is producing work that will enable development professionals to make a stronger case, demonstrating the value that donors bring to a cultural organisation and ensuring they enjoy the experience of giving.
Glittering prizes
Celebrating philanthropy is one of the reasons for the creation of the Prince’s Medal for Philanthropy, launched last year by Prince Charles, A&B and the DCMS, together with other programmes of work being developed by A&B to champion those people supporting our cultural sector nationwide (AP184 and AP187). In the fundraising arena, the A&B team will ensure everything that can be done is being done to secure long-term success and allow the creative endeavours of those organisations to flourish. Material and delivery will be adapted to regional need by A&B Regional Directors and their teams. The offer will be assessed and evaluated and remodelled according to the changing needs of the cultural sector. This is a pragmatic response for pragmatic professionals.