Emily Stubbs of The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment tells us who has inspired her throughout her career in arts fundraising.
Sarah Bardwell
I employed Sarah as part of the Individual Giving Team at English National Opera (ENO) in 1998, a couple of years after I first moved into fundraising, having been PA to the Chief Executive. She was incredibly knowledgeable about music and was brilliant at sharing her passion for opera with the donors. It didn’t surprise me when she went to the Kennedy Centre on their arts management Fellowship programme and returned to be Director of Handel House Museum – a job which she has done brilliantly for over a decade. She taught me that work can be fun, and that the more you enjoy it the more successful you are likely to be. She takes her work seriously but doesn’t take herself too seriously and she has transformed Handel House.
Marion Friend
Marion was Wigmore Hall’s General Administrator when I joined as Head of Development in 2000. She was one of the reasons I took the job, after having met her when she was at the BBC. She showed me what a good manager is like. Interested, caring and fun, she was brilliant with everyone from Board members, to international artists, to admin staff. She went on to run the Junior Department of Trinity Laban very successfully.
Russell Willis Taylor
Russell is American, but she worked in London during the 1980s, establishing a development department at ENO. I only overlapped with her briefly during 2001 when we both returned to ENO, she as Chief Executive and I as Capital Campaign Director for the restoration of the Coliseum. She was brilliant at focusing fundraisers on what they were actually selling and getting them to think about why their organisation was important. She has a combination of intelligence, charm, wit and candour which is unusual in arts managers. Since she left ENO she has been President and CEO of National Arts Strategies in the US.
Sir Vernon Ellis
I met Vernon when I worked for the General Director of ENO. Vernon was a Friend then a Patron of ENO, and a great supporter of the company’s young artists’ programme, education work and new commissions. When I was Capital Campaign Director for the restoration of the Coliseum he made a fantastically generous donation to the campaign, which really changed the philanthropic landscape at ENO and throughout the arts world in the UK. Unusually, he continued to give at a very generous level beyond the restoration to numerous revenue projects. He complemented his financial support with the offering of his fantastic drawing room as a recital space for countless fundraising events for ENO and many other organisations. This truly generous gesture has transformed the way in which performing arts organisations cultivate their donors. His calm authority stood him in very good stead when he was Chairman of ENO and he is now their President, as well as Chairman of the British Council.
Sir Peter Bazalgette
When I was Head of Individual Giving at ENO, I decided to cultivate Peter Bazalgette (or Baz as he is known) when I saw him in the stalls at Glyndebourne. It struck me that as an independent minded individual he was a perfect match for ENO. Having joined the Board he set about livening up meetings and events, and enthusing supporters about the company. I watched him chair countless gala committees – an often thankless task – with charm and good humour. He is the best chair I have encountered. His ability to keep to an agenda whilst taking everyone along with him and making them want to get involved is second to none. The Arts Council was lucky to get him.
Emily Stubbs is Development Director at The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.
www.oae.co.uk
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