Fern Potter takes us through her career, from setting up her own New York dance company to raising millions of pounds for dance in the UK.
Head of Development & Strategy for Dance UK, Youth Dance England and Association of Dance of the African Diaspora (2013 – present)
My current role is supported by Arts Council England’s Catalyst scheme. I’m helping three national dance organisations build capacity to raise funds and also undertake fundraising to support their programmes. The post brings together my two passions: helping others to develop skills, techniques and understanding of fundraising, and raising funds to help make exciting dance initiatives happen. Working with three organisations at once has been a big learning curve, and also an enormous opportunity to think more creatively about how to raise support. We held our first joint fundraiser event very recently (a High Tea afternoon for 130 guests which raised over £40,000). This cemented my view that people who are passionate about dance will support a diverse range of dance organisations. I will soon be using my training skills to deliver a fundraising programme for the dance sector, called Agile Fundraising , which will take others on the journey of learning new skills to approach individuals to support projects.
Head of Development, Dance Umbrella, and Development Manager, Ballet Boyz (2001-2011)
Dance Umbrella is a festival that takes place across London every autumn. I moved here after three years with the Ballet Boyz as Development Manager. At both organisations I set up the development department from scratch. Some of my most memorable projects were raising funds for Transports Exceptionelle, a duet for a man and a digger performed outdoors, and Merce Cunningham’s Ocean at the Roundhouse. During my seven year tenure at Dance Umbrella I raised over £900,000 from private support for their work. To achieve this, I took my first step into the world of organising fundraising events, with my first gala dinner at the Savoy in 2007 raising £85,000. That year I also brokered a sponsorship relationship between Dance Umbrella and Bloomberg which continues to this day.
Co-coordinator and Fundraiser for London String of Pearls Millennium Festival (1999-2001)
The String of Pearls Festival was held in the year 2000 as a way of celebrating some of London’s landmark places and spaces – ‘pearls’ – that were no more than a 10 minute walk from the Thames – the ‘string’. This project gave me access to some of London’s most iconic buildings that were either being opened up to the public for the first time, or doing something special for the millennium, including Lambeth Palace, the Tower of London and the Royal Courts of Justice. It was also my first foray into working for significant London-based organisations, such as The Royal Opera House, English National Opera, Tate Britain and the Young Vic Theatre. Attending black-tie dinners for supporters such as Lady Rayne Spencer and experiencing ‘grace’ provided by the Archbishop of Canterbury was a real eye-opener for a native New Yorker such as myself.
Founding Director, Essexdance (now Dance Digital) (1990–1997)
This was my first job in arts management after moving from the USA. I was charged with developing the organisation from scratch – increasing turnover from £25,000 to over £500,000 through private and public funds. I was responsible for all areas of the organisation’s work, from artistic programming to raising funds. I created the first county-wide youth dance company, Essance, and the first county-wide festival of dance, Spring into Summer, which provided a platform to initiate some of the most memorable projects I’ve ever worked on. These included producing a group of Russian ballet dancers direct from the Bolshoi and Kirov companies (imagine doing this before email!); and with sponsorship support from Gordon’s Gin, commissioning a new jazz dance piece that was performed inside the botanicals store at the gin plant, with the strong scent of juniper berries and coriander in hessian sacks surrounding the stage and sounds of the bottles clinking down the conveyor belt. These were triumphant projects that both raised the profile of dance within the county and challenged me to raise significant funds in order to make them happen.
Manager, Robert Small Dance Company, NYC (1983-1986)
This was my first job working in dance/arts management where I had responsibility for the company’s touring, marketing and fundraising. I learned the ropes by doing the work and gained valuable skills to provide a foundation for my move from New York to England after I got married.
Artistic Director, Stackmotion Dance Company, NYC (1981-1986)
After graduating with a BA in Dance, I moved to New York and set up my own dance company whilst supporting myself by working as a researcher for the National Opinion Research Center. The research job gave me skills in face-to-face interviewing and designing questionnaires and, fortunately, allowed me time to attend classes and dance. I recall spending my days rehearsing and choreographing for our first New York season in 1982, and nights writing letters to garner support from individual donors. Expediency to get the funding in place led to me to realise that I had the guts to ask for support. This early, valuable lesson has remained with me throughout my career.
Fern Potter is Head of Development & Strategy for Dance UK, Youth Dance England and Association of Dance of the African Diaspora.
Fern’s Agile Fundraising training commences 19 May. Tickets start from just £90 for the seven session programme. For full information and booking, visit www.danceuk.org/events.
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