CASE Europe publish the Ross-CASE survey into trends in Higher Education fundraising.
Michelle Wright interviewed John Middleton, @ED_Europe Executive Director, and Yashraj Jain, @Yashraj_ Jain Research Manager, to garner their views about the Private Investment in Culture Survey and what we can learn across sectors.
What are your overall thoughts on the survey? Are there any surprises?
Interestingly the trends noted in the Private Investment in Culture survey are similar to those observed in educational philanthropy. The survey outlines positive signs of growth with private investment growing at 21% since 2013/14, mirroring trends in educational philanthropy where philanthropic income has grown by 14% since 2013/14.
Both higher education (51%) and culture (53%) receive more than 50% of their philanthropic giving and private investment from individuals respectively.
It is important not to forget just how important individual giving is across the charity sector as a whole.
Of course, it is not surprising to see that a lack of staff capacity is cited as the key reason for holding back success in fundraising. It’s vital that senior level colleagues make it easier for teams to operate.
In general, the survey could be enhanced if it was able to outline the return on investment across the sector, i.e. what investment in teams is responsible for the outlined returns. This understanding would help Boards and senior staff to build knowledge about how to invest in fundraising.
Are these trends broadly in line with what you are seeing across the higher education sector, or is the arts sector different?
Overall, both sectors want to increase staff and budget resources to increase fundraising capabilities and we have seen some higher education institutions make a great success of their investments over a 3–5 year period.
The arts sector is different in that organisations don’t currently record pledged income which can give a different perspective on the performance of organisational fundraising by reporting on not just current income but also future pledged income that the institution will receive in the next 4–5 years. The Ross-CASE survey captures this information as ‘new funds secured’ and more and more institutions are using this metric as their main Key Performance Indicator.
It would also be helpful to further investigate fundraising inputs and outputs for key sub-groups – e.g. national museums, galleries, royal societies, conservatoires etc. This will help cultural institutions to benchmark with peer institutions similar to how higher education institutions are able to compare with other Universities via their usage of the Ross-CASE data.
What sort of things do we need to be aware of post-referendum?
A key driver for continued long-term performance is to get buy-in from senior level colleagues and to have a strategic roadmap for development. Fundraising goals should be on the list of institutional goals and led by the most senior members of staff and Board. The value of institutional leadership and other academic time invested in fundraising can be substantial, particularly in relation to securing major gifts.
As individuals are such an important part of fundraising at our institutions, it is important to work closely with membership teams, database managers and other colleagues stewarding this key donor group and also to ensure organisations are abiding by the data protection/ Fundraising Preference Service regulations.
Trust is a very important factor in major giving and institutions must invest to build relationships over time.
Similarly, building relationships with major donors and maintaining them will help organisations jump the hurdles that Brexit may brins. Once donors are sure that the receiving organisation understands their values and what the donor wants to achieve by donating to the institution, physical boundaries across countries cease to matter. Collaboration and constant dialogue will help keep the momentum going.
What are your thoughts on how we might need to build teams for the future?
No matter what the sector, educational or cultural, the skill sets needed, (not just fundraisers but prospect researchers, gift processors, database managers etc.), are all the same and it is this cross-sector collaboration and knowledge exchange that will help build teams for the future. The best teams will understand the important role that context plays in what they do.
Like with the Arts Fundraising & Philanthropy Programme, CASE has managed a graduate trainee scheme helping institutions to recruit, train and prepare future leaders in fundraising, and this focus has been really beneficial to see new talent come through the sector.
Are there any initiatives or campaigns that you are seeing from across the higher education sector, which would help the arts sector plan for the future?
A link with the Ross-CASE survey for institutional level benchmarking for key cultural sector groups could be really beneficial. This could have a key emphasis on inputs (constituents on database, costs and staff invested) and outputs (new funds secured, cash income received and donors) to help bring real value and insight to cultural institutions to help benchmark their current performance and plan strategically for the future.
Finally, educational philanthropy seems to have been comparatively better than the arts, at securing principal and major gifts worth millions from major donors. A focus on this area could help the cultural sector to grow manifold. It would be hugely beneficial for this area to form the basis of future training and development for cultural sector fundraisers.
