The latest (and very welcome) Private Investment in Culture Survey commissioned by Arts Council England, seems to bring a cascade of good news:
- Total private Investment is up by 21% (albeit perhaps skewed by major donations in the final year of Catalyst Endowments);
- Major individual donors are seemingly filling the gaps vacated by statutory funding since 2010;
- And there is a modest growth in trust and foundation giving, despite the dire interest rates.
Even the disappointment that overall business investment has fallen below £100m is tempered by the fact that smaller organisations outside the top 50 respondents are achieving some growth in this area.
On top of this, more than half of the respondents said that they expected to increase their income in the next three years, largely through private investment and earned income. But wait…63% of respondents also said they expected to be hindered in their fundraising efforts by a lack of staff capacity and time. Furthermore, one in four reported a lack of fundraising skills and a further 13% felt that their Board was not supportive of fundraising.
Finally, even if George Osborne’s last hurrah for the arts was an easing of the austerity pain, more than half of respondents are worried that with more organisations entering the fundraising arena, the competition is going to be too fierce.
How then can those of us building development teams and those allocating precious fundraising resources ensure that we take advantage of the good news and overcome the worries? The research does present an element of horses for courses. With individual giving now accounting for over 50% of all private investment (and 79% in donations, not memberships or legacies) there is much to be said for making that significant step of launching a major donor programme.
Wealth scanning, research, profiling and cultivation can be frustratingly slow, but, if you are in London at least, the Private Investment in Culture Survey indicates that the Return on Investment is likely to be worthwhile. So might it be that we will see more investment from smaller teams in employing researchers (or volunteers) or working with external agencies to painstakingly find those golden nuggets within their database? We know that music, visual arts and museums are the most likely to attract individual support and also that London receives three quarters of those donations.
But what for smaller organisations, and those away from the millionaires’ melting pot of London?
Trust fundraising typically achieves an impressive Return on Investment. Small organisations will continue to benefit from trust and foundations, some of which have found their investments performing surprisingly well in the low sterling environment. A move to more equitable distribution of funds to the regions was top of many trust agendas even before the referendum laid bare just how divided a nation ours is. If you are nimble, innovative, and working in dance, literature or theatre, this seems the sensible place to put resource, especially for small teams.
As far as ‘corporate giving’ is concerned, of course there is no such thing. Controversial, I know, but there is almost always a transaction here. If our sector wishes to build on that low level underlying growth seen in this report it must work harder to blur distinctions between ‘sponsorship’ and ‘earned income’. Like it or not we must approach companies not with the brilliance of our artistic programmes, but with what we have to sell – be that our audience, our social media reach, our people or our brand. That requires our corporate specialists to be creative, resourceful thinkers and for us to think more commercially in terms of business development when building teams and appointing to these roles.
One in four respondents to the Private Investment in Culture Survey worried that they would be held back by a lack of in-house skills and knowledge. It is understandable, given the number of companies that are just starting out on their fundraising journey. However, the arts and cultural fundraising sector is collaborative and willing to share, despite the intensity of the competition. Free-tojoin groups like the Institute of Fundraising’s Cultural Sector Network run regular forums and events both in the capital and the regions. Arts Fundraising & Philanthropy runs its own reasonably-priced training courses, gives funds to support the creation and development of networks, and has brought talented individuals into the sector through its Fundraising Fellowship Programme.
So what we need to take from the Private Investment Survey, is a view that with the right mix of training and a strategy that lasers in on the right area of opportunity for each individual organisation. I am confident that our sector can continue to grow contributed income even in the uncertain times ahead.
But we need to invest, if we are going to see further growth and change.
