Written by Chris Bailkoski, Curator and Fundraiser at Cromer Artspace and 2025 Fundraising Fellow
As a member of the 2025/26 Professional Fundraising Fellowship, it has been refreshing to meet a group of peers working across diverse arts organisations. United by our shared challenges in the cultural and charity sectors, we’ve quickly created a positive space for exchanging our insights.
The fellowship has been transformative for my growth, from new perspectives in my freelance work to my approach within the volunteer team at Cromer Artspace in North Norfolk. At the start of each new year, there is a temptation to use the previous years’ momentum for new, often unmanageable, resolutions. Instead, I’m reflecting on 2025, and employing a steadfast resolve into four areas of my practice. Forged through continuing dialogue and collective problem-solving, this resolve is a commitment to integrating a more strategic and ethical practice.
Curating Fundraising
For over ten years, I’ve worked as an independent contemporary visual art curator. My approach to curating is a holistic practice rooted in the 1970s shift from institutional care of objects to independent exhibition creation. Artist and curator, Jade French (2020), defines this approach as ‘inclusive curating’ which is ‘a process that empowers community groups to curate exhibitions with the guidance of a facilitator’. Back at the start of this career, I saw fundraising as a necessary burden, separate from the creative act of curating, but a necessity all the same.
The pandemic and Brexit forced a more dedicated transition into arts fundraising, and our fellowship peer discussions revealed a shared determination to incorporate our career experiences into our funding strategies. My own strategies were honed in curation; storytelling, narrative-building, and creating community. My resolve is to continue to curate fundraising as I would an exhibition; defining a core theme (the case for support), selecting elements (donor segments, stories), and designing an engaging journey (the donor experience).
Diversifying Funding
Arts Council England (ACE) funding is a lifeline, however, our cohort’s shared experience confirms that over-reliance on it (or any one funder) could be a major vulnerability. As such, diversification is essential. My resolve is to actively diversify income, treating ACE as one component of a resilient financial ecosystem which includes strategies for earned income, individual giving, and partnerships as equal pillars.
While this kind of strategy is essential for non-profit and charity sector organisations, as an independent curator and consultant, such a diversification strategy can be daunting. Through the mentorship and advice on offer within the fellowship, I am confident that I have the right support to implement this strategy.
Professional Fundraising Consultancy
Consultancy is something where I have either offered expertise voluntarily or undervalued my experience. My resolve is to reframe my strengths within this field and not undersell this aspect of my career. This is something I’m sure those new to consultancy can also adopt as the skillset we have developed within the culture sector is directly translatable, with our institutionally adjacent thinking highly valuable to funding strategy development. Continuing with how 2025 ended, I will confidently position my unique, hybrid perspective as a professional strength for others seeking innovative and holistic development solutions.
AI and Ethical Fundraising
I view artificial intelligence as the ever-encroaching double-edged sword: a powerful tool for speed and efficiency that simultaneously risks eroding the implicitly human, empathetic core of fundraising.
Adding a crucial layer of complexity is the significant environmental cost – AI usage now produces CO2 emissions comparable to New York City. While I have a basic understanding and use of AI tools, I acknowledge that I am a novice regarding the ethical implications, both professional and environmental.
Therefore, my resolve is to consciously grow my expertise in this critical field, developing and implementing a robust ethical framework for AI usage as an independent leader, ensuring my practice is both effective and responsible.
This, then, is my resolve for fundraising in 2026; to curate, diversify, professionalise, and innovate ethically.
About the author...
Chris Bailkoski
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