Bringing the board to the forefront of fundraising

I imagine there will have been very many in the arts who will have felt deeply patronised by Maria Miller’s comments that arts organisations need to become ‘better askers’ for private support. Not least will be the many highly professional fundraisers operating in both the visual arts and performing arts sectors, as well as organisations like Liverpool Everyman with their great Everyone for the Everyman fundraising initiative. Theatres up and down the country are asking for donations on top of the ticket price and reclaim Gift Aid on these, and there are plenty of membership schemes in place as well as other fundraising initiatives. Where I do think that there is a hint of truth in what she says is in the behaviour of boards, and in some cases of chief executives as well. I know that in this country we do not want to get dragged the whole way down the American route of private funding, with all the downsides that hit that model particularly in a recession, but it is interesting that if you talk to Chief Executives in the USA about how much time they spend of fundraising many will say that it can take up to 4 days a week. I can already hear the howls about the inability to run the organisation or deliver the art if one were to spend so much time on fundraising, and don’t propose that we need to go that far, but for example if by spending an additional day a week on this area the head of an arts organisation were able to generate unrestricted funds equivalent to £100,000 per year, my belief is that those funds would more than cover the costs of delegating some tasks to others. Some boards are fantastic at fundraising and very good at both digging in to their own pockets but also asking their friends to fork-out as well as being the public face of the organisation. You only need to look at what has been achieved by people like Vernon Ellis and the Sainsbury and Hamlyn families amongst many who have been able to help transform many of our arts institutions by their generosity. But there are also many boards where trustees do not feel that they need to make a contribution or to ask. It should not be a question of how much, but everyone on an arts board should be able to make some kind of a contribution – for some this may only be the equivalent of a few cups of Cappuccino from their favourite coffee shop, others may be able to be generous to whatever level they can afford. The key is that if everyone on the board gives, it is a great incentive to everyone else in the company and outside. Indeed there are many trusts and foundations who will ask what percentage of the board give when they are looking at applications for funding. Once all the board are giving, it’s that much easier to get them to go out and ask not just their families and networks but also to act as ambassadors for the arts in the local area. The challenge is to make sure that chairs of boards understand this and board recruitment policies reflect it.