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All About Fundraising
- 1. All about fundraising Burke Museum Tuesday 28 June 2016 @laura_miles www.slideshare.com/lauramiles
- 6. The ‘good cause’ approach
- 7. Time to vote
- 8. Left to right: the ‘corporate’, the ‘artistic’ and the ‘good cause’ approaches
- 10. All about fundraising – topics to cover • Tone of voice • Funding sources • Pragmatism • Getting organised • Being connected • Acknowledgements and entitlements
- 11. All about fundraising – topics to cover • Tone of voice • Funding sources • Pragmatism • Getting organised • Being connected • Acknowledgements and entitlements
- 12. Funding sources • Government • Philanthropy • Corporates • Benefactors • The broad community • The local community
- 13. Where the funding comes from • Government • Philanthropy • Corporates • Benefactors • The broad community • The local community
- 14. Source: Regional Arts Victoria, Arts Access Victoria, Royal Historical Society of Victoria and Public Galleries Association of Victoria annual reports (2014) Regional Arts Victoria $5.3m Arts Access Victoria $1.8m Royal Historical Society of Victoria - $452k Public Galleries Association of Victoria - $239k
- 16. Where the funding comes from • Government • Philanthropy • Corporates • Benefactors • The broad community • The local community
- 17. Do your research
- 20. Where the funding comes from • Government • Philanthropy • Corporates • Benefactors • The broad community • The local community
- 22. Where the funding comes from • Government • Philanthropy • Corporates • Benefactors • The broad community • The local community
- 24. Where the funding comes from • Government • Philanthropy • Corporates • Benefactors • The broad community • The local community
- 25. All about fundraising – topics to cover • Tone of voice • Funding sources • Pragmatism • Getting organised • Being connected • Acknowledgements and entitlements
- 27. All about fundraising – topics to cover • Tone of voice • Funding sources • Pragmatism • Getting organised • Being connected • Acknowledgements and entitlements
- 29. All about fundraising – topics to cover • Tone of voice • Funding sources • Pragmatism • Getting organised • Being connected • Acknowledgements and entitlements
- 33. All about fundraising – topics to cover • Tone of voice • Funding sources • Pragmatism • Getting organised • Being connected • Acknowledgements and entitlements
- 34. Excerpt from MA (Vic) sponsorship brochure (2015)
- 36. MA (Vic) Awards 2014 – photograph courtesy Simon Fox
- 39. Avoiding common pitfalls • Understanding grant procedures • Fulfilling supporters’ expectations • Chasing the long shot • Getting the content wrong
- 42. Avoiding common pitfalls • Understanding grant procedures • Fulfilling supporters’ expectations • Chasing the long shot • Getting the content wrong
- 43. Excerpt from MA (Vic) sponsorship brochure (2015)
- 44. Avoiding common pitfalls • Understanding grant procedures • Fulfilling supporters’ expectations • Chasing the long shot • Getting the content wrong
- 48. Avoiding common pitfalls • Understanding grant procedures • Fulfilling supporters’ expectations • Chasing the long shot • Getting the content wrong
- 50. Good habits to cultivate • Decide on your focus • Use your resources wisely - lo-tech can be good • Keep an ‘ideas file’ • Maintain an ‘ideas network’
- 51. Good habits to cultivate • Decide on your focus • Use your resources wisely - lo-tech can be good • Keep an ‘ideas file’ • Maintain an ‘ideas network’
- 54. Impacts and ‘soft power’ www.aam-us.org/resources/bookstore
- 55. Takeaways: Download these slides at: www.slideshare.com/lauramiles More resources: www.mavic.asn.au www.youtube.com/MuseumsAustraliaVic
Editor's Notes
- Acknowledgement to country: I’d like to begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land we are on today – and pay my respects to Elders, both past and present.
- Three tones of voice Source: https://flic.kr/p/5THBAZ
- The point here is about personality, tone of voice, brand…call it what you will. I suggest that there are three main types. Source: https://flic.kr/p/ocLH9y
- Corporate – “leveraging volunteer contributions, investing in the community, visible profile…” Source: https://flic.kr/p/cyf6vh
- Artistic – “bringing creativity to children through art, using craft as creative expression…” Source: https://flic.kr/p/8bmzpw
- Good cause – “really important project, benefiting the community, history of play…” Source: https://flic.kr/p/7JtmFX
- Time for you to vote. Source: https://flic.kr/p/9vX2NY
- Which one is ‘best’?
- It depends. On who you’re asking, and for what. Being too corporate with your local community may not encourage them to come to your garage sale. Being too casual with your local bank may not encourage them to sponsor your new roadsigns.
- There’s a tone of voice of our organisations, which should be consistently promoted by all staff and volunteers. Source: https://flic.kr/p/tj8dsr
- The funding you seek will of course depend on what you want funded. Grants and benefactors are usually required for major projects; smaller scale funding is often supported on a local level.
- I’ve deliberately put these in this order, to focus mostly on the last two.
- Source: https://flic.kr/p/ouAdzm
- For example, state government funding (shown in red) is not the majority of these peak bodies’ turnover. So they find most of their funding from other places. That means a lot of advocacy, lobbying and effort on revenue generation. All figures derived from 2014 annual reports.
- More and more, chasing the money is about impact. Funders used to focus on outputs (e.g. number of kids visiting the toy museum). Then it became about outcomes (e.g. how the kids rated their experience) But now it’s about impact (e.g. what happened next, was it a meaningful project worth the investment?) www.probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2015/05/nfp-‘rebellion’-against-funders’-demands https://medium.com/code-words-technology-and-theory-in-the-museum/museums-so-what-7b4594e72283
- You can’t control: Funders' strategic priorities Amount of money available, amount you can request, amount they actually give Timing of funding rounds Composition of decision panels Who else competes with you for funding Source: https://flic.kr/p/akK4Ld
- It takes time to research the options, and... Source: https://flic.kr/p/of25Lb
- …not all will be open to you. Account for the cost (of your time) doing the research and all those dead ends. Source: www.ato.gov.au/Non-profit/Getting-started/Types-of-not-for-profit-organisations/
- Corporates – for example industry, banks, tertiary education providers, corporate social responsibility budgets Benefactors – for example, bequests and donations. Source: https://flic.kr/p/ocLH9y
- As with government grants and philanthropy, generally corporate and benefactor funds are generated through a lot of research and effort. They do tend to have different processes and approaches. Source: https://flic.kr/p/6P82o2
- Meaning: crowdsourcing from people who may live locally, or far away. Lots of small amounts from kind-hearted members of the public, adding up to one big amount. For example… Source: https://flic.kr/p/6nUCKe
- The Maremma Dogs project – funding two younger dogs onto Middle Island to replace the original two. Crowdsourcing generally applies a ‘good cause’ approach to get people to pay personally for something they understand and engage with emotionally. Source: www.pozible.com
- Meaning: local initiatives such as the ones some of you forwarded last week. These include: raffles, fundraising dinners, ticketed talks by your curators, film nights and car boot sales. I make a distinction between local and the broader community because generally the broader community contribute once, for specific projects, whereas local communities often repeatedly support their museum or gallery. Again the good cause approach is most often used here, but occasionally the artistic, depending on the funding purpose. Source: https://flic.kr/p/6nUCKe
- Be practical. Lots of things you could do, to generate funding, will not be directly rewarded or in time for your needs. It's ok to apply for your 'long shot' but don't persist in chasing the highly unlikely ask, unless it's your last option. It’s ok to not apply for something which wouldn't secure a meaningful return, e.g. $6000 of your time to apply for a $5000 grant. Use your time and energy wisely, you still need to do your normal business while you seek additional funding. Remember that you can’t control funders’ priorities, how much they give and when, and who else is competing for the same fund as you. You can control: how organised you are and the approach you use.
- Remember to check if you’re speaking to the right person. Similarly, if a potential funder isn't a good match, be diplomatic and honest. It’s ok to discover that their needs and yours don’t fit. Normally they appreciate your honesty and sometimes, fund you for something else at a future date. Source: https://flic.kr/p/5TJoyH
- Keep lists of fundraising ideas, split into those you’re working on and those you aren't. The reason for this is that your circumstances might change. Have a method to manage tasks and deadlines. Gather colleagues who can help in big and small ways: listening to your freeform ideas, proofreading, suggesting better ways to pitch. Also have prepared some ideas in case you unexpectedly talk to funders outside formally-advertised programs, this is especially important for local community supporters.
- Keep very tidy records. Use whatever works for you: Outlook tasks, project management apps, sticky notes, pinboards… Make sure your whole team can access them rather than just one person. Source: https://flic.kr/p/tAgJCC
- Be connected. Know what funds are going around.
- Get a mentor or two to talk through your ideas one-to-one, someone you trust who will give you an honest critique. This checks your tone of voice (literally) and in writing. We don’t always come across in the way we intend. Source: https://flic.kr/p/owv5Ni
- Being connected isn’t just about who you know directly. One current funder of our organisation approached us on the basis of word of mouth from another funder. Collect ideas and advice from colleagues in other organisations. Source: https://flic.kr/p/6UjW6R
- If you don’t already, consider starting a trend of offering letters of support to other museums you work with. Pass on details of funds that might interest others. Ask others for letters of support and testimonials when you need to, and keep them filed in a sensible place.
- What happens if you do successfully generate funds? Plan for what happens – in terms of ‘acknowledgements and entitlements’.
- Understand the cost of fundraising – in terms of dollars and your time. This list of acknowledgements and entitlements shows what supporters get from us. Managing those takes time and effort to do well, from relatively simple logos on our website to reports on KPIs.
- These can be relatively easy to fulful, for example a logo on your website or newsletter…
- …or inviting sponsors to your events.
- Every way in which you liaise with an existing or potential funder is important, from e-mails to phone calls to meetings. And also: the way you are perceived by funders without direct contact, e.g. your website content, look and feel, how the sector talks about you, what your other funders say about you. How good are you at communicating your work in the community? Source: https://flic.kr/p/azAMLQ
- Let’s move onto some do’s and don’ts, starting with some common pitfalls. Source: https://flic.kr/p/oeNWwE
- If you’re applying for a grant, more often than not it’s an online application.
- These can trip you up, especially if there’s no offline version of the form for you to use. Be careful of strict word counts, dropdown choices, and checking you have met all the eligibility requirements. Note that some funders use SmartyGrants for progress reports and acquittals as well as applications. Source: www.smartygrants.com
- It’s always better to contact a funder in advance of an application. Some require you to contact them before submission, and cite who and when you contacted in the application. Find out how much of your idea needs to be discussed as well: this can be anything from a quick question, to a quick pitch, to a fully budgeted proposal with partnerships agreed in writing.
- It sounds so obvious, but you must do what you promise, when making an agreement with a supporter or sponsor.
- This is a detail from one of our sponsorship brochures. It’s important to understand the cost of fundraising – in terms of a) dollars and b) time. This list of acknowledgements and entitlements shows what supporters get from us. Managing these properly takes time and effort to do well.
- It’s worth being ambitious and look to the ‘long shot’ as long as you don’t lose sight of your more usual fundraising work. For substantial or multi-year grants, donations or gifts, you generally need to provide statistics and financial records to justify the investment. Keeping excellent records and planning wisely is very important.
- For example with visitor statistics, these can range from an estimate for the number of visitors per year, to more complex segmentation analyses of visitor types.
- Or a defined split of where your funding and in-kind support comes from.
- Some funders demand evidence of confirmed cash, and your track record - statistics of past performance.
- Sometimes a source of funding may not be as expected. It’s common to start researching and discover exclusions to funding. Most commonly:
- …you may not be able to apply for help with salaries, utility bills or admin fees. And sometimes, grant applications have tricky requirements at the end of the form, ranging from audited accounts to written references from external people to endorse your organisation. It’s always best to read every bit of the application carefully before you start filling it in, and allow time to ask the funder questions before their deadline.
- Finally, some do’s – good habits to cultivate. Decide on your focus – big grants or small local initiatives. Use your resources wisely – this means your existing funding but also your time. Share the work among your staff or volunteers. Know when your busy times are, and when it’s practical to do fundraising.
- Keep an ideas file of things others are doing to inspire and shape your thinking. Maintain an ideas network, by which I mean gathering useful people around to help.
- My ideas file is varied and includes websites, books, blogposts, and notes about meetings, as well as the more open-ended ideas discussed unexpectedly or informally. This includes ideas about clear communication, like this course on writing, or seminars from peak bodies like Writers Victoria.
- Follow people on social media – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and so on - to get inspired about what other people are doing and crucially, how they communicate it. Social media is a great way to know what’s going on.
- And you can read more traditional media - books and articles - about the importance of museums and galleries. It’s well worth reading books like this, and researching the people and ideas they quote, to bolster your ideas file. Lord, G & Blankenberg, N (Eds) (2015) Cities, Museums and Soft Power, AAM Press 2015