The SYNOPSIS project concerns Storytelling and Fundraising for Cultural Heritage professionals. Cultural heritage covers a variety of activities, and a system of values, traditions, knowledge, and lifestyles that characterise society. The heritage sector has to deal with new challenges and it is therefore necessary to develop new professionalism, able to promote and support cultural heritage as it improves not only the overall economic growth and employment, but also social cohesion and environmental sustainability. Storytelling and fundraising skills assume a fundamental role in connecting the past to the future. Cultural Heritage storytelling is concerned with “communicating through stories”, creating narratives through which a cultural heritage enters into an emphatic relationship with people, managing to arouse public emotion. The purpose is to engage people to protect, exploit cultural heritage, and support it financially. This presentation provides information about the important fundraising tools usually available within your organisation

1. Fundraisers Guide
Storytelling and Fundraising for Cultural Organizations

2. Fundraising
Tools_
Part 1
FundraisingforCulturalOrganisations

3. Internal tools of the Institution
The first tools you need to have to start a winning fundraising campaign are
within everyone's reach and are those that are usually taken for granted:
• The institution's database
• The time that the team and the institution can devote to the fundraising
campaign and to donors
• The professionalism of the team members
• The trust and freedom of action demonstrated by the institution

4. Database
The database is the real wealth of every fundraiser!
If you have a good number of existing donors (with their references:
email, personal data, telephone number, etc.), you can consider the
following fundraising tools:
- mailing (postal or online)
- newsletter
- membership
https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/columns/the-sustainable-nonprofit/the-importance-of-donor-
data-and-how-to-use-it-effectively

5. Database
If your institution is just starting out in fundraising and you do not have profiled
contacts, you will prefer direct and personal contact initiatives, essentially of
two types :
- massive contacts with the generic public through the "dialogators"
(promoters of the institution trained on the specific fundraising campaign)
- direct contacts with major donors (which will require a greater commitment
of time and energy, being based on trust and personal relationships)
https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/columns/the-sustainable-nonprofit/the-importance-of-donor-data-and-
how-to-use-it-effectively

6. Time
Never underestimate time needed in the creation of your fundraising campaigns!
• The relationship with major donors will take you time to take care of the degree of
personal relationship. Major donors need to be "courted" and "pampered" in order to
donate large sums to your cause.
• Crowdfunding campaigns (or those one aimed at the general public) will require time to
handle the continuous communications relating to the evolution of the campaign, the
restoration of the artworks and the moment of return to donors. If you do not make your
"small" donors feel involved in an efficient mechanism, they will no longer donate for a
subsequent collection.
• Participation in the calls will take you time to compile, create an organic project and a
strong and convincing partnership.

7. Professionalism
Fundraising campaigns need different professionals in order to be launched and achieve the goal!
• Storytelling expert, who is able to adapt the narration to the target donors.
• Digital communication expert, who knows how to manage the communication of the campaign
and its evolution on the social and internet channels of the institution.
• Fundraising expert, who knows how to create, manage and profile a database and who is able to
choose the ideal donor target and the best collection tool among those that we will see in the next
paragraphs.
• Data analyst, who knows how to analyze the data at the end of the collection to create a campaign
report and to evaluate the pros and cons of the initiatives taken to make corrections in subsequent
campaigns.
• Graphic expert, who can create images, videos and useful materials to "feed" an effective
fundraising campaign.
https://donorbox.org/nonprofit-blog/qualities-of-a-successful-fundraising-professional/

8. The Board
The Board is usually neglected but it is almost always a decisive element for success! These are the aspects to
which the utmost attention should be paid:
- Does the Board give you freedom of action?
- Is the Board actively involved and participating in the campaign? In turn, does it involve the other members
of the institution?
- Does the Board invest time, energy and money in carrying out the campaign?
- Are individual Board members willing to share their personal network of contacts to ensure the success of
the campaign?
- Do your Board members believe in the campaign? Do they donate to other fundraising campaigns? Did they
donate for this specific campaign?
Any negative answers given to these questions can reveal a problem, even if a small one, to which you will have
to pay due attention ...

9. These were the internal tools of the
institution that you must make sure
you have!
In the next section we will analyze
in more detail the generic tools of
fundraising ...
Storytelling for Cultural Organisations