“The Metropolitan Opera has received the largest individual gift in its history, a $25 million donation from the socialite Mercedes Bass and her husband, Sid R. Bass, that comes at a time of increasing financial troubles for the house.” The New York Times, 2006
Almost 20 years ago, the above story appeared in newspapers across the world. A wealthy philanthropist and art lover – and Board member! – upon hearing of an impending significant deficit at the Metropolitan Opera, opened her purse and wrote a cheque for $25m.
That’s right: not a pledge for the future, not a legacy, but an astonishingly generous cash gift which was “mostly unrestricted”. Even for an institution like the Met, the gift was unprecedented. Its financial deficit was but a distant memory.
Fast forward to 2023. Mackenzie Scott, former wife of Jeff Bezos – occasionally the world’s richest man – is newly endowed with a vast fortune courtesy of her divorce settlement with Bezos. She becomes a philanthropist, and aims to give her fortune away, at scale and at speed.
In the past year alone she has given away some $2.1 billion (billion!) and has given away more than $16 billion since 2019. The remarkable thing is its quiet efficiency; with mostly no application process, her team identify good organisations doing good work, and send them money. Her 2023 announcement about her most recent gifts totalled 54 words across three sentences. It was, as one commentator observed, “practically a haiku”.
That’s one end of the scale – high impact philanthropy, advancing the causes philanthropists care about, with a bare minimum of fuss. But for 99.9% of the not-for-profit sector, it’s probably an unrealistic strategy to wait for someone to one day send a cheque, for a vast amount of money, in the post. We need an alternative strategy, and here’s some ideas.
Finding a strategy that works for you
First things first: you know your organisation best, and so your fundraising plan needs to reflect what you want to achieve.
Take into account your size (including your fundraising and marketing capacity, such as people, skills and budget), past track record, future plans and aspirations.
If you are a visitor attraction, like a museum or heritage building, then it needs to reflect your visitor footfall.
But, the common thing is the word ‘plan’. The old saying ‘failing to plan, is planning to fail’ has never been more true. Beyond this; however, what things could you consider?
Public funding
This is a key funding source for many heritage and cultural organisations. The launch of the National Lottery in 1994 helpfully led to the creation of the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF), which has awarded £8.8 billion of grants to 51,000 projects since its inception. If you’re not already funded by NLHF, then visit their website and check your eligibility.
Of course, there are the other Lottery funds to consider as well. Arts Council England is one (useful to consider if you are raising funds for a project that centres on the arts in England; do note that there are Arts Councils for each of the devolved nations) and the National Lottery Community Fund is another.
Whilst it’s a challenging time for councils across the UK, there may be some smaller scale funding available for local priorities. The pace of development across the UK – and thus developers’ obligations to ensure ‘Section 106’ funding is in place – may also be an opportunity for heritage assets within a particular community. If, say, you were undertaking capital works that would benefit a community, you might want to consider Section 106 funding, which is often distributed via your local council.
Trusts and Foundations
It’s an equally challenging time for Trusts and Foundations, as priorities change, demand increases, and a disrupted financial climate has a tangible impact on the amount of available money Trusts have to give away.
That said, there are thousands of grant-giving Trusts and Foundations out there, some with defined application procedures, and some who fly under the radar yet who have significant funds to grant. A big shout out, therefore, to databases that help fundraisers make sense of it all and apply limited resource/capacity effectively. Some are free, and others have paid-for options if you have the budget. A few options include:
- Charities Excellence Framework: click on ‘funding finder’ at the top, register, and who have access to a free funding finder, and you can filter your search depending on your requirements.
- Funds Online: subscription database from the Directory of Social Change, who have been carrying out this research for years.
- Grant Finder: another subscription database, with a comprehensive funder list covering local, national, and international sources of funding,
It’s also worth finding out who has funded similar organisations to yours, and then do your own research as to whether you’d be a good fit. And if you can, pick up the phone and have a conversation with the funder. That can help you get the funder’s perspective on your application and make it the best it can be – including whether to apply at all, and if so, how much for.
Individual giving
There are two sides to this: engagement with individuals with capacity to make significant gifts (and ‘significant’ can mean very different things to different organisations), and a more ‘mass market’ approach. The two areas are not exclusive – and it might depend on whether you are able to capture visitor information, allowing you to contact individuals and research their background. Bear in mind, too, that organisations with limited resource need any fundraising efforts to be as efficient and effective as possible; utilising technology (for instance, to automate some donor communications) can really help. But here’s some other pointers:
- Focus on the low-hanging fruit first. This could include:
- A donation button on your website, with some catchy ‘call to action’ slogans that reinforce that you are a charity and that you rely on donations.
- A donation request as part of the ticket purchase pathway.
- An in-venue donation box – and make it stand out or interactive even, to maximise donations. There are several companies that can support you with this – such as GoodBox.
- Follow up communications with visitors – ask what they thought, if they’d donate, or if they could support a specific campaign. Always remember, though, the importance of having a strong data / GDPR policy in place. You must have an individual’s consent in order to use and (securely) retain their data.
- Of course, if you are capturing data in a clear and consistent way, then you have the opportunity to identify individuals with significant giving potential. Again, you must be clear that your GDPR framework allows you to do this, but it can be an effective way to begin engaging with your High-Net-Worth visitors.
- Could you develop a membership offer? It can be a way to bring people close to your organisation, encourage repeat visits, and to form a sense of community. Don’t automatically think you need to offer discounts; if you do, then make sure you’re aware of the ‘Gift Aid benefit rules’ if you also wish to claim Gift Aid. And, on that note, it’s good to be aware of GASDS too (Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme) – helpful if you have donation boxes or similar.
- Don’t forget digital – many people have a smartphone, so don’t be afraid to test new approaches. QR codes and NFC chips (Near Field Communication’ – basically the way for a payment card or mobile device to interact with something, such as a donation box) can all be incorporated creatively into your heritage offer. Make it fun so people can enjoy the act of giving!
Corporate
For many smaller heritage organisations, this might be further down the priority list, given the all-too-often capacity constraints that exist, coupled with the long-term effort a corporate partnership can require to be successful.
But, if you’re smaller then you could do worse than think local and think creatively about the opportunities you could seize. For instance, if you’re a museum, or visitor attraction, could you convene a quarterly business drinks gathering at your site? For a minimum outlay (no hire charges for your venue, for starters) you could get in front of people who could consider supporting you. It might just be that it’s your heritage distinctiveness that gives you a real edge.
And finally…
Be bold.
Make sure you tell your story authentically but creatively.
Even if you’re a small organisation you can punch above your weight in terms of brand (one example is the Museum of Timekeeping, with its beautiful yet simple logo and brand).
Ultimately, just make sure your organisation is something people want to support and get behind.
In a crowded market, don’t be afraid to stand out!