On the money
Museum fundraisers talk persuasion, persistence and Poussin
This month, Nicolas Poussin’s Extreme Unction – saved for the nation in 2012 when the Fitzwilliam Museum, part of the University of Cambridge, acquired it for £3.9m – continues its grand tour of Britain with a transfer from the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool to the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh.
The year-long itinerary serves not only as a chance for the mid-17th-century masterpiece to be seen close-up by great numbers of art lovers, some of whom may have dipped a hand in a pocket to contribute to its purchase, but also as a very visible display of the power of fundraising in the cultural sector.
For without the tin-rattlers, campaigners and development teams – and, of course, the funding bodies, trusts and foundations, sponsors and individuals they persuade to part with cash – our museums would be in a pretty poor state, particularly as other income streams continue to run a little low.
From counting the coins collected in the donations box to glad-handing the great and the good at corporate events, museum fundraisers here describe how they bring in money to pay for everything from new galleries and acquisitions to everyday running costs.
Rachel Cockett, director of development, Birmingham Museums Trust
Fundraising generates more than 10% of Birmingham Museums Trust’s annual income of £12m and Rachel Cockett, the director of development, relishes the opportunity to ensure everyone from staff and trustees to individual donors is committed to
the cause.
She is particularly proud of the Spitfire Gallery in the Thinktank science museum, a prime example of how fundraising can make an idea take flight. "When I started here 18 months ago, the major funding – the Heritage Lottery Fund, and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport/Wolfson Fund – was in place but there was still a significant amount to find,” Cockett says.
“We founded the Spitfire Club with the aim of raising £5,000 from individuals; almost all the donors who joined remembered their parents working in Spitfire factories. Personal associations really can act as a spur for donations.”
Cockett recently led a campaign to demonstrate public and stakeholder support for Birmingham Museums to the city council, which contributes around 33% of its funding. This resulted in the council reducing its cut in 2015-16 funding from £850,000 to £600,000.
“I received one email in which the writer, in essence, said they would not sign our petition because museums were elitist, money was better spent on those who couldn’t help themselves and we were simply trying to save our own jobs.
“I wrote back thanking the writer for their thoughts and pointing out some of the work we did with vulnerable children and adults. I received a letter a few days later saying: ‘I’m still not signing your petition but here’s £1,000 and don’t give me any acknowledgement as I get enough begging letters as it is.’
“It was a good example of why you should always take the trouble to respond.”
Sue Rhodes, former development officer, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
“I remember the keeper of paintings, drawings and prints rushing into my office one day to say we had three months to raise the money before the Poussin would be offered abroad,” recalls Sue Rhodes, who recently retired from her post of development officer at the Fitzwilliam Museum. “Everything else, really, had to stop for a while.”
The painting had a market value of £14m but it was secured for £3.9m thanks to the government’s Acceptance in Lieu scheme and the generosity of the general public, as well as grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), the Art Fund and many other charitable bodies.
Nearly £500,000 was raised by 2,500 individual donors, including trusts. At the other end of the scale, a further £3,000 came from people popping coins and notes into the donations box.
“The number of donors is important in projects like this because you really need to have wide appeal,” Rhodes says.
“Once you have the HLF money together, of course, trusts and other bodies know that everything is being considered very carefully, which helps a great deal. Partnerships, either local or national, are incredibly important.”
To that end, the national tour the Poussin is now undertaking was a significant detail in the Fitzwilliam’s original HLF application.
“It’s powerful to include other areas of the country,” Rhodes says. “It can help get over the image that Cambridge is so privileged that it might not need help of this kind.”
Trish Roath, head of philanthropy, Holburne Museum, Bath
Trish Roath has been a professional fundraiser for more than 20 years but her career started in very different circumstances on the other side of the world.
An accomplished dancer in Australia for many years, Roath found herself in arts fundraising almost by accident, but she is now an evangelist for the work.
“Anyone can give occasional £10 donations to causes but encouraging people to make the pledge of a major gift takes time and you have to make a real connection to ensure they have an emotional, as well as financial, commitment,” she says.
“The donor’s needs are just as vital as those of the organisation asking for their money,” continues Roath, who believes such emotional connections have ensured that donors carried on giving during hard financial times. “The big difference between this country and Australia, for example, is that people love the arts in a more profound way. The culture is so important and people understand the positive effect it can have.”
Roath spent a decade in Australia working for health charities, and says museum fundraisers should look at how that sector goes about its business. “There are lessons to be learned,” Roath says. “A lot of arts organisations aren’t big enough to have specialist knowledge of the different aspects of fundraising such as direct mail, donor nurture and bequests.”
Helen Jenkins, fundraising consultant
In smaller institutions, fundraising is increasingly becoming a major role for chief executives, says fundraising consultant Helen Jenkins. “Trustees need to understand how much time and effort fundraising takes and they must sometimes have the bold conversation about what a chief executive might have to stop doing in order to fundraise properly,” she says.
“A lot of museums don’t have diverse income streams, so it’s vital they maintain databases with information gleaned from ticket bookers and other sources to have a good idea of who might be potential supporters in the future.
“Museums have to be smarter about engaging people over the long term; keeping them interested on Facebook or Twitter is great but it won’t necessarily lead to money for acquisitions or improvements.”
Jenkins believes that programmes such as Arts Council England’s Catalyst and Giving to Heritage from the Heritage Alliance and the Institute of Fundraising are raising awareness of the ways museums can reach out to potential donors, and helping fundraisers to feel fulfilled in their work.
“For some, it’s about hitting the targets or the thrill of the chase,” Jenkins says. “I, on the other hand, would be a rubbish curator but, as a fundraiser, it’s hard to beat looking at art and feeling you played a part in it being on display.”
Heather Lane, former librarian and keeper of collections, The Polar Museum, Cambridge
The Polar Museum reopened its doors in 2010 after a £2m refit to provide a suitable venue for an internationally significant collection.
The institution, bolstered by a Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) grant, set out to raise the other £1m needed to renovate the building and open new gallery spaces, while facing a race against the clock to be ready in time for the centenary celebrations of Captain Scott’s epic mission.
The project was led by Heather Lane, who recently left her role as the librarian and keeper of collections. For Lane, fundraising was just one of many museum responsibilities.
“Collections were at the heart of what I did and the success we had is probably due to the fact that we communicated very strongly how important those stories are to people we approached for funding,” says Lane.
Lane began raising the additional cash by setting up a project board in the City of London to persuade the rich and influential to become patrons, launching a public appeal and a digital giving scheme through Cambridge University’s online presence and organising events in order to talk potential funders through the plans.
“I think there’s a real advantage of someone utterly involved in a project being the person talking face-to-face with possible donors because you can communicate the urgency and the passion,” Lane says.
“The people we were cultivating were upfront about not appreciating being put in a room with someone whose job was purely to raise money.”
Lane also led a scheme designed to develop a collection of objects relating to polar explorer Ernest Shackleton. Funding is already in place from HLF Collecting Cultures, the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation.
“It’s important not to waste time on things with little chance of success and to make fewer, larger bids if at all possible because the time you spend is the same whether you’re going for £5,000, £50,000 or £500,000.”
Nathan Matthews, fundraising officer, Torfaen Museum Trust
Amgueddfa Pontypool Museum, run by the Torfaen Museum Trust, houses a collection of Japanware, objects relating to local businesses such as British Nylon Spinners and memorabilia from the glory days of Pontypool rugby club.
Like many museums, it is really feeling the economic pinch and this year’s near-20% reduction in council funding forced a rethink on the fundraising front.
“We’re targeting Torfaen residents who we hope might support the museum through individual or family memberships, tourists and local businesses, as well as ex-patriots who may be willing to help a cause in the ‘old country’,” says fundraising officer Nathan Matthews.
The museum has also developed a close relationship with the local media to emphasise the valuable role it plays within the community and to highlight the importance of its fundraising efforts via weekly columns.
“We are also developing a strategy to promote legacies and bequests in favour of the museum, as well as web content and functionality to promote engagement and donations from overseas audiences,” Matthews says.
All interviews by John Holt. Photograph by Graham Morgan.
The year-long itinerary serves not only as a chance for the mid-17th-century masterpiece to be seen close-up by great numbers of art lovers, some of whom may have dipped a hand in a pocket to contribute to its purchase, but also as a very visible display of the power of fundraising in the cultural sector.
For without the tin-rattlers, campaigners and development teams – and, of course, the funding bodies, trusts and foundations, sponsors and individuals they persuade to part with cash – our museums would be in a pretty poor state, particularly as other income streams continue to run a little low.
From counting the coins collected in the donations box to glad-handing the great and the good at corporate events, museum fundraisers here describe how they bring in money to pay for everything from new galleries and acquisitions to everyday running costs.
Rachel Cockett, director of development, Birmingham Museums Trust
Fundraising generates more than 10% of Birmingham Museums Trust’s annual income of £12m and Rachel Cockett, the director of development, relishes the opportunity to ensure everyone from staff and trustees to individual donors is committed to
the cause.
She is particularly proud of the Spitfire Gallery in the Thinktank science museum, a prime example of how fundraising can make an idea take flight. "When I started here 18 months ago, the major funding – the Heritage Lottery Fund, and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport/Wolfson Fund – was in place but there was still a significant amount to find,” Cockett says.
“We founded the Spitfire Club with the aim of raising £5,000 from individuals; almost all the donors who joined remembered their parents working in Spitfire factories. Personal associations really can act as a spur for donations.”
Cockett recently led a campaign to demonstrate public and stakeholder support for Birmingham Museums to the city council, which contributes around 33% of its funding. This resulted in the council reducing its cut in 2015-16 funding from £850,000 to £600,000.
“I received one email in which the writer, in essence, said they would not sign our petition because museums were elitist, money was better spent on those who couldn’t help themselves and we were simply trying to save our own jobs.
“I wrote back thanking the writer for their thoughts and pointing out some of the work we did with vulnerable children and adults. I received a letter a few days later saying: ‘I’m still not signing your petition but here’s £1,000 and don’t give me any acknowledgement as I get enough begging letters as it is.’
“It was a good example of why you should always take the trouble to respond.”
Sue Rhodes, former development officer, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
“I remember the keeper of paintings, drawings and prints rushing into my office one day to say we had three months to raise the money before the Poussin would be offered abroad,” recalls Sue Rhodes, who recently retired from her post of development officer at the Fitzwilliam Museum. “Everything else, really, had to stop for a while.”
The painting had a market value of £14m but it was secured for £3.9m thanks to the government’s Acceptance in Lieu scheme and the generosity of the general public, as well as grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), the Art Fund and many other charitable bodies.
Nearly £500,000 was raised by 2,500 individual donors, including trusts. At the other end of the scale, a further £3,000 came from people popping coins and notes into the donations box.
“The number of donors is important in projects like this because you really need to have wide appeal,” Rhodes says.
“Once you have the HLF money together, of course, trusts and other bodies know that everything is being considered very carefully, which helps a great deal. Partnerships, either local or national, are incredibly important.”
To that end, the national tour the Poussin is now undertaking was a significant detail in the Fitzwilliam’s original HLF application.
“It’s powerful to include other areas of the country,” Rhodes says. “It can help get over the image that Cambridge is so privileged that it might not need help of this kind.”
Trish Roath, head of philanthropy, Holburne Museum, Bath
Trish Roath has been a professional fundraiser for more than 20 years but her career started in very different circumstances on the other side of the world.
An accomplished dancer in Australia for many years, Roath found herself in arts fundraising almost by accident, but she is now an evangelist for the work.
“Anyone can give occasional £10 donations to causes but encouraging people to make the pledge of a major gift takes time and you have to make a real connection to ensure they have an emotional, as well as financial, commitment,” she says.
“The donor’s needs are just as vital as those of the organisation asking for their money,” continues Roath, who believes such emotional connections have ensured that donors carried on giving during hard financial times. “The big difference between this country and Australia, for example, is that people love the arts in a more profound way. The culture is so important and people understand the positive effect it can have.”
Roath spent a decade in Australia working for health charities, and says museum fundraisers should look at how that sector goes about its business. “There are lessons to be learned,” Roath says. “A lot of arts organisations aren’t big enough to have specialist knowledge of the different aspects of fundraising such as direct mail, donor nurture and bequests.”
Helen Jenkins, fundraising consultant
In smaller institutions, fundraising is increasingly becoming a major role for chief executives, says fundraising consultant Helen Jenkins. “Trustees need to understand how much time and effort fundraising takes and they must sometimes have the bold conversation about what a chief executive might have to stop doing in order to fundraise properly,” she says.
“A lot of museums don’t have diverse income streams, so it’s vital they maintain databases with information gleaned from ticket bookers and other sources to have a good idea of who might be potential supporters in the future.
“Museums have to be smarter about engaging people over the long term; keeping them interested on Facebook or Twitter is great but it won’t necessarily lead to money for acquisitions or improvements.”
Jenkins believes that programmes such as Arts Council England’s Catalyst and Giving to Heritage from the Heritage Alliance and the Institute of Fundraising are raising awareness of the ways museums can reach out to potential donors, and helping fundraisers to feel fulfilled in their work.
“For some, it’s about hitting the targets or the thrill of the chase,” Jenkins says. “I, on the other hand, would be a rubbish curator but, as a fundraiser, it’s hard to beat looking at art and feeling you played a part in it being on display.”
Heather Lane, former librarian and keeper of collections, The Polar Museum, Cambridge
The Polar Museum reopened its doors in 2010 after a £2m refit to provide a suitable venue for an internationally significant collection.
The institution, bolstered by a Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) grant, set out to raise the other £1m needed to renovate the building and open new gallery spaces, while facing a race against the clock to be ready in time for the centenary celebrations of Captain Scott’s epic mission.
The project was led by Heather Lane, who recently left her role as the librarian and keeper of collections. For Lane, fundraising was just one of many museum responsibilities.
“Collections were at the heart of what I did and the success we had is probably due to the fact that we communicated very strongly how important those stories are to people we approached for funding,” says Lane.
Lane began raising the additional cash by setting up a project board in the City of London to persuade the rich and influential to become patrons, launching a public appeal and a digital giving scheme through Cambridge University’s online presence and organising events in order to talk potential funders through the plans.
“I think there’s a real advantage of someone utterly involved in a project being the person talking face-to-face with possible donors because you can communicate the urgency and the passion,” Lane says.
“The people we were cultivating were upfront about not appreciating being put in a room with someone whose job was purely to raise money.”
Lane also led a scheme designed to develop a collection of objects relating to polar explorer Ernest Shackleton. Funding is already in place from HLF Collecting Cultures, the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation.
“It’s important not to waste time on things with little chance of success and to make fewer, larger bids if at all possible because the time you spend is the same whether you’re going for £5,000, £50,000 or £500,000.”
Nathan Matthews, fundraising officer, Torfaen Museum Trust
Amgueddfa Pontypool Museum, run by the Torfaen Museum Trust, houses a collection of Japanware, objects relating to local businesses such as British Nylon Spinners and memorabilia from the glory days of Pontypool rugby club.
Like many museums, it is really feeling the economic pinch and this year’s near-20% reduction in council funding forced a rethink on the fundraising front.
“We’re targeting Torfaen residents who we hope might support the museum through individual or family memberships, tourists and local businesses, as well as ex-patriots who may be willing to help a cause in the ‘old country’,” says fundraising officer Nathan Matthews.
The museum has also developed a close relationship with the local media to emphasise the valuable role it plays within the community and to highlight the importance of its fundraising efforts via weekly columns.
“We are also developing a strategy to promote legacies and bequests in favour of the museum, as well as web content and functionality to promote engagement and donations from overseas audiences,” Matthews says.
All interviews by John Holt. Photograph by Graham Morgan.