Keith Nichol, head of philanthropy and fundraising at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in England, has told conference delegates that museums need to start getting better at asking for money.
In a session that aimed to debunk myths around philanthropy, Nichol said the sector needed to stop wasting time talking about whether the government was “foisting fundraising on museums” and focus on increasing and diversifying sources of philanthropy.
In a session that aimed to debunk myths around philanthropy, Nichol said the sector needed to stop wasting time talking about whether the government was “foisting fundraising on museums” and focus on increasing and diversifying sources of philanthropy.
“The first and biggest myth is that the government is only interested in philanthropy in order that it can fill some hole left by cutting public subsidy. That’s simply not true.”
Nichol said that while it was more difficult for museums outside London to access potential donors, there was much more they could be doing to increase their philanthropic income, including training staff in fundraising skills.
“Fundraising sometimes feels like it’s done in a very amateur way. You wouldn’t ask a conservator to restore a church without any training,” he said.
Nichol said all museums should be introducing membership and legacy giving schemes, showing on their website how donations were being spent and learning how to thank donors properly. “These are all very basic things,” he said.
Nichol said he had been disappointed to learn that out of 114 applications to a recent stream of arts council funding for museums, just one had focused on fundraising.
Part of the problem, he said, is that many people do yet not regard cultural institutions as charities. “We’ve got a huge advocacy job to get people to understand,” he said.
“We know people are passionate about arts and museums. There is a group of potential donors out there that haven’t even been asked the question… It’s not very British to ask for money but it can be learned.”
But Janet Barnes, head of York Museums Trust, pointed out that in some cases the effort required in pursuing donations or sponsorship outweighed the benefit.
“My feeling is that the effort that is required to engage businesses is sometimes not worth it. We’ve tried it over the years but the headquarters of most big businesses aren’t based in York so you’re really talking to the marketing people, who have much smaller budgets.”
Peter Phillips, chairman of Birmingham Opera, said that, particularly for museums outside of London, philanthropy should be promoted as a source of civic pride and people made to feel they have responsibility for their communities.
He urged museums to tailor fundraising efforts to appeal to the local population demographic – saying an important starting point was to gather data from visitors.
Phillips also called on funding bodies and the government to do more to highlight the charitable status of cultural institutions.
“There are no quick fixes,” he said. “In terms of civic pride we’re talking about a generational change.”
The panel said it was important that all staff, particularly directors and trustees, got involved in both fundraising and donating.
“Philanthropy is not finite, it is infinite if you know how to get it,” said Phillips.
Resources to help museums in England build fundraising capacity are available through the Catalyst scheme.
Nichol said that while it was more difficult for museums outside London to access potential donors, there was much more they could be doing to increase their philanthropic income, including training staff in fundraising skills.
“Fundraising sometimes feels like it’s done in a very amateur way. You wouldn’t ask a conservator to restore a church without any training,” he said.
Nichol said all museums should be introducing membership and legacy giving schemes, showing on their website how donations were being spent and learning how to thank donors properly. “These are all very basic things,” he said.
Nichol said he had been disappointed to learn that out of 114 applications to a recent stream of arts council funding for museums, just one had focused on fundraising.
Part of the problem, he said, is that many people do yet not regard cultural institutions as charities. “We’ve got a huge advocacy job to get people to understand,” he said.
“We know people are passionate about arts and museums. There is a group of potential donors out there that haven’t even been asked the question… It’s not very British to ask for money but it can be learned.”
But Janet Barnes, head of York Museums Trust, pointed out that in some cases the effort required in pursuing donations or sponsorship outweighed the benefit.
“My feeling is that the effort that is required to engage businesses is sometimes not worth it. We’ve tried it over the years but the headquarters of most big businesses aren’t based in York so you’re really talking to the marketing people, who have much smaller budgets.”
Peter Phillips, chairman of Birmingham Opera, said that, particularly for museums outside of London, philanthropy should be promoted as a source of civic pride and people made to feel they have responsibility for their communities.
He urged museums to tailor fundraising efforts to appeal to the local population demographic – saying an important starting point was to gather data from visitors.
Phillips also called on funding bodies and the government to do more to highlight the charitable status of cultural institutions.
“There are no quick fixes,” he said. “In terms of civic pride we’re talking about a generational change.”
The panel said it was important that all staff, particularly directors and trustees, got involved in both fundraising and donating.
“Philanthropy is not finite, it is infinite if you know how to get it,” said Phillips.
Resources to help museums in England build fundraising capacity are available through the Catalyst scheme.
