Last year, Opera North and University of Leeds colleagues and I embarked on a quest to explore new ways of looking at fundraising in the arts. The result was the DARE Fundraising Academy, which was launched in summer 2013.
It is a programme of skills development designed to help fill the gaps identified through our conversations with donors and sponsors, the arts organisations that receive their support and the fundraisers that seek it.
It is an example of how the sector in the north can work together to do something practical about the funding challenges we face. In this case, Dare is working closely with Sage Gateshead, Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester and Tate Liverpool.
Collaborating might seem odd when we are competing for the same general funding pot, but by joining forces, the sector as a whole can achieve more than we would by working alone.
It is a fact that there is more philanthropic funding for the arts in London than in the north of England. But the criticism that too great a proportion of arts funding goes to London to the disadvantage of us up north grates on me a bit.
In the north, we have a different geography and a different giving culture. We also have significant individual wealth that we are not fully tapping. Perhaps we need to change the way in which we do things.
It is no surprise that the askers, givers and spenders share the same vision – to create and share high-quality cultural activity. They also say there is a shortage of good fundraisers, particularly in the north. We struggle to recruit and retain the right people, and we’re not as good at asking as we should be.
It has been suggested that good fundraisers gravitate to London, which, if true, begs a couple of questions. What does it take to be a good fundraiser? And how can we build a greater cohort of them up here in the north of England?
I believe that the qualities fundamental to being able to raise money are common to many public-facing professions. The best arts fundraisers I know began their career in banking, retail and broadcasting. So when we recruit, we should be looking outside the arts, as well as at the usual suspects.
We need to show that arts fundraising is a serious profession, respected and rewarded appropriately by the sector. And organisations need to demonstrate commitment to the role.
Our response is to take collective ownership of developing the fundraiser of the future, home-grown and practitioner-led.
Four Dare Fundraising Fellows have started their 12-month fast-track programme at Opera North, Sage Gateshead, Royal Northern College of Music and Tate respectively in the past year. Funded by Arts Council England through the Transforming Arts Fundraising initiative, they are learning, testing and proving skills in all areas of fundraising.
There is formal training, but 75% is hands-on experience and mentoring from experts at the heart of each organisation. And they will invest what they learn with small arts organisations in the area.
All four Dare Fellows are northern and almost 100 applications were received from people from the region keen to support the arts in the north.
We are part of Arts Fundraising & Philanthropy, and the University of Leeds is certifying the programme with the aim of introducing formal accreditation in a couple of years. And the Arts Marketing Association is developing National Occupational Standards.
So we are off the starting blocks. This couldn’t be done without collective vision and collaborative action. Watch this space.
Lesley Patrick is director of Dare: a collaboration between Opera North and the University of Leeds
It is a programme of skills development designed to help fill the gaps identified through our conversations with donors and sponsors, the arts organisations that receive their support and the fundraisers that seek it.
It is an example of how the sector in the north can work together to do something practical about the funding challenges we face. In this case, Dare is working closely with Sage Gateshead, Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester and Tate Liverpool.
Collaborating might seem odd when we are competing for the same general funding pot, but by joining forces, the sector as a whole can achieve more than we would by working alone.
It is a fact that there is more philanthropic funding for the arts in London than in the north of England. But the criticism that too great a proportion of arts funding goes to London to the disadvantage of us up north grates on me a bit.
In the north, we have a different geography and a different giving culture. We also have significant individual wealth that we are not fully tapping. Perhaps we need to change the way in which we do things.
It is no surprise that the askers, givers and spenders share the same vision – to create and share high-quality cultural activity. They also say there is a shortage of good fundraisers, particularly in the north. We struggle to recruit and retain the right people, and we’re not as good at asking as we should be.
It has been suggested that good fundraisers gravitate to London, which, if true, begs a couple of questions. What does it take to be a good fundraiser? And how can we build a greater cohort of them up here in the north of England?
I believe that the qualities fundamental to being able to raise money are common to many public-facing professions. The best arts fundraisers I know began their career in banking, retail and broadcasting. So when we recruit, we should be looking outside the arts, as well as at the usual suspects.
We need to show that arts fundraising is a serious profession, respected and rewarded appropriately by the sector. And organisations need to demonstrate commitment to the role.
Our response is to take collective ownership of developing the fundraiser of the future, home-grown and practitioner-led.
Four Dare Fundraising Fellows have started their 12-month fast-track programme at Opera North, Sage Gateshead, Royal Northern College of Music and Tate respectively in the past year. Funded by Arts Council England through the Transforming Arts Fundraising initiative, they are learning, testing and proving skills in all areas of fundraising.
There is formal training, but 75% is hands-on experience and mentoring from experts at the heart of each organisation. And they will invest what they learn with small arts organisations in the area.
All four Dare Fellows are northern and almost 100 applications were received from people from the region keen to support the arts in the north.
We are part of Arts Fundraising & Philanthropy, and the University of Leeds is certifying the programme with the aim of introducing formal accreditation in a couple of years. And the Arts Marketing Association is developing National Occupational Standards.
So we are off the starting blocks. This couldn’t be done without collective vision and collaborative action. Watch this space.
Lesley Patrick is director of Dare: a collaboration between Opera North and the University of Leeds
