People give to people
People give to people. That’s one of the first things anyone is likely to hear when they start to learn about fundraising. As much as technology has changed the way we interact, it hasn’t affected our longing for real, human relationships. Bland, generic, inauthentic communications put people off, no matter how well produced they are.
That’s why it’s so important for organisations to invest in building relationships with their donors – asking for money should never be the first or last stage in the fundraising process.
London-based company Shobana Jeyasingh Dance showed the power of this principle when they joined the Arts Council’s Catalyst: Evolve programme as part of a drive to boost their philanthropic income.
After initially setting out to expand their pool of donors and diversify their funding streams, the team realised they needed to make a bigger priority of looking after the donors they already had. “Our longstanding funders make up more than half of our private income,” says the organisation’s Development Associate Kate Knight, “making sure they are happy about our relationship to them is absolutely essential.”
Making these relationships the responsibility of everyone in the organisation, and making sure donors feel appreciated by those at the top, was crucial. “Everyone understands what fundraising is about: our trustees, our artistic director, our chair,” says Kate, “our chair gave a really fabulous speech that highlighted the importance of philanthropy, and made an excellent and successful fundraising pitch.”
As well as telling donors about the impact of their support, the team listened to what they had to say, and organised a consultation with supporters and audience members to find out what kinds of support they were able to offer. This led to the creation of two new private giving programmes – Apsara, for those donating between £5 and £499, and Creative Circle for those donating over £500.
By cultivating deeper relationships with their supporters, the organisation was able to develop more appropriate ways for donors to provide support, with positive results – during the first year of the programme they thirty donors became Apsara members while seven joined the Creative Circle.
Awards for Young Musicians (AYM) are another arts organisation who have benefited from the generosity of their supporters. For over twenty years they have helped talented young musicians from low income families fulfil their potential and overcome financial and social obstacles, while also supporting the music education sector through training, advocacy and research.
Of course, having that kind of impact isn’t cheap. AYM had already begun to diversify their income by raising funds from individuals, but with competition for trust and foundation grants becoming fiercer, the team were keen to raise more from private giving in order to expand their work. Having only two full time equivalent employees meant it was hard to make fundraising a priority, so the organisation used part of its Catalyst: Evolve grant to recruit a Development Manager who could focus on increasing private giving.
Having a Development Manager in the team meant there was someone to focus on cultivating relationships with donors. AYM’s Ambition 1000 communications campaign, highlighting their aim to support 1000 young musicians each year, was at the forefront of these efforts. Telling donors about this clear, shared objective – and reminding them that their donation would be matched by funding from Catalyst: Evolve – helped to show them the impact their donation could have.
Taking this personal approach played a key role in helping AYM to reach its full Catalyst: Evolve fundraising target over a year early. The organisation has maintained the Development Manager post ever since, and having a member of staff to concentrate on cultivating relationships with donors has also freed the Chief Executive to focus on applying to larger funds. This increased capacity has played an important part in AYM’s continued success, including its application to Youth Music’s top tier Fund C programme, and becoming a partner of the funder in the Alliance for a Musically Inclusive England.
The examples of Shobana Jeyasingh Dance and Awards for Young Musicians show the importance of building strong relationships with your donors – by taking the time to understand why they want to support you, what motivates them, and which form of giving is most appropriate for them, you can build a solid foundation to sustain your work for years to come.
This case study is based on research commissioned from BOP Consulting.
