Rick Holland CFRE meets with ACE Executives

Good meeting yesterday with Arts Council England leaders Liz Forgan, Chair, Ali Cole, Executive Director, Advocacy and Communications, and Alan Davey, Chief Executive at their headquarters in Great Peter Street.

We discussed fundraising consultants, the "culture of giving" and, perhaps more importantly, the "culture of asking" in the UK, as well as how the fundraising community can work with ACE to help arts charities, especially smaller ones, diversify their income in light of decreasing statutory and government funding.

Specific solutions will take time to develop, but this was an excellent start and I thank Alan, Ali, and Liz for their candor and their time.

More details to follow.

Rick

Rick Holland CFRE
www.confidentphilanthropy.co.uk
rick.holland@confidentphilanthropy.co.uk

Museum visits up, but less funding means staff cuts

I just read Matthew Little's Third Sector piece here, and although it's troubling I can't say that I'm surprised.

It seems that museums consistently struggle to exploit increases in visitors, especially in terms of fundraising and audience/visitor development.

What is the cause of this reluctance (or inability) to convert these increases in footfall into tangible support?

Of course, the economic climate has had an effect and government funding is squeezed more than ever, but the people walking throught those museum and gallery doors (and the connections they bring) are a resource that's continually underutilized.

Charity Shops (from Third Sector, 23 Jan 2008)

In his comment of 9 January. John Knight points out that "charity shops are firmly embedded not only in our high streets but also in our consciousness of charity and charities."

He is correct, but therein lies a real challenge for fundraising professionals in the UK.

Exceeding £110M sounds impressive at first, but let's take a closer look at that charity shop income. Spread over 7,000 or so shops, the average income per shop is about £15,700 per year. Assuming 250 working days per year, that means a charity shop's average income per day is just £63. And if a charity shop is open more than 300 days a year, that daily average is even lower.

When we encourage charity shop donations and purchases, are we making the most of our organisation's resources (cash, volunteers, property)? Are we developing strong relationships with our current supporters and would-be donors, encouraging them to give generously at their fullest potential?

Charity shops (or thrift stores, as we call them in the US) can an integral part of a comprehensive fundraising strategy, but as competition for the donated pound becomes increasingly fierce, we must ask ourselves if £63 per day is the best we can do.

Perhaps charity shops are too firmly entrenched in the collective UK conscience. Let's work to expand the UK public's knowledge of not-for-profit organisations and their needs, and work to maximise the impact of every donated pound and volunteer hour while we work to embed a new paradigm of philanthropy into the consciousness of the United Kingdom.

Rick Holland CFRE
www.confidentphilanthropy.co.uk