Across the table

Part of the job of a trustee of an arts charity is to address risk, and one of the riskiest areas will be the financial health of the organisation. Many trustees have no knowledge of fundraising in the not-for-profit sector, or even what a fundraiser does. An engaged trustee sees it as a privilege to be asked to serve. They know that they are taking up a valuable position, and that an arts charity may be a vulnerable and fragile entity. They might visit projects, speak to staff, pay for their own tickets to the organisation’s events, help with introductions and involve their friends or family. They remember to mention their trusteeship in their biography and in interviews. They exude pride and enthusiasm in their involvement. Trustees should also join their organisation’s friends/members group, in order to quality-test whatever communications are being sent out and know what it feels like to be a customer and a consumer of the organisation.

IN THE VANGUARD
UK arts charities bring in hundreds of millions of pounds in cash (£687m from the private sector alone in 2008), deliver expertise and work in partnership with many public delivery agents. Alongside their charitable endeavours, some run significant commercial trading arms. Fundraisers often form the front line of the operation, acting as well-trained diplomats, interpreting complex demands of in-house staff and external prospects, and translating wordy proposals into pithy pitches. They will have few if any resources but be impressively entrepreneurial in delivery.
A recent Arts & Business (A&B) survey carried out with 240 organisations showed that 46% had board members who contributed financially. The South West, East and South East were the top three regions where organisations receive financial contributions from more than 76% of their board. There are even examples of all members of the board giving, from arts organisations including The Globe, English National Opera, South Bank Centre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. The philanthropist Alec Reed, who created ‘The Big Give’, is determined to encourage the trend. He has challenged boards with a matching grant programme if every board member of an organisation is giving themselves. He demonstrates not merely with lip service but delivers pragmatic solutions.

TAKING RESPONSIBILITY
Bruce Carnegie-Brown has been trustee and chairman of the Campaign Executive Committee at the Globe Theatre for the past three years. He recently told A&B that the Globe’s Board is an amalgam of people with backgrounds in theatre, education and finance and who are strong advocates of the Globe’s work, attend performances, and many are also engaged in its educational events.
“You can get into real trouble if the main board thinks it delegates responsibility”, he said, “because then you don’t have alignment and ownership of fundraising sitting alongside artistic direction – I don’t think anybody should be brave enough to take on the role of fundraising without having that buy-in from the board. There were certainly some members of the board who felt that they gave enough in time and therefore did not have to give or should not be made to give financially. There was also a debate around people’s capacity to give. And I was very clear in terms of my own proposals to the board that I was much less concerned about the quantum of any individual donation and much more concerned about the ability to say to third party donors that all members of the board gave. Over time that becomes enormously helpful in recruiting other trustees and people around the charity. If it is the norm, then it’s a conversation you can have as part of the recruitment process and it’s not a surprise later on. I’m certainly persuaded we’re on a trend that is long term and sustainable and I would expect to see more and more of it. I think the market leading practices around philanthropy have been developed in the United States and it’s a trend that we are following here.”
The enormous growth in individual giving in this country over the past five years points in the direction of it becoming an increasingly important component of fundraising. It seems safe to note a change in the knowledge and behaviour of prospects and donors. Increasingly, fundraisers are being asked if the board themselves are giving before they make a commitment. After all, why should they as individuals invest in the organisation if the board have not contributed? When a board member shows passion, knowledge, enthusiasm and pride in their connection with the organisation their role transforms their engagement with that organisation and as a result with the arts sector, which in turn will continue to ensure our communities thrive.