ACE awards £2m to Arts Fundraising and Philanthropy Consortium

ACE awards £2m to Arts Fundraising and Philanthropy Consortium

News (UK)

Arts Council England (ACE) last month awarded £2m over three years to the Arts Fundraising and Philanthropy Consortium to professionalise arts fundraising across England and promote the arts as a charitable cause.

The consortium will work with the 696 ACE National Portfolio Organisations and across the wider arts sector. It will deliver an England-wide programme of training, apprenticeships, coaching and digital skills development to promote innovative and effective practice in arts fundraising.

The consortium also plans to stimulate private philanthropy in the arts through a partnership with the Philanthropy Foundation, a new charitable organisation developed by fundraising and philanthropy consultants Cause4, that aims to help donors who want to support the arts set up a named charitable fund without creating their own foundation.

The Philanthropy Foundation trustees are Sir Robin Miller, former chief executive of media company Emap and non-executive chairman of HMV until 2005, Charles Pike, head of charities and a private client lawyer at Forsters, and Josephine Swinhoe, managing director of Tinnitus Clinics who was director of fundraising and marketing at the Alzheimer’s Society until 2011.

The Arts Fundraising and Philanthropy Consortium involves three types of partners: arts and education organisations; umbrella bodies who will help build sector engagement; and delivery partners to provide training and coaching.

Training programmes will include:

  • A governance and philanthropy programme led by Sir Thomas Hughes-Hallett and Theresa Lloyd.
  • Fundraising and enterprise skills training delivered by a broad team including Cause4 and David Dixon Associates.
  • Coaching and co-mentoring led by The Art of Possibility and RD1st.
  • A range of bursaries for fundraisers offered to The Management Centre’s National Arts Fundraising School.
  • Year-long traineeships based in cities around the UK aimed at attracting new entrepreneurial fundraising talent into the sector, based on Cause4’s traineeship programme will be delivered in partnership with the Barbican Centre and Guildhall School of Music & Drama, alongside a new traineeship model devised by Opera North and University of Leeds collaboration, the DARE Partnership.

Michelle Wright, founder and chief executive of Cause4, who was involved in developing the bid, said: "The issues facing the arts sector in fundraising and philanthropy right now are complex and multi-faceted. We knew that any developed programme needed to offer a blend of content that could support those at the beginning of their careers, through to those leading organisations and those heading up governance. We recognise that this is a large consortium but in responding to sector needs a diverse blend of organisations and individuals was needed."

Opera North and University of Leeds collaboration the DARE Partnership is the programme’s accountable body. Quality assurance and evaluation of the programme will be undertaken through the Cultural & Creative Industries Exchange at the University of Leeds, led by Professor David Platten, and Dr Ben Walmsley in partnership with Arts Marketing Association.

More information on how people can benefit from the grant will be available by April 2013.

  • Arts & heritage
  • Causes
  • Donor stewardship
  • UK