Want to get ahead in fundraising? Cultivate an American accent
Sitting in one of the fundraising seminars given last week by Michael Kaiser – the US-based arts management guru – it occurred to me that nothing is new, but many of us are fooled into think it is if it’s delivered in a foreign accent.
The Department of Culture, Media and Sport and Arts Council England have jointly supported this speaking tour, citing Mr Kaiser as ‘ the turnaround king’ and telling us he came across the pond at the personal invitation of Arts Minister Ed Vaizey, as the Government is seeking to increase philanthropic giving to arts organisations.
The Minister said: “Michael Kaiser….his experience and ability in fundraising for arts organisations is now unsurpassed. I am extremely grateful that he has agreed to come to the UK to share his redoubtable knowledge.”
Well, yes, Mr Kaiser is slick – a very measured yet entertaining speaker – but he’s also sound, offering pragmatic advice, peppered with personal anecdotes, mini case studies and apocryphal tales. So what I’m about to say is in no way a dig at him:
Nothing that he shared with the cast list of CEOs, development directors and other arts managers should have been news to them. NOTHING.
But yet I could see a veritable Blackpool Illuminations of light bulbs going on all over the place, so it clearly was. So what were my insights?
• That many people with development in their job title need more much support, training and personal development than they’ve had to date
• That more CEOs needed to be in the room as only they truly have the power to change fundraising cultures in organisations
• That fundraising mentoring would be enormously beneficial to many people, so that really basic questions aren’t aired in public
• That coaching would be similarly useful, enabling fundraisers to practice role playing around asking for money
• That marketing and fundraising functions still aren’t coherent or cohesive, and often are not even considered part of the core business
• That so many of the above problems could be sorted with better long-term artistic planning so give fundraisers half a chance of success
But the over-riding insight was this: given that it was felt necessary to import Mr Kaiser, should we assume that both DCMS and ACE are unaware of the many great fundraisers working inside the UK? Shouldn’t we be learning from more recent UK experiences, of people trying to raise money in a climate where even the super-rich are cutting back on basics because they fear the bite of the recession?
And why – despite different funding and tax systems, let alone a different giving culture – do we have a default position that US is best?
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About Sarah Gee - partner
Sarah Gee is co-founder and Managing Partner of Indigo Ltd. She previously worked in a variety of roles in the music business, most recently as Director of Communications for the City of Birmingha...
