Fund-Raising Fundamentals
Fund-raising Fundamentals
Familiarity with fund-raising fundamentals will help the collections care
professional establish a strong base of support without focusing on
solicitation. Traditionally, collections care professionals have been
involved in fund raising tangentially, providing information for specific
project grants. This role can easily be expanded to allow for more active
involvement.
Fund raising is not simply soliciting donors. It has been said that only 20
percent of fund raising is solicitation; the remaining 80 percent is
cultivation. Fund raisers solicit prospective donors only after determining
that the prospect is ready to give at a targeted level. Before solicitation,
cultivation develops the interest of prospective donors by exposing them to
program activities, people, needs and plans. Cultivation means involvement.
When approaching the subject of fund raising for collections care, be
cognizant of the importance of cultivation activities. Do not shy away
because fund raising implies that you will have to ask people to reach into
their pockets. Instead, become an active partner in cultivation,
understanding that this outreach will strengthen your program and attract
money to it. Remember, donors want to give money. They are satisfying their
need as well as yours. If they don't give it to your program, they will give
it to someone else's.
Where the money comes from
In 1993, the private sector gave $126.2 billion to philanthropic causes;
arts, culture and humanities causes received $9.6 billion. Of that, 81.2
percent came from individuals, with an additional 6.8 percent from bequests.
Foundations (7.3 percent) and corporations (4.7 percent) gave the
remainder (Kaplan).
Individuals
Private philanthropy is booming as the rich are more numerous and prosperous
than ever before. Typically, though, 80 percent of the dollars given to a
campaign come from 20 percent of the donors. Don't waste time trying to
convert wealthy nongivers. You will spend your time better by finding
believers in your program through prospect research.
The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace at Stanford University
in California raised money from individuals for an archive of microfilmed
records of the Communist party in Russia. The appeal focused on previous
donors with a special interest in Russian history. Timed immediately after
the 1991 coup attempt, the drive appealed to donors because they felt a
personal involvement in history.
Foundations
Foundations generally like to provide seed money and often will not provide
continual funding. If you request seed money, make certain your institution
is committed to finding ongoing support. Foundations also help in matching
federal grants and campaign challenges.
Four types of foundations consider grant requests:
- Professionally staffed private foundations have larger assets and issue
annual reports; these foundations provide most foundation dollars to
philanthropy.
- Corporate foundations operate similarly to professionally staffed
private foundations, but their boards are often made up of corporate
officers. Their endowment funds are separate from the corporation and they
have their own professional staff.
- Community foundations pool assets of many donors and are essentially
community service organizations. They can be an excellent source of funds,
particularly when community heritage is involved.
- Family foundations usually have assets of less than $10 million. They
can be good sources of regular, unrestricted support. Just as with
individual donors, personalities, relationships and loyalties are very
important in working with family foundations.
Foundations have provided funds for a variety of collections care projects.
Recent awards include $10,000 to the Film & Television Archive at the
University of California, Los Angeles, for film preservation; $28,688 to the
Embassy Theatre Foundation in Fort Wayne, Ind., for the restoration of its
ceiling and ornamental plaster; $12,750 to Colorado College in Colorado
Springs to put its Spencer Penrose papers collection on microfilm; $58,750
to the Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland for the preservation
of historic manuscripts; $230,000 to the Corcoran Gallery of Art in
Washington, D.C., for the installation of a new storage system to protect
its painting collection; $300,000 to the Philadelphia Maritime Museum to
install and repair security and environmental control systems; and $450,000
to the Chicago Zoological Society for visitor education about species
preservation.
Corporations
Corporations rarely give for altruistic reasons; usually something must be
in it for them. Corporate fund raising requires crafting a win-win
partnership, similar to a conventional business deal. Corporate gifts
usually result from personal contact with a key individual involved with and
committed to an institution. Identifying and cultivating these people are
crucial.
Government--state and local
State and local governments often have funds available for preservation and
conservation projects. The curator of the carriage collection at the Museums
at Stony Brook in New York has obtained nine conservation treatment grants
for carriages and related library material in the collections. Among the
grantors are the New York State Discretionary Grant Program for Conservation
and Preservation of Library Materials and the New York State Council on the
Arts. The New York State Library Discretionary Grant Program has also
awarded funds to the Staten Island Historical Society in partial support of
its project to process and rehouse the entire archival collection. With
state and local governments, however, political considerations of economic
impact and democratic distribution can weigh heavily.
The relationship between fund raising and public relations
If collections care professionals appreciate how fund raising and public
relations are closely tied, they can develop a support system without losing
sight of collections care work. An important maxim to remember is that
people give to people. The collections care professional must be an integral
part of the team--including the chief executive officer and trustees--that
communicates with and relates to potential donors. Fund raising matches a
donor's interests with a donee's need. Publicity and packaging are crucial
in alerting potential donors to that need. The support and interest
generated by a tour of conservation facilities, a public talk about a
preservation project, an informational brochure or an exhibition can serve
as the first step.
Long-range planning and fund raising go hand in hand
Some institutions allow funding to drive their programs and priorities.
Instead, the programs and priorities should drive the fund-raising program.
Since collections care is a fundamental purpose of these institutions, it
ought to figure predominately in the long-range plan and the fund-raising
program.
Colgate University Library in Hamilton, N.Y., illustrates the benefit of
such planning for a fund-raising program. Between 1987 and 1993 the library
developed a collections preservation program. Fund-raising efforts focused
on establishing an in-house repair lab and climate control for the Special
Collections Department. A $3,700 state government grant in 1988 funded a
preservation survey for the Special Collections Department. In 1990, the
state awarded the library a $23,000 Conservation/Preservation Discretionary
Grant to install a heating, ventilation and cooling (HVAC) system. Then in
1991 a private foundation granted the library $77,500 to renovate and
upgrade its conservation lab. By clearly identifying the steps required, the
library progressed steadily and reached its goal in about five years.
Balancing resources
The crux of financial stability is a balance of resources. Depending too
heavily on one source of funding leaves an institution vulnerable to
boom-and-bust cycles. Diversity softens the impact of these fluctuations.
If the program is strong, support will come
An organization or institution has three resources: program, people and
money. If the program is strong and focused, people and money will come to
it. A clearly articulated case statement demonstrates strength and focus.
You must have a clear vision of what your program does and where it is
going. More important than direct fund-raising experience is the ability to
express your case eloquently and persuasively. Donors want to give money,
but they want to know their support will make a difference; they want to
make a change for the good. Preservation and conservation can tangibly
demonstrate such changes. Scaling projects down to a manageable size so you
can identify real solutions can be advantageous.
Capitalize on the visual qualities of preservation and conservation
Collections care, preservation and conservation have strong visual qualities
that institutions can use effectively in fund raising. Dramatic before and
after photos of treatments and storage solutions can clearly show potential
funders the impact their dollars can have. "If you can create a conceptual
trial of your product or service, so that someone can experience it...that
is the best sales pitch possible (Calem)."
Strive to incorporate visuals in all aspects of institutional programming.
You can feature images in fund-raising brochures, grant proposals and
appeals to individual donors--as well as exhibitions, educational programs
and publications.
Be sure to acknowledge support
Donors do not give just for recognition, but they do appreciate
acknowledgment. If a foundation, an individual or a number of individuals
fund the deacidification and rebinding of a rare book or the cleaning of a
painting, thank them on a bookplate or label.
Don't quietly redisplay a treated work--celebrate it! Draw attention to it.
Schedule an event around the return of a cleaned and restored object and
publicly thank the benefactor. Display the object with information about the
specific treatment, along with before and after photos. Send out a press
release. Publicize it in a friends' or members' newsletter as you would a
new acquisition.
Donor recognition often serves as an incentive to potential donors.
Next page:
Successful Strategies
Copyright © 1995 National Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Property,
3299 K Street, NW, Suite 602
Washington, D.C. 20007
(202) 625-1495; fax (202) 625-1485.
Last modified on Friday, April 27, 1995.
It is no small thing to outwit time.