Executive Fundraising Intensive for Arts Managers
The DeVos Institute of Arts Management at the University of Maryland will partner with Accademia Teatro alla Scala and MIP Politecnico di Milano to lead Fundraising for the Performing Arts, an Executive Fundraising Intensive for arts managers and fundraisers and the first of four independent modules offered between March 2016 and October 2017. This Intensive will be March 16-19, 2016, at the Accademia Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Italy.
In recent years, rapid changes in technology, demographics, government policy, and the economy have greatly complicated the job of arts managers and trustees—in Italy, the EU, the United States, and around the globe. For too many organizations, these changes have led to a “razor-thin” existence between survival and collapse.
Many cultural communities have experienced volatility, if not severe cuts, in public financing; at the same time, many also struggle to limit declining revenue from “earned” sources, such as admissions and ticket sales. For many, this “perfect storm” has led to less art, decreased visibility, diminished relevance—even financial ruin.
Never has the need to balance new approaches to revenue development with artistic mission been so complicated, and so urgent.
21st Century Funding for the Performing and Visual Arts is a response to these conditions. Led by DeVos Institute President Brett Egan, this two-day course offered within the first module will focus on the development of practical skills in fundraising from individuals and corporations.
Examples and case studies will reference both American and European models, and suggest practical ways to increase revenue in the short- and long-term, regardless of geography or political context. Additionally, Mr. Egan will look at other ways of developing new sources of revenue – including licensing intellectual property, training others, and partnerships with government and public agencies.
The course will look, specifically, at the relationship between marketing and fundraising, and at the primary reasons early efforts to fundraise succeed, or fail. Importantly, the course will discuss how to create an organizational culture that preserves mission while asking all members of the organization to play a role in “revenue diversification”—an “all-hands-on-deck” approach to identifying, and sustaining, new sources of income.
Participants will be introduced to strategies to develop an institutional “Family”—an energized, enthusiastic group of ticket-buyers, members, donors, trustees, and volunteers that anchors an organization’s financial health through its commitment of time, talent, connections, and financial resources. Participants will learn how to develop donors over time (through prospecting, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship activities) and design essential fundraising mechanisms (membership schemes, special events, and targeted campaigns) to appeal to different donor types.
Finally, participants will be introduced to strategies for engaging volunteers and, to the extent it is appropriate in their context, board members and trustees, in the fundraising process. Participants will learn strategies for transitioning volunteers from “advisory” to “philanthropic”, even in environments where philanthropy has not historically been a requirement, or even an expectation.
Download the brochure for more information about Fundraising for the Performing Arts and other courses offered as part of this executive program.
For more information, contact Simone Perszyk, the DeVos Institute's Manager of International Programs, at sgperszyk [at] devosinstitute.net.
