The sector had better raise its fundraising game as public money is not coming back, says Arts Council England's first ever Head of Philanthropy.
The problem with the British, says Clare Titley, is that they just don’t like asking people for money. Take Salisbury Arts Centre. “They’d never done any fundraising,” says the recent Arts Council England appointee. “They didn’t even have a contributions box in the foyer.” What they needed, clearly, was a neuro-linguistic trainer, who could coach box-office staff to say exactly the right purse-lightening thing. “Through training,” says Titley, “they managed to convert people worried about asking for money into people who gave somebody else the joy of giving.” Instead of just buying tickets, punters would emerge from the box office feeling the glow that only becoming a patron of Salisbury Arts Centre can bring.
As the council’s very first head of philanthropy, Titley asks people for money for a living, or persuades arts bodies to... Keep reading on The Guardian
The problem with the British, says Clare Titley, is that they just don’t like asking people for money. Take Salisbury Arts Centre. “They’d never done any fundraising,” says the recent Arts Council England appointee. “They didn’t even have a contributions box in the foyer.” What they needed, clearly, was a neuro-linguistic trainer, who could coach box-office staff to say exactly the right purse-lightening thing. “Through training,” says Titley, “they managed to convert people worried about asking for money into people who gave somebody else the joy of giving.” Instead of just buying tickets, punters would emerge from the box office feeling the glow that only becoming a patron of Salisbury Arts Centre can bring.
As the council’s very first head of philanthropy, Titley asks people for money for a living, or persuades arts bodies to... Keep reading on The Guardian