From transactional to philanthropic

Northern Ballet’s development team generates income from non-revenue or statutory body sources including trusts and foundations, individuals, corporate companies, memberships and legacies.

In the summer of 2014, the company made the bold decision to look wider than its loyal, traditional supporter base in Leeds and the north of England and build on the success of other organisations in London.

The drawback to the scheme was that it was not cost-effective should supporters draw on all of their benefits

It was clear that this was only going to be possible by having a fundraising resource geographically close to the capital, in addition to performing in London as often as possible as part of our national tour. I was recruited as Director of Development in December 2014 with a remit of working between Leeds and London.

Traditionally, our main source of voluntary income has been trusts and foundations that have supported both our artistic and learning (outreach) work. We had to diversify and increase our income from other programmes – principally companies and individuals – and to secure more multi-year pledged gifts.

Changes to membership scheme

The individual giving programme had been based on traditional arts membership schemes, with a range of giving levels and subsequent benefits. While these schemes have been hugely beneficial over the years, they were based on the principle of transactional giving and did not allow for tax-effective mechanisms such as Gift Aid.

As with many such membership schemes, it was difficult to encourage supporters to consider raising their gift without the addition of further benefits that were then cost-ineffective for us.

The greatest challenge was to try to change the existing culture from one that was transactional to philanthropic, removing the need for tiers and associated benefits. The Directors’ Circle was our upper-level membership scheme, designed with its own set of tiers (silver, gold and platinum) and associated benefits. The scheme itself had been relatively successful, particularly in the development of our Sponsor a Dancer appeal.

The drawback to the scheme was that it was not cost-effective if supporters drew on all of their benefits. This meant that rather than creating a community of supporters we were at risk of turning those closest to us into transactional givers.

It was therefore after great consideration that we closed the Directors’ Circle in March 2015 and established in its place a non-benefits-driven giving programme that we named Future Builders.

True engagement

Future Builders’ contributions make a vital difference to our ability to create innovative work, reach out to new audiences and support future talent in ballet. It has allowed us to build closer relationships with our supporters.

Without structured benefits or membership levels we have had to take the time to get to know people better and build on those ever-important relationships that are so vital in fundraising. Our supporters also now truly engaged with Northern Ballet and the elements of our work that motivate them most.

Removing the transactional aspect of tiers has also removed any element of expectation. People give because they want to give and see the effects of their giving. There is no expectation of tickets or of invitations to special events. People are giving purely philanthropically because they have an affinity with Northern Ballet and want to see the company thrive.

That said, for many of our Future Builders a key motivator is being part of a community of givers. It is therefore important that we allow opportunities for them to meet each other, to share their interests, and to encourage their own friends and contacts to join the programme if they feel comfortable doing so.

Everyone is different and each of our supporters can engage with the aspects of our work that interest them most, and choose their desired level of involvement. They can also direct their gifts to wherever they choose: towards our broad artistic programme, more specifically to an element of our outreach work, in support of a specific dancer or even towards a particular role in one of our productions.

Being able to direct their support where they feel it will have the greatest impact allows each supporter to see the results of their donation. They might not receive direct benefits as such, but if they choose to give to a specific area of work they can directly see the impact that they are making.

A clear message

The key to the success of implementing any changes is messaging. We had to communicate to our existing Directors’ Circle members why the changes were happening, and make it clear to them that we needed them to remain a part of our supporter family. This success can be clearly measured by the 100% retention rate seen in the 12 months after the changes were made.

Crys Whitewoods is Director of Development at Northern Ballet.
northernballet.com