Australia first conference to address fundraising in the arts

With Australian arts organisations facing diminishing funds from government sources, finding alternative streams of revenue is essential, whether it be through philanthropy, partnerships, sponsorships or crowd funding.

Looking to share best practice fundraising experiences from leading international cultural institutions, the upcoming Culture Business conference, The Art of Fundraising, is being held at Museum of Contemporary Art on 22nd and 23rd March.

Organised by Paris based arts agency Agenda Communication, the theme for the Culture Business conference comes from feedback from the successful Communicating the Museum conference in 2014, which heard that Australian audiences want to learn more about funding for the arts.

Being held in Australia for the first time, Culture Business: The Art of Fundraising will include presentation from representatives from the Southbank Centre in London; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, and Paris Philharmonic – organisations leading the field when it comes to raising revenue.

With Creative Partnerships Australia as principal sponsors, conference is expected to attract more than 200 local, national and international arts professionals are expected to attend.

The program includes a deliberately broad range of topics relating to the theme of fundraising in the arts – including philanthropy, corporate sponsorships and partnerships and crowd funding. The whole arts spectrum from visual to performing arts will also be covered.

Speakers from Europe, America and Australia will be discussing their experiences working in the field and a diverse mix of international case studies will be explored through panel discussions and lectures. The intention is to involve as many people as possible with practical experience in development, fundraising and sponsorship.

One of the keynote speakers is UK based Chris Denton who has worked for leading international organisations over the past 25 years developing new business plans, marketing and brand strategies.

Currently Director of Marketing, Communications and Digital Strategy at the Southbank Centre in London, Denton will discuss how the Southbank Centre – a 60-year-old organisation that was pigeon-holed as a classical concert hall – reinvented itself amid diminishing state funding to become the third most visited attraction in the UK.

Denton will illustrate how essential is it to be open to new ways of working and how important it is to involve the community in invigorating an organisation.

Another example is the Museum aan de Stroom in Antwerp, which runs on a combination of public and private funding. The museum’s director Marieke Van Bommel will discuss how this new museum centering on a fairly niche topic – the history of Antwerp – has in just four years attracted three million visitors and become the most visited museum in Belgium.

Of interest to philanthropy and sponsorship managers is the Paris Philharmonic, which raises 96% of its operating budget from independent sources.

Sponsorship Manager Zoe Macedo will be discussing this model in relation to the organisation’s new building designed by architect Jean Nouvel, which has recently opened and is anticipated to attract more than 1.2 million visitors in the upcoming year.

The conference also features speakers from outside the cultural sector to examine what arts organisations can learn from the corporate world. Representatives from companies including Telstra and Qantas will talk about why their companies support the arts and what a 21st century partnership might look like.

Creative Partnerships Australia Chief Executive Fiona Menzies explains “listening” is at the core of all successful partnerships.

Menzies believes that the ultimate goal should be to work together with donors, giving them the opportunity to fully engage with the art form, stating “the idea that (an organisation) can say to a potential sponsor ‘give us money and let us do our thing’ is an outmoded approach.”

By providing examples of creative solutions and effective scenarios within Australia and overseas, this edition of Culture Business aims to empower people working in the sector to return to their own organisation and facilitate change.

Click here for information on the Culture Business conference in the Australasian Leisure Management industry Calendar.

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