Enquiries Cohort

Enquiries Cohort

 

Throughout 2022 - 2024, Arts Fundraising & Philanthropy will launch a series of enquiries in relation to challenging areas of arts, culture and heritage fundraising, with a view to informing future policy and research. Our last enquiry focused on the cost of living. 

 

Each enquiry is made up of eight fundraisers working in arts, culture and heritage organisations.  They work with the wider Arts Fundraising & Philanthropy team to explore a topic of national significance. Fundraisers are drawn from a wide range of types and scales of organisations from across the UK. Participants will be at different stages in their careers, from those taking their first steps into fundraising to Chief Executive level. Cohorts work collaboratively to come up with new ideas and solutions to an area of concern to the wider arts fundraising sector – the next cohort will focus on Governance, exploring diverse and inclusive governance, overcoming barriers to Trustee performance and engagement.

 

Governance Enquiry

The focus of this enquiry is about how to support all Trustees to overcome some of the barriers to performance and engagement that might arise from the expectations from the Charity Commission as the key regulator and those outlined by funders. If we genuinely want diverse and inclusive boards then how might ‘the system’ need to adapt to better facilitate that goal?

What will we be working towards?

We want to explore how arts organisations and their Trustees are able to best engage with the complexities of charity governance, as well as to understand what support might help them to best fulfil their duties. It will be based around several questions including:

  • How do we best support the Trustees of arts, culture and heritage organisations to navigate the complexities of charity governance?

  • What systems and structures from the Charity Commission as regulator and the expectations of funders support or hinder the aspiration to diversify boards?

  • What are arts organisations doing practically to manage these opportunities and challenges?

  • Where is the innovative practice that is supporting Trustees to fulfil their roles effectively?

  • What can we learn from other sectors or the mainstream charity sector that would support good practice in this area?

  • Is there any sector-wide stance or support that would help arts organisations to continue to diversify their boards, whilst ensuing that all Trustees are better supported to fulfil their responsibilities and to meet the expectations of funders?

 

We are delighted to announce our selected Governance Enquiry cohort, after a competitive application process.

Congratulations to:

Laura Gabe – Senior Development Manager, Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts

Clare Purcell – Executive Director, Meadow Arts

Sarah Emmott – Creative Director, Art with Heart

Yvonne Hepburn-Foster – ​​​​​​​Trusts & Foundations Manager, Factory International

Jessye Parke – ​​​​​​​Head of Development, Institute of Contemporary Arts

Paula Dower – ​​​​​​​Operations Director, DASH Arts

Bryony Hope – ​​​​​​​Head of Communications & Development, DanceEast

Helen Abeles – ​​​​​​​Co-Director, Soft Touch Arts

Kerry Andrews – ​​​​​​​​​​​Executive Director, Level Centre

 

“Participation in the Arts Fundraising & Philanthropy Ethics Enquiry was an enjoyable and thought-provoking process that allowed me to connect with a range of colleagues involved in arts fundraising around the country who I might not otherwise have met. The balance of material to prepare in advance is just right – enough to stimulate thought and debate but not too much to push the argument in any direction or to place a significant burden on bulging inboxes and to-do lists. The Cause4 team are ever supportive and helpful from basic admin to facilitation of the discussions, and I felt we came up with a series of recommendations on our topic which could help move the dial in our profession.”

- Nick Jackman, London Philharmonic Orchestra

 

We thank the members of our previous Enquiries cohort, including: 

Ashton Mullins, Grants and Programmes Manager, Foundation for Future

Emily Hicks, Fundraising Officer, Libraries Unlimited 

Camilla Johns, Head of Development, UK Antarctic Heritage Trust

Andrew Higgins, Director of Development, Imperial War Museums

Lucy Furneaux, Head of Development, Kings Place

Fiona Daborn, Grants Fundraiser, Bridges for Communities

Jo Warmington, Head of Development, Reform Radio

Anna Snell, Development Officer Trusts and Foundations, Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums