Slides from the workshop Merrin Kalinowski ran at MuseumNext London about crowdfunding in the arts.

1. MERRIN KALINOWSKI
Museum marketing relationship manager

2. WHAT IS ART HAPPENS?
First crowdfunding platform in the UK exclusively for museums and galleries
93% of museum visitors give to charities but only 40% of those give to museums
Fully funded no charges, commission or direct costs so 100% of donations go to the
project
Suite of marketing assets for you to use
Dedicated Art Happens team to share advice and experience
Opt in data from donors
Help you to engage with our established Art Happens donor community and our
audiences

3. Captain Kris and Amara Por
part of the Amy Street Art Trail, created by the Jewish Museum
- Since launching in 2014 we have worked with 38 organisations to raise money
for exhibitions, commissions and restorations
- Helped 38 organisations raise over £600,00 with over 600 donors
- 41% of donors to Art Happens projects are known to Art Fund
- 94% success rate (compared to 37% on Kickstarter)
-
Museum, South London Gallery, Museum of London, Foundling Museum
- The most successful campaigns have been Watts Gallery -
raised 175% and £43, 802 and the Foundling Museum who raised 186% and
£37, 320
ART HAPPENS

6. Raise money for an exciting arts project
Raise the profile of your museum and
funding needs
Democratise museum philanthropy by
engaging lower-level donors
Reach wider audiences
Learn new skills
OPPORTUNITIES

7. Access to technology can be a barrier
Engaging a community of funders requires a real effort
Maintaining momentum is hard
Risk, the campaign could fail
CHALLENGES

8. Is your project publically appealing
Is it tangible and achievable?
How would you describe it to a friend over coffee?
Is it something you and your team are truly
passionate about?
WHAT MAKES A GREAT CROWDFUNDING PROJECT?

9. WHAT MAKES PEOPLE GIVE?
1. Personal connection to a cause is key
2. The feeling of being involved in making
something happen
3. Philanthropy is important for some

10. EMOTIONAL GIVING
1. A sense of excitement
2. A feeling that they can
see how their £5 has
helped
3. Feeling like you matter
and can make a
difference
The bit that wrapped me up in it will
they make it? What will happen if they

11. MESSAGES THAT RESONATE
•
• Will they make it?
•
• Helping outside London, providing regional
clout

12. Designs for The Colour Palace at Dulwich Picture Gallery ©
Pricegore x Yinka Ilori
Dulwich Picture Gallery raised £20,906 to help
build The Colour Palace

13. Image by Thomas Haentzschel
© Greenpeace
Turner Contemporary raised £18,402 to take
their exhibition to the streets and bring a polar
bear to Margate

14. The Foundling Museum raised £37,320 to put
their female champions back in the frame (The
Duchess of Manchester even got to stay after
an acquisition support by Art Fund)

15. South London Gallery Fire Station. Photo: Dan Weill
The South London Gallery raised £31,253 to kit
out their new gallery and community space

16. GROUP WORK
Split into pairs and spend 5 minutes each
discussing your project and have a go at
writing a proposition

17. Creating a compelling donor proposition
Six key points
Its not always
an easy thing to
do; but should
seem fitting and
natural
It needs to be
moving; to be
genuinely interesting
and motivating
Perhaps the most
important point: it needs
to be donor focussed,
donor driven, donor
centric
And, it needs to
present something, it
needs to make an
ask which is simple
and clear

18. SUCCESSFUL CAMPAIGN?

19. MARKETING PLAN
Planning is key
Remember your proposition and key messages
Targeted messages to specific audiences works best
Be clear and transparent about what you are fundraising for and that you need
donations to make it happen
Think creatively and have fun; giving money is emotional
Consider how you will reach new audiences project ambassadors, gatekeepers?

20. MARKETING ASSETS

21. DIGITAL CAMPAIGN
- Crowdfunding is a digital way of fundraising so
your campaign needs to be the key message
across your digital channels and be in your e-
comms, social media and home page of your
website for 30 days
- Pin your tweet and put the link in the bio
- Use strong, eye catching images and create
social media assets in advance

22. DIGITAL CAMPAIGN
• Stress test your campaign and come up
with 5-10 tweets outlining key messages
• Create some drafts that you could
share with partners to tweet
• Consider how to use partners to reach
wider audience
• Be strategic about timing

23. DIGITAL CAMPAIGN
• Be creative about
different ways of sharing
the same message
• Create excitement and a
sense of peril and urgency

24. GROUP WORK
Spend 5 minutes summarising your
proposition into a tweet

25. PR
Press coverage can help to raise the profile of
your organisation and reach new audiences.
• Crowdfunding can be a way to set your
story apart
• Narrative continuity campaign duration
and beyond
• Messaging - will the project happen anyway?
• Remember to brief your PR agency
• Press is an awareness tool and should not be
used to leverage donations
USING PR TO REACH WIDER AUDIENCES

26. Essential ingredient
Uplift the average gift
Generally products work better than experiences
Rewards should be heavily linked to the project
Reward integrity; special, just needs to
be special
CREATING DESIRABLE REWARDS

27. REWARDS
Roni Horn, Pink Tons, 2009
Tate Modern, London
Art Funded £75,000 (total cost £1,500,000)
Gabriel Orozco, The Orozco Garden, 2016
South London Gallery
Art Funded £70,000 (total cost £283,300)

28. REWARDS
Roni Horn, Pink Tons, 2009
Tate Modern, London
Art Funded £75,000 (total cost £1,500,000)
Gabriel Orozco, The Orozco Garden, 2016
South London Gallery
Art Funded £70,000 (total cost £283,300)

29. AVERAGE DONATIONS
© Tracy Emin. All rights reserved, DACS 2016
Reward level Average number of donors
No reward 37
£5 12
£15 27
£25 37
£45 31
£60 15
£100 18
£200 4
£450 5
£995 1
Highest single donation £10,000

30. KEEP IN TOUCH WITH YOUR DONORS
- Be relevant to your project
- Speak to donors directly, thank
them, encourage them to share,
let them know you couldn’t do it
without them
- Thank donors and keep them up
to date post campaign
- Remember, this is great content
and can be shared across
channels

31. KEEP IN TOUCH WITH YOUR DONORS

32. WHO ARE YOUR
SUPPORTERS?
What can they do for your
project?

33. Lining up your existing supporters will help you to
meet your target, reach new donors and
strengthen key relationships in the long run.

34. HOW CAN YOUR EXISTING SUPPORTERS HELP?
project:
1. Bring them in from the start
1. Talk about it at every opportunity
make the most of your compelling project story
3. Flex the project narrative to suit your listener
tailor your message to what you know interests them
4. Look beyond rewards
focus on their £ capacity instead

35. TOP TIPS
• Get your whole team on board
• Be transparent and tell a story, explain why the
funding is needed
• Think about your audience
• Build excitement around achieving the target
• Consider your timing – the campaign will need
your full attention
• Go for realistic amounts, between £10,000 and
£25,000
• Keep in touch
Jacob, Curator from The Fan Museum:
‘Work closely with your colleagues and
volunteers so they feel confident talking about
the campaign .’
Ella, Marketing Manager from Jerwood Gallery:
‘The most important thing is getting people
excited … Rewards were incredibly important in
encouraging giving, but also essential was
fostering our funders’ sense of ownership over
the project.’

36. KEEP CALM
Roni Horn, Pink Tons, 2009
Tate Modern, London
Art Funded £75,000 (total cost £1,500,000)
Gabriel Orozco, The Orozco Garden, 2016
South London Gallery
Art Funded £70,000 (total cost £283,300)
0
200
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600
800
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Daily donations received

37. QUESTIONS

38. CROWDFUNDING WORKSHOP
Thank you
Art Fund_