ASKING and The ARTS

Here is an article on Asking and the ARTs where I served on a panel for Theater Resources Unlimited( TRU) in NYC...Worth your time reading...Doris Duke Foundation and Rubin Foundation and yours truly on the panel....here you go....

TRU PANEL: 9/21/11
ASKING FOR MONEY:
What the Arts Need to Learn About Fundraisingby Laura Italiano

Asking for money is actually a business, agreed the three speakers at TRU’s September 21st pane at the Roy Arias Payan Theatrel, which makes it vital to think of funders as a market requiring a researched, organized approach in order to make your sale. "People think you do good things, and money will follow. Or you talk to the right people, and money will follow," fundraising consultant and best-selling author Laura Fredricks told the panel's packed audience. But only three things will keep you afloat in the “business” of arts fundraising, and they require effort beyond merely perfecting the venture you're seeking to fund.
The three things? “Structure, organization and focus," said Fredricks, International Philanthropic Advisor and best-selling author of "The Ask: How to Ask for Support for Your Nonprofit, Cause, Creative Project or Business Venture.”
In a freewheeling, advice-packed discussion, Fredricks joined with Ben Cameron, arts program director for the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation -- which Cameron said invests $135 million in the arts annually -- and Bruce Payne, executive director of the Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation, which he said devotes a third of its grants to "arts and culture." Here are some of the topics touched on, and the advice offered:.
First off, "Believe in your organization and your message," urged Payne. "If you don't, you shouldn't be doing this."
Research your potential funders before you apply.
The Foundation Center on Fifth Avenue -- foundationcenter.org/newyork -- offers a Philanthropy News Digest available by email, which lists every grant that has been given out across the country and is a good place to start, as are the Association of Fundraising Professionals  -- http://www.afpnet.org// -- and the websites of individual funders.
GuideStar -- at http://www.guidestar.org/ -- collects the 990 forms of donors and grant makers, and is a great source for finding out who is on the boards of potential funders, said Fredricks.
Look also at the donor lists of organizations and ventures similar to your own, said Cameron.
Your success will depend largely on "your ability to speak to where your funders are listening from," said Cameron. Is the funder's focus economic? Do they want to create jobs? Help youth? Spur tourism? "Research not only what they fund, but what they're listening for," he advised.
Don't tarnish your grant proposals by making common mistakes
Avoid "grant speech," which will render your application "indistinguishable," advised Cameron. Make your submission as detailed specific as you can. Statements like "we are going to do quality theater" or "we dedicated to producing groundbreaking theater” are too general and may lack credibility.
And to please stay away from judgmental comparisons to other companies. For example, do not make statements like “we are the only theater company presenting new musical theater,” because they know this statement is false and will discourage their favor.
Shun hype, he added, especially of the sort where it's declared, "We're the only theater in America that..."  Don’t oversell. Find what is genuine and unique about your company without making judgmental comparisons that may be hard to demonstrate.
Payne said it's always a real head-scratcher when he gets grant proposals with spelling and grammatical errors. "Nobody proofread it," he told the audience. "What are you thinking?"
Another common error: "They haven't read the website's description of how to submit a proposal," he said. The requirements for applying are generally stated clearly, and are not subject to interpretation. Do what they say.
Make quantitative arguments for funding, not just qualitative ones
Higher education is very good at defining quantitative needs and rates of return when asking for grants -- a specificity the arts are less adept at voicing, Fredricks noted. Quantify who you employ, and what your organization/project's economic impact will be.
Your prospective funders want to know, "How would the community be damaged if you shut down?" said Cameron. "What is the value of theater in my community? How can my theater be a valuable conduit" to the arts?
Expect, and meet, value-based questions, he advised.
But don't just crunch numbers -- tell a story.
Unlike social, educational and medical organization, the arts are "not telling aspirational stories about people whose lives you've changed, kids who you've helped," said Fredricks.
Said Cameron, "Give me a vision. Give me an image. Tell me about that person who went to [your] symphony" and was changed in some way."
Don't forget creative marketing
Cameron told the audience that when he visits theaters, "I see the pictures of the actors who are going to be in the play. I see the play. Then I go home. I rarely see pictures of the school program, or the playwright program," or the senior citizen's program hanging on a bulletin board in the lobby, Cameron said. It's a missed donor cultivation opportunity, he noted.
Rely on your board members
Cultivate your board members, urged Fredricks, telling the audience, "They are your best donors." Their primary purpose is to help bring in money to run your organization.
Give your board members written explanations of what's expected of them in terms of time and money, Fredricks said.
Be kind to your individual donors 
In dealing with all individual donors, ask for specific amounts, said Fredricks. "It's insulting to make them engage in a guessing game" by saying only that you're hoping for a "significant contribution." State clearly: "Would you consider a donation of X-dollars?"
"The worst they can say is, "I cannot do this," said Fredricks. "And 'No' now does not mean 'No' later," she added. "Just say, 'Thank you.'"
If you throw a fundraiser, dinner or wine-and-cheese event...
Sometimes it's best to keep it small and personal -- pair one board member to one of each of  ten potential donor-guests during the event, suggested Fredricks. Then have the board members make a followup call, asking the potential donor what they liked and didn't like, and setting a time to meet again.
"Don't plan events that are too big," agreed Payne. Do a benefit dinner for a dozen people, he suggested -- "Something wonderful for the people you invite."
Keep events short, said Cameron. "I have yet to go to a fundraiser that was too short," he said. And remember, he said, people love to meet artists, actors and directors -- use them.
Cameron said the best fundraiser he ever went to was for a dance company in Boise, Idaho -- at which the dancers each stood up and made a short speech about, "What I love about Boise."
And make friends, not just contacts
Don't ask a new prospective donor for money the first time you meet them, stressed Fredricks. Cameron called it the "Rule of Five" -- hit them up after the fifth contact. That means a phone call, an email, an in-person meeting, a drink, an introduction at a party. Five contacts before making an ask.
Payne said that at the Rubin Foundation, as much as two-thirds of giving goes to people known already to the foundation. "Everybody in the office gets to say, 'I saw this extraordinary thing,'" and champion for it, he said.
That's why when it comes to donors, having a few friends -- influential people who will back your venture --  trumps having a Rolodex bulging with contacts, said Payne. He offered no specific advice for friend-raising, though, noting only that “ you have to build with your heart, from what you are."
And when you've found them, invite them to rehearsals, readings, etc., advised Cameron. "Invite them to participate in the journey."