Festivals Toolkit: Fundraising: Individuals

In the past decade the area of fundraising that has seen the fastest growth is that of individual giving. It is also the area in which larger, more established arts organisations could have certain advantages, as:

  • They will probably have charitable status (a pre-requisite)
  • Their organisation will have a track record that encourages a potential donor that a long term commitment or a bequest in their will is appropriate
  • They will probably employ a team of staff on fundraising and one of their tasks will be to  contact their members/regular customers to invite them to think about individual giving
  • They understand the different options and will be able to help their potential donor identify which would suit them the best

But many of the festivals in Derbyshire have been in existence for a long time and are respected locally, and some nationally, for the work they do. They also have databases of their members/friends/supporters, so a suitably trained volunteer may be able to develop these leads.

Further information:
Arts & Business have produced an  Individual Giving Manual (pdf format)

Gift Aid
Gift Aid is a scheme to enable tax-effective giving by individuals to charities. The Inland Revenue have provided advice on this topic.  

Further information:
VAN Briefing Sheet: Guide to Gift Aid (pdf format) 

One-off donations
At first sight this seems a relatively straightforward method requiring only a database of contact names and someone who can contact them. However, having a good list and using it for the purposes of fundraising are not that simple. You need to know if the contact has agreed to be contacted for this purpose, so do not make unsolicited calls, as this is not acceptable under the Data Protection Act.

However, it may be possible for you to use your list if you ask if the contact wants to know more about your organisation and how they might support your work. Of course, having a membership form that invites people to opt in to receive further information about your work and how they can support it makes things easier in the long run.

Give As You Earn
This can be relatively simple as it only requires your donor to make a regular payment from their salary, or their pension if this is paid via PAYE. The Charities Aid Foundation is one of several organisations that offer advice on how Give As You Earn works.

Legacies
Of the three methods noted in this section on individual giving the one that is described by the Institute of Fundraising as the most cost-effective for charities is fundraising from legacies in a donor’s will. For further information, The Institute of Fundraising have made available relevant advice together with a case study called Leaving money to charity in a will.

Background reading on Individual Giving:

 
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