Dunedin City Council
Building fundraising capability workshop for Dunedin arts community
Over the years, we’ve developed a coaching programme to grow the fundraising capability of organisations based on Giblin Group methodology. In late 2019, we began working with Dunedin City Council to help them build fundraising capability for local arts organisations. Organised by the Ara Toi team their objective was to help arts groups learn about new pools of funding to complement those provided by Dunedin City Council, and organisations such as The Otago Community Trust and the Lottery Grants Board.
We began the process by focussing on best practise and defining what the local community art organisations needed. This involved a situational analysis, where we interviewed individual groups and participants to enable us to get to the heart of what they required; their current fundraising strengths and weaknesses, and what they would like to cover at the coaching workshop.
The program was then tailored and designed to meet the respective needs and address challenges, opportunities and priorities of the participants. A key outcome for Giblin Group and Ara Toi / Dunedin City Council was to ensure that each participant finished the programme with tangible and practical guidance to support their fundraising activities.
Our Managing Director Jenni Giblin delivered a half day coaching workshop in Dunedin to 11 arts organisations, each with two participants taking part. Based on our situational analysis we designed the workshop to cover three specific areas:
- Developing your compelling case for investment – your ‘funding brand story’
- Individual/philanthropic giving (donors, members and volunteers)
- Corporate/business sponsorship
Jenni followed up with participants six months later to check in, discuss progress, provide additional advice and in some cases motivation and encouragement.
Break out quote:
“Jenni provided a philanthropy training session to local arts group in Dunedin and shared guidance on building a case for securing support. The workshop was held just before the initial Covid-19 lockdown and Jenni offered follow-up advice to participants over this challenging time. Jenni was a pleasure to work with and I know the groups involved enjoyed the experience and have built valuable knowledge for the future.” – Kirsten Glengarry Dunedin City Council
“Jenni is a great source of knowledge and the opportunity to network and meet other organisations was valuable too. Please make sure the Ara Toi team know how valuable this training was.” – Nicola McConnell Brand Amp
Since 2011 I have worked with Jenni and Christine on a number of highly successful fundraising initiatives in support of the Sarjeant Gallery Redevelopment Project. With their help and expertise, we have raised more than $28.8m from central government and Lottery sources. The Giblin Group are a pleasure to work with and have provided great advice on many occasions concerning communications and public engagement. I can certainly recommend their services.
Giblin Group supported Blue Oyster with developing a robust Revenue Generation Strategy that took into account the specific needs of our organisation and activity. Jenni and Jess offered substantial advice and support in, not only establishing this strategy but giving us helpful tools for implementation and always prioritised sustainability throughout. Their enthusiasm for our space and activity was truly felt and appreciated – our relationship with them will be nourished and valued well into the future.
“As our thinking evolved, Giblin Group showed a steady commitment to deepen their understanding of our needs. We always looked forward to our coaching sessions which were stimulating and inspiring. Jess and Jenni became valued colleagues that supported and provoked thinking with rigour and generosity. They’re now not only valuable advocates for BATS but part of our whānau.”
“Jenni did a fantastic job in helping us to secure critical partnerships and funding support for our internationally significant Len Lye Centre project – what’s more we really enjoyed working with her.”
“Giblin Group’s knowledge of government practices and procedures on a national and local level is invaluable, and I often find that they are well connected with staff and officials on all levels of Government. Giblin Group scopes their assignments well, provides accurate cost estimates for their services, delivers within the agreed timeframes and always deliver excellent quality work – no project manager can really ask for more!”
“The work that the Giblin Group completed, in collaboration with our staff, was instrumental in the success the project has had in securing significant funding to this key City initiative. In particular we have found the experience of the Giblin Group to been invaluable in seeking funding from a variety of sources in an increasingly challenging environment.”