A recent survey of heritage organisations in Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK reveals that the most popular fundraising capacity needs in relation to accessing private funds are support to develop the case for support and a fundraising strategy.
The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) research into the capacity building needs of heritage organisations surveyed organisations throughout the UK, over 30 of which were in Northern Ireland.
Survey respondents identified long term mentoring and in-house bespoke training courses as the most popular method of building fundraising capacity. Consultancy, group training sessions delivered by an expert, bench marking (including visits to other organisations) and peer learning were also listed as important.
Help in making the ‘ask’ was frequently mentioned by survey participants, as was developing leadership skills of organisation Boards.
The least popular methods of support were national events and conferences and accredited training courses. Local events and conferences were also not popular, as were online resources such as ‘how to’ videos.
HLF has set up a number of funds under its Catalyst programme to increase fundraising capacity of heritage organisations.
