Fundraising Toolkit Case Study: The Media Arts Project (Asheville, NC)

As told by Greg Lucas, Executive Director.

Summary
A Nimble Nonprofit Nabs Some Business Support

Original Goal: $6,000
Amount actually raised: $6,000
Cash investment: 0
Staff time and value: 10 hrs./ $300
Total unpaid volunteer hours: 40

The rest of the story
The Media Arts Project (MAP) represents over 250 regional media arts practitioners, enthusiasts and students in Western North Carolina. A nimble grassroots organization, the MAP operated for over two years as an unfunded, all-volunteer effort. At the behest of the local Community Foundation, MAP presented an informational forum on the creative economy and the multimedia industry in Asheville. That meeting spurred a local philanthropist—without any application or solicitation—to offer six months of operating budget, and staff funding. That allowed us to continue our work with a single paid staff member and numerous ad hoc volunteers.

Our fundraising efforts usually focus on finding tactical support for specific media arts programs, and very rarely on gaining on-going general operating support. MAP’s entrepreneurial attitude has made us able to accomplish a tremendous amount of outreach and education with little funding. However, our basic funding requirement for staff support was approaching its end just as our first major fundraising drive over the summer was to take place.

In order to fill the gap over the next two months, we solicited input from a local think-tank that we had advised in several focus group sessions on the multimedia industry. The consulting firm specializes in authoring strategic plans for nonprofits and local government agencies. Their knowledge of media arts and multimedia-based businesses is very limited. While we never considered ourselves consultants, the firm saw us as a crucial resource for information related to the commercial media industry.

We approached the president of the company and suggested a monthly fee-for-services contract that could be used by MAP to maintain its executive director during the fundraising period. The contract made MAP a sub-contractor for the consultancy. The dual benefits of this relationship are still emerging .

We get paid to preach to key decision makers about the vibrant local community of media professionals, students and artists. The consulting firm receives expert guidance on the region’s existing assets and myriad grassroots programs currently underway.

We think this model works well and will continue to offer our services and time to for-profit consulting firms that have a project that relates to media arts and commerce.

What helped make this effort a success
The connections we have made working with the consulting firm include many of the city and county leaders and unrelated business leaders that have an interest in buying the creative work done by media artists and multimedia firms.

Advice to colleagues
Consider your organization a "start-up" business that must leverage all its human assets (volunteers, staff, supporters, board members) to earn revenues. The difference between non-profit fundraising and for-profit knowledge-based companies is really quite small.

For more information on this story contact director@themap.org, ph. 828.242.6663

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