Raising funds for innovative projects, promoting participatory campaigns, expanding the capacity to involve new supporters: awareness relating to the economic and employment spin-offs produced by culture generates a virtuous and progressive effect of which fundraising is the protagonist. Despite the negative economic circumstances, in fact, institutions and companies show themselves inclined to invest in the cultural sector and often new technologies are a driving and founding channel.
“From the latest Istat census – he says Massimo Coen, Scientific Director of the Fundraising School of Rome – we can say that Non-profits have involved institutional subjects, especially private ones compared to those of a public nature. Furthermore, the role of private companies in financing activities with a value (31.7%) not far from that of the Ministries (34.6%) or the Regions and local authorities (33.7%). The data relates to the entire non-profit sector and not just to culture, but as an approximation we can say that for 1/3 of the activities of cultural organizations, companies intervene for their sustainability. Trying to make an estimate we could say that the contribution of companies to private cultural initiatives is equal to 2.5-3 billionincluding sponsors, purchase of services, donations and other forms of monetary collaboration”.
A substantial contribution therefore, through various tools, from membership in libraries or theaters, to crowdfunding from the bottom on self-produced cultural initiatives up to sponsorship o partnership by companies. Of great stimulus is the art bonus, an instrument to incentivize private donations in support of the Italian public cultural heritage, which allows a tax credit equal to 65% of the amount donated to those who make liberal donations.
“More Fundraising More Culture”an Italian project dedicated to raising funds in the cultural field, has reached its fourth edition with a schedule of activities that culminates in the Main Event which will be held in person, in Rome, at MACRO, November 6, 2023 from 9.30am to 6pm (to register to participate in the event for free you can visit the fundraisingperlacultura.it website and fill out the form). One of the four masterclasses planned is entitled “Artificial intelligence and digitalisation and their relationship with fundraising”: what are the main digital tools for fundraising?
Without going too far: websites, social networks and newsletters are able to reach audiences/users more quickly and enable them to donate in real time. Then, the aforementioned crowdfunding, but also NFT, Metaverso, gamification: these tools allow you to reach recipients immediately, making the user experiences more “visualizable”. “Living an experience – underlines Coen – is often the key that drives donation: the digital experience must therefore aim at integrating the physical experience, think of the 75,000 users of the Father & Son game who then moved on to live the physical experience in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples”.
During the masterclass, we will talk about the major training program on the digitalisation of cultural heritage aimed at operators and managers of cultural institutions; of an innovative service that will allow all cultural institutions and organizations to offer their visitors a simple and smart way of donating via their credit card; of how it is possible to involve people also through virtual reality and how this represents a great opportunity to combine the now indispensable digitization of heritage with the creation of additional contents to be offered to the virtual visitor in which forms of participation in appeals are already integrated of fundraising. Finally we will talk about new technologies, technological challenges, cultural planning and environmental impact.
Digital fundraising is therefore treated in the awareness that it represents a lever in turn to give substance to the digital transition process of the cultural sector.