Income from fundraising by arts organisations in Ireland is less than three percent of total income. This is a much lower ratio than in other countries such as Britain or Australia, where arts organisations secure up to a third of their revenue from fundraising.

The Arts Council is calling for expressions of interest for a high-level pilot designed to help organisations raise more money from philanthropic sources. RAISE will provide one-to-one professional support to eight arts organisations for two years, planning and implementing a tailored fundraising programme. The value of support to each organisation will be in the order of €100,000.

The Arts Council is committed to supporting arts organisations in maximising private investment in the arts. In developing this new programme, the Arts Council has identified that it is vital for organisations to develop, agree and implement an effective fundraising strategy. The Arts Council will work with 2into3 in partnership with Networking Matters to advise on selection and engage with the nominated arts organisations to suitably resource their fundraising function.

The arts organisations to be chosen for participation in the pilot typically will be funded by the Arts Council on a recurring basis and have the ambition, potential and commitment to raise more than €250,000 per annum in private investment. Eight organisations will be selected from those who submit an expression of interest and the programme will begin October 2012.

The RAISE pilot will be open for expressions of interest from 6 July 2012. Full details and information on how to apply will be published on the Arts Council website. The deadline for submission of expressions of interest is 5pm on 27 July.

http://www.artscouncil.ie/en/news/news.aspx?article=75a151a3-9118-48fb-8f8f-4edbcbcd6528