Institute of Contemporary Arts

If at first you do succeed...

Date: 11 March 2008

Peter Serafinowicz. Photo © Nick Harvey.

Just under a year ago, I was writing in this blog about our gala fundraising dinner - the first time for some while that the ICA had embarked on such a project. For our first foray into the world of gala fundraising, we used a format for the event which involved securing the services of 10 very well-known individuals, and asking them to deliver a high-speed micro presentation in front of an audience of 250 people - a pretty daunting prospect even for seasoned performers.

Our first effort at gala fundraising was a real success, both financially and in terms of creating a memorable event for our guests. But, even as we basked in the afterglow of that very special evening, we felt the urge to raise the bar in terms of our ambition. Of course, this is what the ICA in general should be all about: a constant interest in change and improvement, combined with a generous measure of inquisitiveness and ambition, across all activities that we undertake. It's part of our creed. We like challenges, we like to probe, we like to stretch ourselves, and we like to take risks. So, when it came time to plan the fundraiser for 2008 (which took place just over a week ago), we wanted to resist the very real temptation to sit back on our newly-acquired laurels. Instead, we decided to devise a new format, which incorporated and built on the most successful elements of our first gala. In addition, we decided to double the size of the event, going from 250 guests to 500 - which meant a new venue. Also, we would commission a group of designers to produce special one-off pieces to be exhibited on the evening. And, just in case that wasn't enough, we quadrupled our financial targets for the evening.

In my former life as a banker, if someone had asked me to invest in a business plan which proposed a doubling of turnover and a quadrupling of profitability in the space of under 10 months, I can assure you it would have been a polite but brief conversation. The challenge in achieving such ambitious financial targets, as well as the logistical problems posed by the organisation of such an event, are relatively clear and easy to identify. But there are a few aspects of such a project which are less obvious, and which required a bit more thought and reflection. Of these, perhaps the one which required greatest attention was our desire to organise an event which worked as a fundraiser, but which also did not feel like a fundraiser. I guess that's the holy grail of all fundraising.

In fact, this is an issue which we face in general across our development and fundraising activities. At a time when the public purse is shrinking, institutions like the ICA are having to rely more and more on securing their own financial futures. This means securing sponsoring and support for what we do from individuals and commercial entities. The competition for this support is extremely intense. At the same time, it is true that part of the appeal and uniqueness of the ICA has been its ability to remain independent and unaligned - to be an entity which can observe and challenge contemporary culture from a truly objective standpoint. Which leads us to an interesting dichotomy: one of our main "selling points" to potential sponsors is that we are not "for sale". What makes the ICA brand appealing in large part to a sponsor is that it does stand for independence, autonomy, and individuality in a world which is increasingly globalised and corporatised. For our part, we have to recognise this fact, and also ensure that our sponsors also understand that it is actually in their best interests that the ICA brand is not diluted or compromised.

Anyway, getting back to the event: if you translate all of the above into the context of the gala evening, we had to make sure that the connection between the event and the ICA was clear and strong. We wanted our guests to know and feel that this was clearly an ICA event, which happened to be a fundraiser too. Very crucially, we wanted them to have fun. Did we succeed? Yes, the evening was great success on every level: a dedicated organising committee, great speakers, a superb host, satisfied guests and targets exceeded. The feedback has been universally positive. The hard work put in by our team and our friends really paid off. But, as ever, there's very little time to rest: it's time to start planning for next year.