Collaborative fundraising provides nonprofits with more donors and more donations for all – $8 million in new dollars in total over a five-year period. That was the experience of the 30 youth arts organizations that participated in the ARTWorks for Kids coalition, an effort initiated and supported by Hunt Alternatives in Cambridge, MA.

How did 30 different youth arts organizations – all collaborators in serving youth in the Greater Boston area, but also competitors for donations – join forces to raise money together? First, we supported the leaders of these organizations as they worked together to build trust with their colleagues. Then, we provided a venue for each coalition member to showcase the great art their youth were producing for a large and diverse group of funders.

Blooming Art was a celebration of the creativity of youth – as painters, singers, dancers, writers, musicians – and a festive event for donors and performers alike.

Blooming Art

Here’s what we learned:

1)     This works! Over $8 million in new funds was raised by coalition organizations, thanks in part to a pool of matching funds provided by private donors to incentivize new donations.

2)     Collaborative fundraising inspires and strengthens a successful coalition. Challenges that arise are met together and result in stronger working relationships. Everyone involved in Blooming Art helped make each year’s event better than the year before.

3)     Donors benefit too. People give to organizations and efforts that their friends and colleagues support. Our public showcase brought donors who share a passion and commitment to youth arts organizations, and helped them learn about the work of groups new to them but trusted and supported by their friends.

4)     Fundraising does not have to be a zero-sum game! Organizations helping each other raised more together and met donors who were new to them. Donors making gifts to new organizations did not, as people feared they might, cut giving to those groups they’d supported for years.

The ARTWorks for Kids model has three components: coalition building, collaborative fundraising, and collective advocacy – all in service to the goal of increasing sustainable funding streams for youth arts organizations. We are committed to sharing what we learned over the 10 years that we developed this program, and would love the opportunity to share our model with you! Please let us know if you’d like more information: [email protected].