Top tips from our Artists' Development Day in partnership with LEAN and Churchill Theatre

Friday 11th March we teamed up with Lewisham Education Arts Network (LEAN) and the Churchill Theatre in Bromley to host a free, one day professional development workshop.

The day consisted of interactive workshops and networking, alongside talks from industry experts on fundraising, budgeting, marketing and, the all important contracts.

Here we share our key tips and takeaways from the day.


Fundraising  

  • Do the research – this gives the funding decision makers confidence

  • Time - be realistic about the time your project will take and be prepared for your timescale to change

  • Funders – Arts Council, CICs, charities, limited companies, individuals

  • Developing Your Creative Practice (DYCP) Funding – don’t need to be too specific about what you want to achieve, it’s about exploring and developing yourself as an artist

  • Persevere – it’s like a job application. Even if you get rejected one time you might get funding the next time you apply

Budgeting 

  • Involves planning, looking at resources and example budgets, getting quotes and info.

  • Some projects may make a financial loss or no profit, but are a good marketing strategy - to raise your profile and bring people in

  • Get other people to sense-check your project vision/aims and your budget

Marketing  

  • Create a demand – what’s great, why people need it and should buy it.

  • Story – a good story sells and shouldn’t cost you anything.

  • Use social media and the venue database – you may not have the budget for tv campaigns, and newspaper campaigns are very expensive and sometimes aren't effective

Contracts 

  • Legally binding agreement and can be taken to court if broken

  • Involves an exchange (often between two parties) + mutuality

  • Write your own list of headings of what will be in your contract - a contract can contain terms and conditions, pay, person/parties involved, when it ends

  • Law of intellectual property – expression of ideas are protected by law

Attendees were also advised to ask themselves: Where are we now? How did we get here? Where do we want to be? and to regularly revisit their aims and unique selling point (USP).

Another tip is to use the SMART technique when it comes to implementing your strategy - make sure your goals are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and consider the timeframe in which to acheive them.

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