Fundraising promise

Our fundraising promise to you

Midlands Arts Centre (MAC) is a Registered Charity (No. 528979) and relies on voluntary contributions from its audience and other funders. Donations and sponsorship help every element of MAC’s work - our mission, with the help of our supporters, is to:

• To make participation in creative arts activities an important part of people’s lives.
• To connect children, young people, families and older audiences through intergenerational programming;
• Nurture inclusion and diversity in our community;
• Maintain a reputation for presenting and programming exciting and challenging work.

Best practice

MAC is committed to fundraising best practice and abide by the Fundraising Regulator’s key principles: to be legal, open, honest and respectful. Here at MAC, we undertake to comply with relevant law and regulations, including the Proceeds of Crime Act, General Data Protection Regulation, Tax and Gift Aid legislation, and Charity Commission guidance, as well as the MAC’s internal policies, such as Anti-Bribery.

Working with funders

MAC values the importance of our audiences, trusts, foundations and companies that support our work with donations, partnerships, networks and high levels of giving. This is a crucial area of fundraising for us, so MAC uses profiling to identify other individuals/organisations to form beneficial and longstanding partnerships with.

Making appropriate asks

The fundraising team at MAC frequently analyses our database and use information on how organisations/supporters have engaged with us in the past to see if we believe that they would be interested in building a relationship with us. We may use publicly available sources of information to understand their philanthropic interests and capacity to give greater support. This means that we can tailor communications to specific areas of our work that we believe will be of interest to them, it is important to us that we understand the motivations of our donors.

Overall, a more targeted approach means that we will spend less charity funds to raise vital income, more effectively. It also allows us to ensure that we do not contact people inappropriately

External sources examples

External sources that the MAC fundraising team use include:

• Official sources such as Companies House, Charity Commission and other registers such as, the Electoral Rolls, Debrett’s guides and The Rich List;
• Information on organisations/individuals on company websites, or biographies on professional networking sites;
• Geographic and demographic information based on postcode. MAC may use a third party specialist to engage in this activity.

Due diligence

The MAC fundraising team oversees all potential donations and corporate partnerships for compliance and risk. For very high donations we also have a responsibility to understand the source of that money. We will therefore carry out research on that basis, to assess and manage potential risks with regards to money laundering and other offences and ensure that there is no conflict with MAC’s mission and ideals.

Final decisions may be escalated to MAC’s Board of Trustees. MAC’s Board’s will always act in the best long-term interest of MAC, our partners, and audiences - acting prudently and carefully when deciding to accept or refuse voluntary contributions. The Board will refuse a gift if it believes that it may be detrimental to the organisation, partners or audiences.

If you would like more information about donations and sponsorship at MAC please contact Sally Pennington, Director of Development, on 0121 446 3275, or email [email protected].