Fundraising

Blueyard’s fundraising work is led by Andrew Aughton – although we do sometimes engage other fundraisers whose expertise matches a client’s needs. Andrew’s experience spans many fundraising activities (individual and corporate donors, Friends’ schemes, Lotteries, Prize Draws, fundraising events, sponsorship, business club membership) but his current focus is on:

campaigns for trust, foundation, and statutory funding, for both capital and revenue projects
fundraising through in-house Lotteries

Blueyard fundraising His experience in trust and foundation fundraising includes a detailed knowledge of this sector:

at Buxton Opera House: securing funding for
- a £2m refurbishment in 2001
- a further £330k capital scheme in 2007
- a new £2.5m arts centre in 2010
- c. £300k annual revenue fundraising schemes

Aldeburgh Music & Aldeburgh Festival:

since 2014 Andrew, on behalf of Blueyard, has been engaged as Aldeburgh’s proposal-writer, preparing over 100 trust & foundation bids and generating c.£650k. He also carried out successful campaigns in 2015/16 for Somm Recordings, English Symphony Orchestra, Saffron Concert Hall and Cheltenham International Concert Series. Here’s what some of our clients said about his work:

‘Andrew takes the time to understand the organisations he works with and writes funding proposals with a strong, three-dimensional grasp of his client’s needs, aspirations and resources’

Kenneth WoodsArtistic Director, English Symphony Orchestra

‘We were impressed by Andrew’s utter professionalism and willingness to work to our specifications. We benefited from his input of fresh ideas and were kept informed of progress at all stages. He showed courtesy and consideration at all times and we would recommend him without hesitation’

Siva OkeSomm Recordings

‘Andrew led the fundraising for a schools’ opera involving 350+ students, teachers and professional creatives. His wealth of experience was invaluable. He is brilliant at crafting compelling bids that are carefully tailored to each trust. Thanks to him, we secured the funding for the project to go ahead as planned’

Natalie EllisLearning & Participation Director, Saffron Hall

‘Andrew has used his experience and knowledge of the cultural sector to write funding proposals for a wide range of projects, from opera and concerts to community projects involving prisoners and dementia sufferers. His long career in the arts gives him an intimate understanding of how artists and organisations operate, and sympathy with their work, enabling him to grasp the context of any project and work up a proposal for it. He widened the pool of Trusts to whom we now apply, undertaking lengthy research to find new funders. He has prepared and submitted over 100 applications, with a high success rate of around £650,000’

Penny Jonas Head of Fundraising, Aldeburgh Music

To increase your venue or organisation’s income from

trusts and foundations
in-house Lottery (we work closely with a national arts lottery scheme that generated £100k per annum during Andrew’s time at Buxton – find out what it could do for you!)
other statutory and non-statutory funding, such as Big Lottery Fund or Arts Council GFA and NPO bids
other areas of fundraising, including sponsorship and individual giving.