How Fundraisers for Filmmaking Adapted During the Pandemic

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Throughout the pandemic, organizations devoted to filmmaking continued funding the creation of new work, while shifting how that work was shared with audiences and donors alike, relying more on virtual screenings and festivals. We recently spoke with five organizations that fundraise for and support independent filmmaking; their overall mindset was that despite needing to be flexible and to pivot away from in-person events, backers who believed in the mission would stick with it and step up — and they did.

This mirrors the experiences of fundraisers in other fields we’ve spoken with over the past couple of years, particularly in the arts, where development professionals have had to push themselves out of their comfort zones to cover their budgets, but ultimately kept the mission going thanks to devoted supporters. In fact, some even saw increases in revenue, an invigorated sense of purpose, and improvements to their operations that will continue.

Those we spoke with — Doc Society, Film Independent, Mid-America Arts Alliance, and Women’s Voices Now — are all behind-the-scenes players; most likely, their names are not familiar, except perhaps for American Documentary, which produces the popular “POV” series airing on PBS stations nationwide. And they all aspire to do more in terms of supporting the art of film and its makers; they’re invested in the impact the medium can have on global and social justice issues, the people most impacted by those issues, and all the voices who have been underrepresented in the genre in the past. In that sense, national and global events since 2020 have made their missions more relevant.

Direct funding or grantmaking for film creation is just one facet of the support they provide, making up between 10% to 50% of their expenditures. Other major priorities include acting as conveners, facilitating networking and collaboration, and increasing access for filmmakers. Putting on festivals to showcase films and their makers, acting as a neutral adjudicator for awards and festivals, securing professional equipment and technical support, and offering ongoing educational programs that generate involvement with students and their communities comprise an equal, if not more important, segment of their support.

Steady fundraising — and growth

American Documentary’s revenue was stable during the pandemic at about $6 million. PBS (a powerhouse fundraiser itself) accounts for 40% of its funding, and private foundations and government grants account for 45%. Individual giving accounts for the other 15% and ranges from small, recurring monthly contributions to five-figure major gifts. While American Documentary had a small cutback during calendar year 2020–21, in 2022, it gained it all back and then some, with year-over-year growth coming from individuals as a result of a deliberate, and successful, development strategy, Executive Director Erika Dilday said.

The group is now having discussions about how they can make a bigger impact. One beneficiary, “POV,” has a better-known name than American Documentary does, and while audiences relate to the show, Dilday is wondering how they can use Am Doc’s reach, knowledge and context to do more in a changing field. “We are the Ru Paul — we are edgy and cool. How can we use that? It is bigger than providing programming. We want to use our power in the industry to bring in more new filmmakers and further democratize access.”

The 12-year-old Women’s Voices Now is working at a smaller scale, but has grown steadily for the last four years, reaching $300,000 this year in service of its mission to amplify voices to advance women’s rights. The group provides access to 200+ films from 65 countries in 44 languages on its website.

Other groups saw their revenues increase in recent years as well, including Doc Society and Film Independent, albeit from different sources.

Since 2005, Doc Society has given direct grants totaling $19 million and leveraged many millions more. Their fundraising strategies involve sustaining relationships and finding new ones by “being a great convener,” said its founding director, Beadie Finzi. The organization comprises separate legal entities in the U.K., Australia, the Netherlands, and the U.S., and has a staff of 29 across three continents. “From parties to panels and conferences, we foster beautiful conversations and convert people and organizations from being curious to being engaged.”

Doc Society has been working to expand its pool of funders ever since the financial crash of 2008, following the advice of Professor John Bates of the London Business School, who serves on its U.K. board. The organization now has more than 50 different organizational supporters, according to its website. Doc Society had a successful fiscal year 2021–22, with about $9 million in revenue that allowed it to increase its regranting pool by 25% over the prior year, up to $4.8 million.

The story of growth at Mid-America Arts Alliance (M-AAA) is even more dramatic. For starters, the organization is a partner in the U.S. Regional Arts Resilience Fund, receiving $10 million for COVID relief from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, boosted by a gift of $150,000 from the Windgate Foundation. Then came a transformational, unrestricted gift from MacKenzie Scott in June 2021. Its usual annual budget is $5 million, with $350,000 going to grant awards for artists of all types, including filmmakers. In fiscal year 2021, grants grew 355% to $5.78 million.

“Thanks to the COVID relief money, in the midst of this awfulness, we found ourselves in a space where we could help, and, coincidentally, our bottom line went up,” said Christine Bial, director of the arts and humanities grants program. The strategy at M-AAA does not prioritize direct solicitation to individuals because they never want to compete with the artistic organizations they support, Bial said.

The recent big gifts have expanded the reach and influence of M-AAA, and they intend to leverage and maintain that growth. To that end, President Todd Stein has been meeting extensively with the other five regional arts organizations across the country to increase collaboration and impact.

Evolving donor bases

While revenue has held steady for Film Independent, the make-up of its donors is changing. During COVID, many corporations held back on giving and sponsorships, said Senior Development Director Kate Walker D’Angelo. “But the entertainment industry stepped up in a meaningful way — the studios, the streamers, and the content creators overall, as did our 2,000 FI fellow alums from around the world. You want to know that the community has your back, and they do.”

In addition, by December 2021, Film Independent’s membership, which is made up of about 50% film lovers and 50% filmmakers, grew by 19% over the prior year. Walker D’Angelo attributes that to the virtual screenings Film Independent was offering to members.

Women’s Voices Now (WVN) had been relying on family foundations and public grants for up to 70% of its budget. Beginning in 2018, fundraisers targeted different county, state and national grants in support of expanding a program that teaches filmmaking to teen girls in under-resourced neighborhoods. As a result, they grew their overall bottom line and shifted the group’s donor constituency.

In 2021, when many foundations paused their giving, and some government grants became more uncertain or delayed because of the pandemic, they added emphasis on individual giving. With the guidance of a consultant, the group’s executive director began a one-on-one personal cultivation and engagement program with donors, including direct asks, and upgraded their CRM to make communication easier. Development Director Soizic Pelladeau added that the WVN board, which recently expanded to seven, has been meeting their fundraising commitments throughout.

Going online

Taking events online presented fundraisers with new challenges, but in some cases, new benefits. For M-AAA, Zoom meetings with partner organizations across the region meant they could spend more time together, seeing each other once a month instead of every couple of years, in some cases.

Film Independent’s signature event, the Spirit Awards, normally raises $3 million, a big part of the organization’s budget. It went virtual in 2021, with reductions in expenses and revenue. In March 2022, the awards returned to an in-person format, which was a challenge of its own, said Jennifer Murby, director of individual giving. “It was hard to predict how people were going to respond. There were capacity limits and testing requirements that created limitations and were a huge expense. It ended up going well, but the process was full of surprises and uncertainties.”

When it comes to how they present the cinematic experience, Walker D’Angelo said going virtual for two years was a challenge, and now, the group needs to recalibrate the balance between virtual, hybrid and in-person, and be sure the format they’re presenting is appropriate and impactful for the current moment.

To counterbalance the decline of event revenue, Film Independent grew its matching gift campaign, which had started as a modest end-of-year appeal in 2018. In 2020, the board stepped up with an $80,000 matching gift. Film Independent repeated that success in 2021 with a $75,000 challenge, vigorously promoting the opportunity through email, newsletters and social media ads to its 7,500 members, 70,000 subscribers, and one million online followers.

With the guidance of a consultant, Women’s Voices Now also conducted a successful matching gift campaign in 2021, the group’s first. They intended to pool donations to raise $25,000 for the match, but instead, an angel stepped up with the gift. That campaign, promoted primarily through email, garnered $60,000 from individual donors, five times as much as individuals had given before Pelladeau said.

Doc Society’s signature event is Good Pitch, where they bring filmmakers together, not only with foundations and philanthropists, but also with policymakers and NGOs, campaign strategists, and media outlets. Since 2007, they’ve held 54 events in 15 countries. Rather than halt the convenings, Doc Society adapted and brought the stakeholders together online. “We learned a lot in the process, and it afforded great inclusivity,” Finzi said. “We’re planning to resume the in-person event later in 2022, but we are not abandoning the virtual gathering. We’ve learned how to do it well, and there are profound economic and environmental benefits. We’re leaning into the virtual for the long term.”

Looking ahead

Women’s Voices Now is on track for 2022 and is doubling down on increasing individual giving, launching two programs. The first is aimed at converting annual givers into monthly givers, which they are rolling out in person in June at their first-ever donor appreciation event. Details of the second program are still being finalized, but will be invitation-only with a minimum gift of $2,500. Among the benefits under consideration is a seat at the Women’s Voices Now table so the donor may add their own voice and insight on the organization’s programs and services.

Film Independent is in the midst of creating a new five-year strategic plan. “The world is emerging from the dark, and we have changed,” said Walker D’Angelo, adding that recovery will bring a whole new set of challenges. “While we succeeded in keeping programs and relationships stable, now is the time to move past stabilization and look to growth to support independent storytellers.”

American Documentary’s Dilday is looking forward to celebrating POV’s 35th anniversary in person with donors in June. “We recognize these have been difficult years. Our aim in being together again is to excite them. When you convey that excitement to potential donors, they’ll come along with you.”

Sharing that point of view, M-AAA’s Stein puts it this way: “While virtual platforms allow for flexibility, there is no replacement for meeting in person and making a human connection. A shared experience is key when speaking to the essential qualities of the arts.”