Going, Going, Gone.

The Impact of Charitable Fundraisers on Visual and Media Artists

Written by Tara Mazurk Over the last couple months, you may have been receiving numerous notifications about upcoming charitable fundraisers as an introduction to the holiday season. You may have also encountered requests over the past year to donate works to be auctioned, sold, or raffled for the benefit of a good cause. These fundraisers are critical to support communities across Ontario. Unfortunately, many of the practices involved are not conducive to a supportive and professional environment for artists. With the increased number of these events, there is greater pressure for administrators to be aware of fundraising guidelines to support artists. Too often, artworks are donated with disproportionate gains between the organizer and the artist. The consequence? Artists boycott charitable fundraisers or limit their annual donations of artworks, resulting in a more competitive environment for fundraising organizers. These regressive models are cyclical and fragile to the entire fundraising environment. Artists are absolutely aware of these challenges and personally conflicted by their generosity and need to sustain a living. However, an over-saturation of donation requests, broken promises of economic return, and numerous misunderstandings of the socio-economic position of artists are not the only results. Equitable models do exist! And there is increasing potential for more artists and charitable organizers to start a conversation and change their approaches.
I was requested to participate I valued the organizationss mandate The project was commissioned I would receive exposure and networking opportunities I would receive some monetary benefit (ie. tax receipt, percentage of sale)

A common thread in charitable auctions is to provide the work to patrons at a cost well under market value. Let us consider an unnerving (but very frequent) situation: the artist donates a piece of artwork without the prospect of economic return, the work leaves the fundraiser in the hands of a collector, and future sale prospects are compromised as more collectors wait for fundraising events to purchase artworks below cost. Undermining the market value of an artists work not only sets unrealistic expectations of for the price of the work, but it also negatively impacts on the professional nature of artistic creation. The appeal of charitable fundraising which taps into the contemporary market is an enticing strategy to attract new donors and patrons. However, what are the ripple effects if the work does not sell, leaving a silent void in an otherwise feel-good event? What if the artist donated older work which is no longer representative of their style? Would collectors misinterpret it as the artists current practice? These thoughts are very real consequences from artist donations. At the beginning of November 2013, CARFAC Ontario sent out a survey to our members about charitable fundraisers. Approximately 75% of respondents would participate in fundraisers again and believe artists should donate work to charitable causes. Yet, in exploring members personal stories, an overwhelming amount indicated that they felt their work and professional practice were disrespected. With all these imbalances that exist, why still donate?

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Creators respond to humanity, realize its worth, and want to contribute skills to strengthen communities. With this as the core, the work being accomplished by charities is in tandem with the work that artists accomplish. Naturally, for 86% of our artists surveyed, the top motivator for donating was to value the organizations mandate. In this case, context and relationship to the organization is crucial. Is the artist donating as a professional artist? Hobbyist? Is the organization small, large, rural, or urban? Is it an organization immersed in arts-related practice? Or is it an organization for another charitable sector? Misunderstanding these dynamics can dramatically affect reserve prices and audience dynamics in the fundraising environment. It is ultimately up to you to decide whether donating to a charitable fundraiser is the best decision for your own values and position. If donating artwork is not feasible, you, like many of our members, may decide to donate cash, other inkind gifts, or volunteer time to a charitable cause. In the larger scope of public support, isolation between the needs of charities and the needs of artists is not beneficial to how the entire arts sector is perceived. The process of donating is a working relationship. More service organizations (including CARFAC Ontario) and individual writers are developing guidelines for artist donations. It is not implied that the whole model will be reformed immediately, but these suggestions serve as a crucial starting point. Our friends at CARFAC Saskatchewan and VANLCARFAC have built momentum around the charitable fundraising conversation. Some important criteria for agreement include: ~ The artist retains full copyright of the work; ~ Reserve prices are determined from fair market value and/or established by the artist; ~ The artists name and descriptive elements of the work are accurate and representative of the artists practice; ~ The donated works are properly stored, insured, and installed; and, ~ The artist receives some economic benefit, whether it be through a charitable tax receipt or percentage of sale.1 For works that receive a percentage of sale, VANL-CARFAC recommends 50% and 50%, or the artist receives 100% of the reserve price and the organization retains any amount above.2 The 50%-50% model is not unique. Many artists shared their positive experiences with this option and noted that use of this standard is fading. Special attention must also be given to organizations which issue charitable tax receipts, especially in cases where the artists income is not high enough for this

to have a significant reduction in taxable income. The guidelines mentioned above are merely a snapshot of how international artists and administrators are engaging in best practices for charitable fundraisers. Another concern is to set the appropriate methods to connect artist with buyer. This is not only important for the charitys own accounting, but for tracking the artists inventory and provenance. Furthermore, networking at these events is not a top motivator for artists to contribute, but it is frequently the only main benefit artists receive. To simply provide an artists contact information with the artworks description can make a big difference. With all this in mind, no artist should be asked outright to donate work for free this is especially conflicted with organizations that are genuinely aware of the economic situations of artists. When the professionalism of the entire sector is kept intact, specific criteria outlined, and more innovative fundraising approaches established, there is more potential for mutual gains for all parties. To reinforce that good models are out there, a couple of our members have organized charitable fundraisers and provided examples. The mission was top priority, but with a particular sensitivity to the professional practice of artists. This work has a purpose and these events have impacted their communities greatly. Rachelle Kearns, a painter based in Toronto, was inspired by her girlfriends courage in moving to Cambodia to run a rehabilitation home for victims of child sex trafficking. Rachelle mentioned, I knew that I would use my gifting as an artist and influence in the arts community to shine a light on this injustice. From this, the natural trajectory was to organize Buy Art, Not Kids (B.A.N.K), which took place for the first time in Spring 2013. Rachelle notes that the artists generosity and commitment was almost immediate after hearing the cause. The price of the works was based on existing fair market value and the display and promotional materials were designed to represent the participating artists. As a choice which many charitable art auctions are adopting, the artist chose whether they wanted a tax receipt or commission from the sale. Rachelle, echoing the many voices of our members who completed the survey, said its important for artists to be very choosy about the charities/fundraisers they support. It only makes sense for the artist to donate to a cause that they truly care about. In another case, Marion Jean Hall is a professional artist who often works in two-dimensional media

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Artists at Buy Art Not kids. Photo credit: Jon Jones and has had organizational perspectives through both Artemisia and Arteast in Ottawa. In 2007, Marion heard on CBC radio that new underwear is in short supply for people using Ottawa shelters. After coincidentally finishing a series featuring underwear on laundry lines, Marion realized, that it would be fun to have a light-hearted show dedicated to the theme of underwear. Artists were asked to create works surrounding the theme and 30% of sales were donated to the cause and 70% returned to the artist. The artworks were exhibited and visitors were asked to bring a monetary donation or new clothing for local shelters. In the end, the fundraiser provided over 2500 items of clothing to four Ottawa shelters. When fundraisers rely solely on artist donations for a favourable cost-benefit model, it signals a narrow way of operating. This fundraiser changed that. By addressing an immediate issue in the community that was relevant to all participants, each artist, volunteer, and patron were equitably contributing to the cause. Many artists want to impact our communities. This is the driving force behind participating in charitable fundraisers and the reason we all continue to contribute our work, time, and resources. The often unintended effect of this generosity is one which is not supportive of artists across Ontario. Maximizing organizational awareness of this dialogue may yield a positive cyclical model: one that does not weaken artistic creation, but is holistically advantageous to the entire not-forprofit community. Without it, we risk our collective professionalism evaporating. We want to thank everyone who contributed their experiences and informed the content of this article. Our research on charitable fundraisers is ongoing and we are still collecting content for developing new documents. Questions or feedback about the recommendations in the article? Have a story about participating in a charitable fundraiser? We want to hear it! Contact tm@carfacontario.ca and join the conversation. More CARFAC Resources on Charitable Fundraisers: 1Saskatchewan Use of Artists Work for Fundraising Purposes. CARFAC Saskatchewan. 2010. http://www.bestpracticestandards.ca/docs/1_ standardsdrafts/CARFAC_BP_1__Fundraising_ web_1.pdf 2Fund-Raising Guidelines (Including sample contract). VANL-CARFAC. http://vanl-carfac.com/index.php/programs-services/ advocacy/awareness-campaigns/ Guidelines for Professional Standards in the Organization of Fundraising Events. CARFAC National. 1994. http://carfacontario.ca/page/guidelines-professionalstandards-organization-fun_63/ Information on Members Fundraising Examples: View the story of Buy Art, Not Kids www.buyartnotkids.com/ Rachelle Kearns Artist Site www.rachelleoriginals.com

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