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Going, Going, Gone.

The Impact of Charitable Fundraisers on Visual and Media Artists

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, thereis 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 ofdonation 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.

Written by Tara Mazurk

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 intothe 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 charitablefundraisers. 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?

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)

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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? Isthe 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 in-

kind gifts, or volunteer time to a charitable cause. In

the larger scope of public support, isolation betweenthe 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 VANL-

CARFAC 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 percentageof sale.1For 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 forartists 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 toCambodia 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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and has had organizational perspectives throughboth 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 theend, 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-for-

profit community. Without it, we risk our collective

professionalism evaporating.

We want to thank everyone who contributed theirexperiences 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 FundraisingPurposes. 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-professional-

standards-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

Artists at Buy Art Not kids. Photo credit: Jon Jones

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