1. Background

Arts Fundraising & Philanthropy’s partners, the University of Leeds, manage their Centre for Immersive Technologies working with more than 80 researchers from a range of university subjects focusing on five priority areas of health, transport, education, productivity, and culture. The Centre is being coordinated through six academic leads and has a poet and two artists in residence. In partnership with the Cultural Institute, the Centre is working on a range of programmes including using immersive technologies to give people access to the nation’s cultural and heritage resources, many that are not yet open to the public. They are also the leading multidisciplinary multi-partner research programme investigating how immersive tech can shape the ways that members of the public engage with Nazi concentration camp memorial sites, telling different sorts of powerful stories.

2. Using VR to enhance our stories

The impact of immersive technology on the arts is fast growing. In an article for the Guardian, Sarah Ellis, Director of Digital Engagement at the Royal Shakespeare Company talks about digital tech changing our workforce, relationships, maps, economies and priorities. Sarah says that artists can invert this so the technology itself becomes change – digital is the live conversation of the day and the arts is the crucible where we come together to shape, evolve and make sense of what is before us. In a sector where we are fast developing how we work with digital advances, what does this mean for attracting funding to support our causes?

We have seen the mainstream charity sector turn to using all sorts of tech to boost philanthropic giving by enabling donors to identify with recipients on an experiential level. For example, Alzheimer’s Research UK designed a VR app in partnership with virtual reality specialists, VISYON, to allow people to experience life through the lens of a person with dementia. Similarly, the National Autistic Society created a VR in a shopping centre in Bromley, allowing potential donors to feel the perspective of an autistic child and the dizzying experience of sensory overload.

VR and immersive technology allow us to enhance our storytelling abilities, allowing us new ways to convey the complexity of our work in a more simplistic way. Head of Museums and Galleries at the University of Liverpool and Arts Fundraising & Philanthropy Fellow alumna, Nicola Euston, was part of The University of Liverpool’s Mobile Development Team who developed an augmented reality app to support visitors to the museum to learn more about their exhibitions. Getting passionate people to further engage with an organisation’s work is a key opportunity to also embed fundraising messages.

3. Collaboration

Collaboration and partnership working can be key to developing immersive experiences where budgets are tighter. Working with digital artists and sharing the risk through joint fundraising activity to support digital work is a real opportunity. On a more basic level, simplistic fundraising campaigns could be enhanced with a Snapchat Geofilter – a custom made filter based on a smartphone user’s geographic location.

They are relatively inexpensive and offer something fun for audiences to engage with. In an increasingly competitive fundraising world, immersive technology enables us to reinvent how we talk about our work and retain our donor’s interests. The joy of working in the arts and cultural sector is that we’re surrounded by highly imaginative creatives on a daily basis and the challenge for fundraising teams is to bring this creativity into the next fundraising planning meeting. Digital doesn’t need to be solely for marketing or programming departments and the rewards are there for those prepared to give it some time, resource, and development.

David Johnson, Director of Strategy and Programmes, Cause4

This was originally published on the Arts Fundraising & Philanthropy website (October 2019). It has been updated to reflect more recent changes, developments, and research.

More help here

How to use AR and VR to increase visitor engagement and participation

Immersive Media also known as XR offer visitors the opportunity to engage with heritage organisations through VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality) experiences. There is a lot to consider before diving into an immersive media or computer-generated project. In this resource Emma Hughes from Limina provides useful insight to help clarify some questions you might have about the feasibility of introducing XR experiences at your heritage organisation.

 

Video: Case for Support

Storytelling is an essential part of all fundraising.  You need to tell people why your cause is important, what differentiates it from others and what you need funding for.  Language, tone, audience and many other factors can affect the impact your story tells. In this webinar recording, Helen Jenkins explains the structure for a good Case for Support, gives examples of effective storytelling on digital platforms by other organisations and considers how to adapt messaging for different audiences.

 

Video: Getting started with digital fundraising

In this webinar recording, Zoe Amar provides an introduction to digital fundraising. She looks at how to get started, how to improve your fundraising practice, tips for success, key pitfalls and how to measure success. This resource will give you the building blocks for digital fundraising.

 

Except where noted and excluding company and organisation logos this work is shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) Licence

Please attribute as: "Using Virtual Reality to tell your fundraising stories (2022) by David Johnson supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, licensed under CC BY 4.0