The Good Fundraising Guide provides some great information to get you started in fundraising, whether you are a volunteer or a fundraising professional, and is an invaluable source of reference for more experienced fundraisers too.
Whether you’re just starting out in fundraising or you simply want a refresher of the basics, this toolkit will help you put the foundations in place for an effective fundraising strategy.
From sponsorship to running a successful crowdfunding campaign, discover how to get the funds to support your work.
Recognising the rights of LGBTIQ+ people, National Coming Out Day brings awareness of LGBTIQ+ experiences across the world.
National Coming Out Day was inspired by a single march. 500,000 people participated in the March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights on October 11, 1987, generating momentum to last for 4 months after the march had ended. During this period, over a hundred LGBTIQ+ identifying individuals gathered outside Washington, DC, and decided on creating a national day to celebrate coming out – this began on the 1st anniversary of their historic march.
Cinemas UK-wide will be sharing LGBTIQ+ stories to encourage acceptance, understanding and celebration in audiences.
World Mental Health Day shines a light on mental health experiences.
Now, more than ever, we must recognise the importance of mental health, how it is intrinsically connected to our physical health, and how we can care for ourselves and each other, support community, sensitivity and share experiences and offer solidarity.
In 2020, The World Health Organisation, United for Global Mental Health and the World Federation for Mental Health issued a press release calling for greater recognition of the need for support services, citing:
“Mental health is one of the most neglected areas of public health. Close to 1 billion people are living with a mental disorder, 3 million people die every year from the harmful use of alcohol and one person dies every 40 seconds by suicide. And now, billions of people around the world have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which is having a further impact on people’s mental health.
“Yet, relatively few people around the world have access to quality mental health services. In low- and middle-income countries, more than 75% of people with mental, neurological and substance use disorders receive no treatment for their condition at all. Furthermore, stigma, discrimination, punitive legislation and human rights abuses are still widespread.”
Often misrepresented, mental health stories on screen can add to stigma around mental health conditions. Taking opportunities to raise awareness, and supporting education, cinemas across the UK are screening films to broaden understanding about mental health experiences, and ignite important discussions about how we look after each other.
Some well-established web design basics: minimize the number of choices that someone has to make; create self-explanatory navigation tools; help people get to what they’re looking for as quickly as possible.
The resource covers five of the most popular or impactful films from Into Film’s inclusion project, provides tips for the arrangement of your Into Film club, suggestions for film reviewing and activities to enhance and support screenings.
Experiencing films on the big screen is something that can be enjoyed by everyone, but accessibility can sometimes lag behind demand. How do we make sure the cinema is open to everyone?
Being inventive about funding sources is essential in cinema. From sponsorship, to film funding, to support from trusts and foundations, there are options available to most organisation types.
The BFI distributes National Lottery funding for national audience projects through two avenues. National-scale projects can apply directly to the Audience Project Fund, a rolling project fund. You can find out more at this link.
Cinemas running regional projects can apply for funding from their film hub. Each hub operates their funding calendar in a different way, although the aims of the funds are largely the same and refer to the priority areas under BFI 2022:
● Engaging audiences – maximising the number of audiences engaging with FAN activity and increasing the quality and cultural depth of their experience
● Broadening film choice – increasing access to a wide range of independent British and international film for audiences – especially those outside London
● Diversity – increasing the diversity of audiences engaging with FAN activity
● Young audiences – boosting participation of 16-30 year olds in FAN activity
● Screen heritage – facilitating greater access to archive content with a particular focus on national and regional collections
Find out about each hubs funding on their websites.
Film Hub Midlands
Film Hub North
Film Hub Scotland
Film Hub Northern Ireland
Film Hub Wales
Film Hub South West
Film Hub South East
Film Hub London
Film hubs respond to the needs and make up of their regions so funds may be formatted individually, and focus on different elements of the priorities at different times. You must register as an organisation to be a FAN member to receive funding, but registration is free.
Some regional film hubs also offer project funding to any FAN members across all the nations and regions through national programmes:
Major Programmes (large national seasons led by BFI and FAN)
Screen Heritage (national archive seasons)
New Releases (supporting independent film titles)
If you have access requirements that mean you need assistance when applying for BFI and film hub funds, you may be able to request financial support through the BFI Access Support scheme. Find out more information here.
BFI Audience Projects Fund
Creative Europe UK
Cinema for All
Screen Scotland
Creative Scotland
Northern Ireland Screen
Ffilm Cymru Wales
Film & Television Charity
There are also a range of funders who fund projects supporting diverse groups.
Reaching Communities from National Lottery
Big Lottery Fund
Heritage Lottery Fund
Esmee Fairbairn Foundation
The Baring Foundation
Paul Hamlyn Foundation
The Allen Lane Foundation
Arts Council
Comic Relief
Arts & Humanities Research Council
The Rayne Foundation
Creative Scotland
Wolfson Foundation
Garfield Weston
Foyle Foundation
Trusthouse Charitable Foundation
John Ellerman Foundation
The Tudor Trust
The Henry Smith Charity
The Dunhill Medical Trust
From in-kind support of food and drink for your event to large CSR (corporate social responsibility) funds from major commercial organisations, there is money to be found for cinemas that can align the work they’re doing to the priorities of companies.
In 2018 we asked our network members to tell us how inclusive they felt their cinemas were and what they’d like to do to increase access to their film programmes. 70% felt that more training could help.
The BFI Diversity Standard encourages exhibitors to offer inclusive cinema programmes – inclusion for those with additional needs, as well as for those who may feel culturally excluded.
Lots of us have fears and are aware of the barriers that stand in our way when we try to develop diverse audiences, but we don’t often get the time to consider our options, talk to peers and come up with solutions and ideas to improve what we offer.
FAN delivers training in Inclusive Cinema to our membership, through face-to-face workshops, resources such as this, 121 consultancy, and industry conferences like This Way Up. See us at major independent cinema events, such as Slate Days and Screening Days. The ICO, UKCA and other organisations that specialise in accessibility and diversity also have regular programmes of training to support exhibitors looking to grow their diverse audiences.
FAN’s regional film hubs – links on the funding page
Independent Cinema Office (ICO)
Cinema for All
Into Film
UK Cinema Association (UKCA)
Centre for Accessible Environments – accessibility
Arts Marketing Association – audience development incl. Diversity Academy
Audience Agency – audience development
The Other Box – bias, diversity and inclusion training
BRAP – diversity and inclusion training
A&IM – Access and Inclusivity Matters
Sunsurfer – equality, disability and mental health training
The Diversity Trust – equality, diversity and inclusion training
Shape Arts – disability equality training
DASH – accessible marketing and disability equality training
Equality and Diversity UK
ACAS – equality, mediation and management training
Zebra Uno – Deaf awareness and sign language training
RNID – Deaf awareness
Royal Deaf – Deaf awareness
Remark! – Deaf awareness
Deafinitely Theatre – Deaf awareness
BIFA – Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Training
Amiokaa – equality, diversity & inclusion training
Diverse Matters – equality, diversity and inclusion training
For filmmakers, BFI Network offers a full list of funders and training providers for filmmakers and production roles.
