Donate to What Next?

Will you consider donating to the What Next? movement?

What Next? is a free-to-access UK wide movement; with 35 chapters across the nations, we bring together freelancers and small and large arts organisations to inform, debate and shape the future of the arts and culture.

In the recent past, we have been dependent on donations from within the movement. We have not actively asked for donations since 2018, due to internal strategic developments, and then the Covid-19 pandemic. We are doing so now to keep the vital work of the movement alive at a time when joint visioning and collaboration is really needed.

What Next? is supported by a small hard-working team of four freelancers working a few days a week, who work closely with a new Steering Group of 16 UK cultural leaders and the local knowledge and expertise of our 30+ Chapter Chairs.

Since March 2020 and in support of the sector during the COVID-19 pandemic, What Next? has:

  • Held spaces of discussion across the country featuring many inspiring and influential speakers.
  • Drafted papers that disseminated key, current information to the sector. These documents include the COVID-19 Certification Consultation briefing paper, the What Next? Coronavirus Issues, Good Practise Information Log.
  • Run five DCMS Roundtables on the development of guidance and on financial need, and the strengths and needs of disabled colleagues in COVID-19.
  • Through these roundtables and in our UK wide chapter meetings, we prioritised the voices of freelancers, deaf and disabled colleagues, colleagues with experience of racism, and colleagues working in learning and participation to be heard.
  • Co-written and co-published the Seven Inclusive Principles for Arts and Cultural Organisations with #WeShallNotBeRemoved, Ramps on the Moon, Paraorchestra, Attitude is Everything and arts and culture freelancers.
  • Submitted a substantial report to the DCMS Select Committee Inquiry on the Impact of Covid-19 on the Cultural Sector.
  • Joined (via representation of the core team) the Events and Entertainment Taskforce, the Labour Cultural taskforce and the GLA Transition Board to make the case for the arts and culture.
  • Started the process of democratising our movement’s internal structures and cultures, including embedding more diverse and horizontal leadership via a Steering Group, increasing access and financial support for disabled and freelance colleagues, and collaborating with devolved nation chapters to build a UK-wide agenda.
  • Raised over £50,000 additional funds from ACE, Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Calouste Gulbenkian to enable the work of the movement to be accessible to more people, to examine the civic role of the arts in society, and to be able to continue to operate effectively.

Our needs as a movement

The work we do costs around £120,000 a year. This includes fees, access costs, strategic programmes, movement grants and overheads.

Over the last five years have been supported through the generosity of trusts and foundations (Clore Duffield, Paul Hamlyn, Foyle, Mackintosh, Gulbenkian, Esmee Fairbairn and the Theatre Development Trust) as well as the support of Arts Council England and a number of vital donations by member organisations and individuals.

Many people offer us support in kind and we are extremely grateful for the time and expertise we receive. But, no funder will support a project forever without evidence that it is valued and supported by those who use it. We urgently need that support. Without it, there is real danger that our work will end if we cannot continue to secure your generous support.

What we will d0 in 2021

What Next? will continue to work on 3 priorities to:

  1. Influence policy-making to make the case for the arts, culture and communities, prioritising the needs of colleagues who are experiencing racism, who are deaf and disabled, and who are freelancers.
  2. Organise the WN? movement around debating and shaping the future of the cultural sector in a post-Covid and post-Brexit landscape.
  3. Democratise and diversify the movement’s structures and cultures

How to donate
You just have to click the button below to make a donation via PayPal, or you can email clarethurman@gmail.com if you would prefer to receive an invoice.

 

We’re not a membership organisation. We believe in empowering everyone to get informed and use their voice and their assets to make the change they want to see. We are completely independent and led by the sector. We are absolutely reliant on your donations to keep going.

Support the Movement

To survive as an independent space to shape the future of the arts & culture, we need financial contributions from the movement.

If you are an organisation: We want to ask you to consider a:

  • Contribution of £3,000: Organisations with £1 million or more worth of  funding p/y
  • Contribution of £1,000: Organisations with £250,000 – £999,999 worth of funding p/y
  • Contribution of £250: Organisations with £40,000 – £249,999 worth of funding p/y

If you are an individual: We want to ask you to consider contributing £20 a year.

Please consider contributing more if you’re able to, or at a level that feels right for you. We know the difficulties of the current climate. Every donation will make a difference.

We are not asking for membership fees. We are still a movement – not an organisation. We want to stay that way. This is not about buying a seat at the table. This is about securing the future of What Next?

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