When fundraising is perfect!

A few years ago, the Municipality of Empoli, led by the then mayor Brenda Barnini, decided to build a cultural center along the Arno River. The idea was to create a multifunctional space that would respond to multiple needs and to do so with public and private funds. From here the beginning of two paths: one of fundraising and one of active citizen participation.

With fundraising techniques, funds had to be found and with the participatory path, the citizens of Empoli would decide how to fill that cultural “container”. Thus a project worth almost ten million euros saw the light.
I was asked to build different paths related to fundraising and so different fundraising campaigns were born starting from the very basis of the work: the creation of the foundations of the new building.

In fundraising, I believe that comparative work is fundamental. My idea was therefore to look for a similar project in Europe. I wanted to understand if there were ways to broaden our vision and understand how to tackle a complex and new fundraising project.
I discovered the Water Culture House on the Papiroeen island of Copenhagen designed by the architect Cobe and financed by a private foundation. A structure similar, at least in principle, to the one in Empoli: lots of glass and along a waterway. A considerable volume created to accommodate different ways of doing culture, a library and relax areas. All of this, a stone’s throw from the fabulous Opera House.

When I visited it for the first time, the work was just beginning. Within two years the work was almost finished and is already partly in use.
I decided to bring “Fundraising Index” and some of my other books to those who opened the doors to me. I certainly won’t be the one to teach the Danes how to fundraise (it’s definitely the opposite) but it was a way to thank them for their generosity in sharing ideas, techniques and tools.