The  awardees were announced in an unusual way, via a specially written Shakespearean style speech delivered by David Faulkner – founder and former Director of The Sponsors Club, who unbeknownst to him was also to be honoured with one of the 21 awards. Can you spot the references the recipients in this text….

Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some
achieve greatness, and some….
some mark their presence in the world with banks,
shored to shape in northumberlandian clay
Some stage some play with children year on year
a dickens of delight delirium.
Some structure patterns made of stone and glass,
to find a voice, or give a voice, and then,
if Millican cannot, then Python will;
Creative space in every space on view.
A silver thread that links the arts with land.
Estates of art, the Pender Parson plan.
A lady tips towards tales seven stories high.
Sage men make music conjure cross the Tyne.
A challenge draws a Moth to light a flame.
A Squire escorts a project there on time.
Mowbray makes things work, reflective art,
and Muckles give their Gill to play her part.
Finn gives arts a true foundation stone,
whilst Buchan crosses oceans to find song.
Bailey excites the arts by sitting in a chair:
If it’s not Tim, Sir Ian’s sitting there.
John leads the march towards the day of light,
with Rami using biscuit tin as drum,
and Potts imprinting  messages in mind,
and Lindsay gamboling that the cause is true.
This much is true;
These few, these happy few,
this band, true friends, but missing one ,
and David, truth be told, the missing one,
It’s you.

If you couldn’t spot them then they are:

Mark Dowdall and The Banks Group
Dickinson Dees
Peter Milican
Python Properties
John Mowbray and Northumbrian Water
Gillian Tiplady
Silverlink
Gill Gilthorpe
Tim Bailey
John Squires
Sir Ian Wrigglesworth
Peter Moth and Tyne Tees Television
Lindsay Williams and P&G
Peter Buchan
Potts Print UK
The Sage Group
John Orchard
Rami Zack
Leo Finn and Northern Rock
Tony Pender/Ron Parsons and English Estates
David Faulkner

Not everyone could make it but here are 18 of them (or their stand ins!)

Image : Chris Owens

Great North Museum: Hancock

Founded by the business community and launched in 1991 we are celebrating 21 years helping our arts and business communities work together.

Join us to celebrate our achievements, enjoy an evening of good food and entertainment and raise money to support our role in developing a new fund for culture in the North East.

Tables of 10 cost £1000. Each table will be co-hosted by a personality from the cultural, media or arts world.

We hope to raise as much money as we can on the night by holding various fundraising activities, including a raffle & auction.

We also invite you to nominate your cultural champions from business who have shaped business engagement with the arts in the North East. We want your nominations for individuals, board members, companies, teams and outstanding partnerships.

Email nominations to: sponsors@communityfoundation.org.uk

“As part of my ongoing personal development, Culture Match: Board Bank scheme was an opportunity I felt I couldn’t let pass.

To be truthful I hadn’t heard of the scheme before a colleague mentioned it, but as I work in an organisation that uses cultural events to attract visitors to the city, I thought it offered me the perfect chance to not only further my own skills, but also learn more about our cultural sector.

I’m part of my company’s senior management team, working with our board on a regular basis, but in terms of taking the step to where I was supposed to suddenly feel my own education and experience would be valuable to another company, I wasn’t really sure how, or when, you went about doing that. The Board Bank helped with this immeasurably.

The scheme and the staff hand-held me from beginning to end. They met with me in the first instance to chat about what I do and what I’m interested in, helping me understand the skills I have that would add value to a cultural organisation and, importantly, the kind of organisation I might like to work with.

They provided me with board training, helped prepare me for interviews and generally provided support for me in what turned out to be a very easy and pain free way to become involved with a brand new organisation.

Since I’ve joined the board of Wunderbar, a biennial festival held across Newcastle and Gateshead, I’ve worked with a host of new colleagues, met a lot of new people and have really enjoyed my involvement in something that was certainly a little out of my comfort zone to begin with. I’ve also continued to use the networking opportunities the scheme offers and on the whole would have to say that I definitely made the right decision to become involved.” Steven Gibson, NewcastleGateshead Initiative

If you are interested in joining a not for profit board through the Culture Match: Board Bank programme call Ellie on 0191 222 0945 or email et@communityfoundation.org.uk 

Figures from a handful of businesses from across the north on sponsorship/partnership budget planning showed the market place is still very open and warm to partnerships with arts & culture:

• 66% said budgets for this year have stayed the same as last year. 25% said budgets increased this year. Less than 10% said budgets decreased.
• 75% said their investment was a Sponsorship. 50% said their investment covered CSR, Community Engagement and Staff Engagement.
• Obviously most commented that the more boxes that were ticked, the more value for money attained.

The panel Andrew Harvey, Dickinson Dees and Gerald Jennings, Land Securities shared their top tips on successfully getting and managing corporate support: 

• First meeting should be about fact finding and building relationships.  “We want to co-create a partnership.”
• It is critical to do in-depth research. Help us to help you think about what we would want from a partnership.
• Understand where the budget is held and when it is set. Today marketing budgets are not separated into Press/TV/adverts etc. They are media neutral which means the potential budget is much bigger. The big sums of money are now available for compelling cases. Don’t assume you are competing for a slice of the arts sponsorship cake.
• Panellists say they would rather talk money sooner than later and are looking to see if the proposed price reflects good value.
• We can engage with the community and be a good citizen through arts and culture.
• Match funding schemes are attractive because they can leverage other funding to organisations. WARNING: The private sector can lose patience if projects get tied up in bureaucracy. 
• Your most powerful sell is creativity. How can we use that creativity for our staff, business etc

If you need support and training on approaching business partnerships get in touch with us about our consultancy services.

Ideas, solutions and learning for the current climate

For arts fundraisers, marketing and campaign directors and board members

Wednesday 2 November, 10am-4.30pm

Howard Assembly Room, Opera North, 46 New Briggate, Leeds, LS1 6NU

Cost: £50, to book email kathryn@communityfoundation.org.uk

10.00am – Arrival – Coffee, tea and networking

10.30am – Welcome

Jim Tough, Regional Director of Arts Council England

Adam Lopardo, Director of Sponsors Club, Richard Brown, Director of Yorkshire & Humberside Business in the Arts, and Viv Tyler, Manager of Business in the Arts:North West.

10.45am – What’s the motivation? – Finding, informing and retaining donors

How can you find high net worth individuals? How and why did donors start to give? Inspiring the next generation to give. Why choose the arts? Are philanthropy and tax breaks closely tied?

The panel will include:

Sally Anne Greenfield – Chief Executive Leeds Community Foundation

Keith Madeley – Chair of the Yorkshire Society, Community Partnership Solutions Ltd and Prince’s Trust (Yorkshire & Humber)

Sue Wilson -

11.45pm – Crowdfunding

Adam Lopardo will give a picture of the state of crowdfunding including amounts raised, average donation and hints and tips from a range of crowdfunding sites.

12.00pm – New business models – Is there anything left to sell?

Where to focus your limited resources, new investment ideas, collaborative working, what to do if you have no venue or don’t sell tickets, turning other staff into fundraisers.

The panel will include:

Paul Smith – Executive Director Liverpool Biennial and LARC – Liverpool Arts Regeneration Committee

Keith Evans – Managing Director Cida The Creativity and Innovation Company

1.00pm – Lunch

2.00pm – What is ‘Sponsorship’ today – Corporate giving in 2011/12 and beyond

The session will begin with the results of a brief survey of North businesses. This will be followed by a discussion with the decision makers at businesses sharing how their companies approach involvement with the arts today.

The panel will include:

Caroline Darnbrook – Head of Customer Insight & Brand National Australia Group

Andrew Harvey – Business Development & Communications Director Dickinson Dees

Gerald Jennings – Portfolio Director, Land Securities

3.00pm – Governance – the good, the bad and the absent

Responding to the best and worst that the arts experience with their Boards; does the changing environment mean there are changes needed in governance too? Presented by Viv Tyler

3.45pm – Round up of the day and the chance to network

4.15pm – Close

Firstly, the Mad Chatters Tea party where arts members had the opportunity to meet individuals from across the professional services sector at Seven Stories. Then we hosted an ‘art valuing’ quiz at NewcastleGateshead Art Fair for our business members. The third event is open to all and takes place on 30^th November, details below.

We received supportive feedback to continue these events. Senior representatives and employers who attended the Mad Chatters valued the opportunity for their staff to meet arts professionals. A number of attendees to the NewcastleGateshead Art Fair event returned to the fair over the weekend and purchased art.

The events are designed to help make those initial connections. It can take between 1 and 2 years to successfully manage a contact into a donor or to develop a creative partnership with a business. We know putting you in a room with people is only the first step so watch this blog for our top tips in managing a new contact.  

The next event in this series brings all the professional networks together to a ‘Sing for your Supper’ Networking Event on the 30th November 6pm at RMT offices in Gosforth. The event will include networking, a singing workshop and Fish & Chips. Tickets cost £25 to confirm your place email alison@exceptional-networking.co.uk

Chances are you will interact with people and companies on Facebook and/or Twitter. (For those that don’t, this is a good place to start.) But what if they don’t work for you? Maybe you don’t agree with Facebooks privacy policy, and you’ve just got too much to say than will fit on a tweet.

Us peeps at Sponsors Club are really interested in the world of social media, at the moment we are checking out loads of new platforms. Hopefully that is great for you too as you’ll be able to connect with us in the way that you would prefer!

We are currently checking out Diaspora, Google+ and Pinterest and would love to know what you think of them, and the more established platforms.  (If you would like an invitation to any of these email kathryn@communityfoundation.org.uk)

But you can also get us on:

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn

You can comment on this blog post below -

Or send us a good old-fashioned email, sponsors@communityfoundation.org.uk

Also, we  still answer the telephone too believe it or not! 0191 222 0945

Friday 30^th September 8.30-10.00am

The Sage Gateshead (as part of the Newcastle Gateshead Art Fair)

Join us for breakfast for a structured networking session with our partners Exceptional Networking who will be bringing along their own members from across the professional and manufacturing services. There will be interactive activities, a chance to browse the art fair and tickets to return to the fair at your leisure. Please email Kathryn for more information and to book.

Social Media Presence:

The Sponsors Club has had a presence on social media sites for some time. Please do follow us or like us or simply browse us! We welcome comments on our Facebook and flickr pages and are happy to chat on twitter. If you have activities you want us to promote too, we’re happy to, just let us know.

You can find us here:

Twitter - @sponsorsclub

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/sponsorsclub

Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/sponsorsclub/

Call for content:

Linked to the request above please let us know anything you want us to promote or we can write a case study about. We are increasing our blogging and OPR activity and we want to promote our members in that as much as we can. Got a great story, lets us know! Got great images you can share with us?

*The following is only open to Business members of The Sponsors Club, to become a member, please email Adam for more information*

VIP Opening of the NewcastleGateshead Art Fair

Thursday 29 September

The Sage Gateshead

If you can’t join us for the networking event but want to attend the Fair then don’t worry we have a number of opportunities for both you and your staff to attend. We have a limited amount of VIP tickets for the preview opening of the fair. The ticket is for you and a guest and includes drinks. The tickets is valid should you wish to return on subsequent days. We also have general tickets to the fair should you wish to offer them out to your staff.

Please let Kathryn know by Friday 16 September how many tickets (VIP or general) you would like for staff.

This year we will be hosted by Opera North in Leeds on the 2^nd November 10am – 4pm. Following the success of last year’s event you have been informing the content of this meeting through our survey – thank you. A full programme will be announced shortly. Delegate Cost: £50. If you would like to discuss grants to attend please give us call or drop us an email we do not want the cost to be a barrier to attend. Email Kathryn to book – kathryn@communityfoundation.org.uk

Social Media Presence: Call for Content

Post up-coming events, business opportunities and information on our facebook wall or send us pictures and we will post them on our flickr pages. Help us to build up content and we will drive the business community and individuals to read your news. We are also increasing our blogging and online PR activity and we want to promote our members. Please keep this in mind and send us your campaign news, stories and pictures.

Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/sponsorsclub Flickr – http://www.flickr.com/photos/sponsorsclub

Recent Tweets by @sponsorsclub

-       ‘So, did you grab the free e-book version of #twitterforgood? Be interesting to hear what you think of it’

-       ‘Article in The Journal on Arts philanthropy with quotes from Adam, reference to @arts_business and @WeDidThisUK http://bit.ly/pag4p1‘

-       ‘Your chance to own a famous piece of Newcastle urban art: http://ow.ly/6lxUR’

Funding News:

• The first Santander Social Enterprise Development Award programme is now open at Community Foundation for Tyne and Wear and Northumberland. The deadline is 30^th September. The award aims to support social enterprises and Community Interest Companies looking to grow their business and improve their local community. For full application guidelines visit Community Foundation website

• Northern Rock Foundation has launched a new grant fund called the Fresh Ideas Fund. The £0.5m fund will help voluntary organisations and social enterprises in the North East and Cumbria, to develop their best and most enterprising ideas to the point where they are ready for investment. Grants of up to £50,000 will be awarded to establish whether ideas are feasible. Successful applicants also receive expert help and guidance to ensure their proposals are developed thoroughly.

Our News:

• We are pleased to welcome Potts Print UK www.potts.co.uk  as new business members.

• The following board bank matches were made; Teresa Davidson of Ward Hadaway placed on Beamish Museum Development Board, Bill Goodwin of Ward Hadaway placed on Designed and Made Board, Steven Gibson of NGI placed on Wunderbar Festival board, Paula Park of Business & Decision placed on Bridge+Tunnel board.  Keep us updated with your board development needs.

• Last month we invited you to attend a Mad Chatters Tea Party at Seven Stories with business individuals from the Institute for Chartered Accountants England and Wales and Exceptional Networking. The event was designed to give you the opportunity to test your networking skills and make new contacts. Thank you to all who attended. Your feedback will inform how we develop these events.

But did you know that The Sponsors Club help run a art prize in the North East for a local bank? The Newcastle Building Society Student Art Prize is now in it’s third year and entries for this year have just been shortlisted.

Students on a degree course studying Fine Art at Newcastle and Northumbria Universities and those in their foundation years at Tyne Met and Newcastle Colleges are invited to submit art works for consideration in March for a £500 first prize.

Maybe you don’t have €150,000 to spend but if you would like to engage with the arts in a new way, helping local artists but also getting some great art for your office (not to mention the warm fuzzy feeling) why not give us a ring to see if we can help?

Adam – al@communityfoundation.org.uk 0191 2220945