Toolbox | 01 Take Off | 06 Funding Streams

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Alternative Revenue Streams

Rent out your space
Rent out your space to artists
Share your space with a non-profit organisation

Rent out your space
If your space is located in a city centre, you can make some
profit on it outside opening hours. Team up with a local
restaurant or coffee shop and provide an event space. Walk
around your neighbourhood and offer your space to nearby
offices to host dinners or smaller events, ideally with a
guided tour of the current exhibition. A lot of people outside
the art industry rarely get to experience a private tour in a
gallery, let alone one with a dinner experience. you can
invite the artist for an even more intriguing evening. Make
sure you charge a fee sufficient enough to earn a profit. This
alternative should not cause a lot of extra work for you and
your team without any revenue in advance.
Rent out your space to artists
Some galleries have periods where they offer their space to
artists not associated with the gallery to earn some extra
revenue. You might for example offer your location to an
artist who wants to create an exhibition for two weeks and
simply needs a space. This might cover your cost for a whole
month. This type of agreement can be lucrative if you have an
open slot with no prospect of filling it. An agreement like
this can vary in scope. You can offer your space. That is it
you leave the keys with the artist and leave and come back
once their exhibition is done. You might also offer to cover
the opening hours with staff. Or to assist with the
installation and de-installation. You can offer additional
services like marketing and invitations. The more you provide
the more you charge.

! A warning will come with this type of deal. Since you do not
have any influence on what is being exhibited in your space
and if it does not cohere with your vision and aesthetics it
can potentially harm your gallery’s reputation.
Share your space
Let’s say that your business is open Thursday – Sunday 12-18.
This means you have a closed and empty space on Monday,
Tuesday, Wednesday AND every day of the week after 18.00. If
you know an existing organisation that is looking for a space,
it might be an office space or perhaps a communal space for
gathering people from your neighbourhood. Why not go together
and split the rent?

Another alternative is to create a non-profit organisation
alongside your commercial business. It might be a residency
programme training and mentoring emerging artists. This way
you have two organisations. One that is commercial and can
bring in some revenue through sales. The other can allow you
to apply for a whole range of funding that can help support
with the rent, electricity, heating bills etc.

Applying for Funds

There are a million ways to fund your project. One is property
investment which you can read more about in this section.

You can also contact your local community / municipality / city / government and learn if there are funds available for start-up/cultural/communal ventures and ask what the requirements are to be eligible for that particular fund.

As a general rule when applying for funds, you need to have a
clear mission, vision and plan for your company and
specifically what you will be using the money for. A detailed
budget is also often required. We are working on creating an
overview of funds available in Europe to begin with.
It is an open document, please feel free to add here.

Property supporting the Arts: Venue for hire

Existing models for creating in-house funding streams

Munnitising space
1. Licensing catering operations
2. Venue for hire – exhibitions
3. Performance
4. Film / neighborhood cinemas
5. Events
Property refurbishment and leaseholds
- Increasing the value of property in exchange for tenancy
- Creating relationships with landlords, sharing risk
- Managing residential and commercial lettings to subsidise space
- Feeding a loan through property rentals
Charity registration
- Artists as property managers
- Community outreach
- Rates relief in the UK
- National and International arts funding resources

‘There is no art without administration”

Licensing catering operations

The service industry is notoriously risky, with a fail rate that
should turn anyone off. But there is hope. With a shared risk model
between your XYZ management and an auxiliary catering operation who
pays a nominal license fee to operate on the premises, you can share the proverbial load and creat a sustainable model.

XYZ management

Here are some tips that will insure you do not over stretch your
resources and build up irreversible debt. Please take these as
non-negotiable or you will be watching your catering operation
struggle in no time at all.

Allocate sufficient space for a minimum of 50 covers.
Integrate industrial ventilation into your startup budget
Consider a location with good footfall or near a public
transport hub.

Catering licensee

Please be aware that all licensees will arrive with their own ideas
and they will need to; passion and vision are crucial resources when dealing with the obstacles of starting up. You will have to make sure that they are aware of a legacy of experience in this toolbox, and prevent some critical mistakes.

Focus your budget on basic catering fixtures and fittings, do
not spend a penny on extravagant themes or bespoke fabrications
and high end decor. You are in a gallery environment, the
aesthetics are constantly shifting and this is a positive USP
for the catering operation, not to mention a massive saving.
Do not over staff. Keep your menu simple and staff core. This
will allow you to pay them more and create a tight team able to
manage complex situations as a family nb. Chef, sous chef and
one KP, a front of house and one or two wait staff..
Do not be open every day, establish your quiet periods quickly
or better in advance and close. You will avoid waste and
hemorrhaging staff wages into an empty space.
Define your market before you commit. Check the area
forensically and look at successful restaurants or venues. They
are already doing your demographics for you. You are here to
create a successful business, not shoehorn your ideas into an
already established community. Your pride in quality of
service, but cater for your customer. Once you have your repeat
customer base, you can then challenge their ideas with new and
experimental menus and CTA’s.

As XYZ management you will be the landlord and the conditions of your license are yours to draft. You will need a notary or solicitor to make sure a letter of agreement is legally binding and sufficiently protects both parties, should either fall into trouble. Points to make sure are included in your letter of agreement (see: ‘legal / contracts’ in the XYZ toolbox):

Three – five year lease with twelve month review and six month
break clause for XYZ.
All safety certificates to be supplied by the licensee and on
an annual service basis.
All employee resumes to be provided to XYZ management in
advance of opening.
The letter of agreement (LoA) must state that the license is
permission to operate on the premises, but does not give the
catering operation any rights of tenure. The licensee is
effectively a client of XYZ and guest of the organisation.
XYZ respects the practices of the licensee and will not
intervene in day to day operations unless there is a conflict
of interest or criminal activities are suspected.
The licensee is entitled to use the allocated (plan provided)
floor space only, the walls will be reserved for exhibition of
artists work throughout the year. XYZ retains all curatorial
privileges.
XYZ will require one evening per month for gallery activities
eg. Private views or associated events and will insure that the
license is required as in-house catering, either for beverages
or food or both.