How can charities or social enterprise that rely on visitor income survive lockdown?

As a recent article by Jonathan Morrison in the Times eloquently points out, heritage and other attractions that rely on visitors for income are facing an existential threat from lockdown and the likely continuation of social distancing restrictions for many months to come. Many such charities and social enterprises experience highly seasonal income patterns and restrictions over the usually busy summer will be crippling.

With limited support available from Government, there is a huge risk not only to survival of these organisations but also that many historic and cultural treasures will be endangered as a result.

While we don’t claim to be experts in the operational complexities of these sectors, we and our associate Bryan Thomas of CPB Projects have given this challenge a little thought and would like to share a few initial ideas that a charity or social enterprise reliant on footfall to drive its income could consider implementing to help stay afloat during and beyond lock down:

• Can you “bank” future demand through ticketing incentives; many businesses forward book in ways that recognise full take-up will not materialise e.g. gym memberships or annual passes for attractions? Could you introduce such approaches to generate income now, even if it’s generating income from next year’s potential visitors (remember, maintaining positive cashflow is critical to any organisation’s survival). Are there other offers or incentives you could deploy to sustain interest and generate cashflow. You’ll almost certainly need a good customer relationship management database to implement these effectively, including ensuring you can reach previous visitors/supporters with any offers you make. Volunteers might be able to help with this. You should also consider what might happen if take-up proves more than you have capacity to accommodate and build in some terms and conditions for that eventuality.

• Can you virtualise your visitor experience; what elements of your collection, site/venue or other visitor experiences could be offered on-line? For example, Heritage Alliance member Arcade are offering free support to other Heritage Alliance members to create virtual exhibitions and many Universities are running virtual open days this year. Volunteers (or staff, if you can afford to pay them) could help create your virtual offer, for example if some could access your site they could digitise (e.g. photograph/video) exhibits etc. Others could curate the online experience, and others may be able to help with marketing or other specialist roles. Like many theatres are already doing, virtual offers could be combined with fundraising. Your free online experience could be punctuated with prominent appeals at key points in the visitors’ journey asking them for donations or to “pay what you think it is worth”.

• Could you collaborate with other complementary and like minded organisations to enrich your collective offers and reach more potential “visitors” and supporters?

The key advantage of approaches like these is not only in generating income and/or cashflow but also in maintaining and raising awareness of your attraction/offer in a positive way. Moreover, they offer the prospect of supportIng “visitors” while restrictions remain in place by offering them interesting experiences they can enjoy from their home; with tangible mental health benefits.

You should also consider ways to sustain team spirit and engagement amongst staff and volunteers (within furlough rules where applicable), including whether furloughed staff could engage in “furlough swap” volunteering to help other sites/venues/attractions while staff from those organisations help you with implementing your ideas? After all, staff have a vested interest in securing your organisation’s future and they are very likely to support the values and purpose of the other like-minded organisation they would volunteer to help, as well as potentially learning new skills they can bring back to your organisation when they return to work.

We hope these musings help stimulate creative thinking for your charity or social enterprise. If you would like to share your ideas on this subject, please use the comments facility to do so.

If you would welcome a conversation about any of the reflections in this blog please contact us at julian@almondtreeconsulting.co.uk or bryan.thomas@cpbprojects.co.uk