Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company

Sanjivan Kohli of CEO, Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company, says:

“The artistic vision is the easy bit. Shobana herself has been providing that brilliantly for nearly 25 years. I was brought in a couple of years ago to translate the vision into a coherent three-year plan and strategy – but getting from there to a fundraising strategy was the hardest task of all.

“Our choice was either to take on a freelance fundraiser or to use the same budget for some long-term, sustainable strategic advice. Fortunately, we chose the latter – and More Partnership. Ironically, they turned out to be the consultants who helped us avoid being dependent on consultants!

“In the arts it’s tempting to feel a bit defeated by the financial climate, but Rachel [Hall] and colleagues were always upbeat, supportive and generous with their time and knowledge. From the start they understood the challenges of running a small arts organisation with limited resources. They just got to work identifying and researching prospects, setting goals, measuring progress – and played a key role in getting our first big donation (from the Garfield Weston Foundation). Somehow, they managed to change our entire internal mindset.

“When we finally had the strategy and the gift in place, it sent out a message to our stakeholders that we were making a big step change. It felt like a pivotal moment.

“Now we’ve got to the point where we have the strategy, we have the tools. But we wanted to keep More Partnership involved. Their culture of caring is helping us on our continuing journey.”