Hello everyone!
My name is Anna Maria and I’m thrilled to introduce myself, Katie and Maria as the co-chairs of the EU Development and Fundraising Tessitura Community. It’s such a great time to be involved in the community and we hope to organise many opportunities for fundraisers to connect and share knowledge, best practice and the amazing things they are doing at their organisations. Below is a little bit about our background and involvement with Tessitura.
Anna Maria Foster - Membership and Gift Aid Manager – National Portrait Gallery
I have worked at the National Portrait Gallery in London (UK) in different roles since 2005. I’ve been the lead for Membership since 2015 and my role focusses on income generation, by creating many opportunities to attract and retain members, as well as encouraging secondary spend. I also look after Gift Aid on membership and exhibition tickets. As I was involved with the implementation of Tessitura back in 2015 and the TNew customisation for Direct Debits, I have had the chance to learn more about the system beyond Membership. Since then I’ve always been seeking opportunities to learn from peers but also happy to speak to organisations who are new to Tessitura.
The Gallery has recently reopened after a 3 years redevelopment and I’m really excited about the opportunities that this will bring for Membership and fundraising, so I’m hoping to make the most of the enhanced features for Membership in v16 that will help making our members experience even better.
Katie Grundy – Membership Manager – The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
I began my career in Membership back in 2017 when I joined The Fitzwilliam Museum’s Development Team as a part time Membership Administrator. Having spent my previous career in Field Sales and Sales Development I was completely new to the Arts and Cultural sector and the world of membership but I guess I had transferable skills.
In my current role, I manage the Membership and Individual Giving Team that looks after our Friends of the Fitzwilliam Museum and our Patrons – The Marlay Group. The Fitzwilliam Museum is part of the University of Cambridge Museums Consortium (UCM) and is the arts and antiquities museum attached to the History of Art Department. We welcome around 400,000 visitors a year with free admission and free exhibitions. The Museum migrated over to Tessitura in the depths of the pandemic in 2020. We have just implemented Direct Debits and launched new membership cards with an integrated QR code for our Friends, and we will be launching both initiatives for our Marlay Group in the autumn.
I am very much looking forward to working with my co-chairs Anna Maria and Maria and meeting more members of the Tessitura community.
Maria Gimlick - Legacy and Campaigns Officer - Royal Academy of Arts.
Hello Fundraisers! My role sits in the Major Gifts Department, part of a wider Development group. Tessitura is our leading CRM at the Academy. I have used it for four years in various departments, including membership and ticketing.
I look forward to meeting you all and growing this group together. I believe it will be an excellent opportunity for us to explore and learn from one another, especially as many of us embark on v16!
We hope to meet many of you in person but in the meantime if you have any suggestions for topics you would like to discuss at future meetings please let us know. We are currently planning a meeting for early autumn so please keep an eye on our posts!
All our best wishes,
Anna Maria, Katie & Maria