The Lighthouse Society
Giving money from enthusiasts, besides some shyness, leads to a more beautiful festival.
How do you ensure that you distinguish yourself as a festival, engage people, and remain financially healthy? How strange is it to receive money from donors and why would anyone want to donate to a festival? To find out, POST spoke with 'Chef Into The Great Wide Open' Ferry Roseboom and several donors, colloquially known as the Lighthouse Keepers.
DATE
30/1/2018
The Lighthouse Society
The Lighthouse Keepers are part of The Lighthouse Society, the name adopted by the proud group of donors of Into The Great Wide Open. A quick search on the internet yields the following definition: 'A lighthouse keeper is a person who operated the light of the lighthouse and also maintained it daily. This involved cleaning the windows, lenses, lamps, and so on. With the first operating optics, he also had to wind up the weights that made the optics rotate. Due to the magnificent view, lighthouse keepers also served as watchmen.
‘Ons festival wordt ondersteund door een genootschap dat ons voorziet van raad, daad en een financiële donatie.’
Into The Great Wide Open also appreciates that the Lighthouse Society consists of a group of people who commit themselves to the festival for a longer period of time. People who feel good about the way the event comes together and what the festival stands for. That it is not just a very costly way to get tickets. Ferry: “The Lighthouse Society is a very important part of our foundation. Financially, of course, but mainly for support. It is nice to receive feedback and input, both for the things that can be improved or done differently, but certainly also for the things we do well. Positive and constructive criticism. This group of people is certainly not hired to provide us with pats on the back. It is especially nice to brainstorm with these relatively outside observers, who do have a very good understanding of the festival. At this moment, the group consists of a nice mix of people who have been Lighthouse Keepers for a longer time and fresh new blood. By getting to know the visitors who have been connected for a longer time better, you eventually know what you have in each other. This way, you can also engage them better for the 'advice and action' function because we also have a better picture of their personal talents, strengths, and motivations.”
Advice and action
To enhance this feeling of long-term commitment, gatherings are organized several times a year somewhere in the country to catch up with each other, network, share ideas, and discuss developments. As a Lighthouse Keeper, you are of course not obliged to attend, but the organization greatly appreciates it.
Both Fred and Luc regularly attend these gatherings. Fred: “The interaction at the gatherings is beautiful: we hear, see things, can contribute with tips. Moreover, it's simply fun and often useful. I meet nice music enthusiasts there, who also find it more important to do something good like supporting Into The Great Wide Open than to visit as many festivals as possible.”
For the organization, it is not always easy to give shape to the 'advisory and action function' of the society. Every donor joins for their own reason, although broadly speaking, three types of donors can be distinguished. There are companies and organizations that see it as sponsorship and like to associate themselves with the festival as entrepreneurs. In addition, there are visitors who, in exchange for the donation amount, have the assurance of tickets and have little interest in advising and the activities. Lastly, there is a small group of donors who have an active interest and want to take an extra step. This group appreciates the extras, enjoys seeing each other in Vlieland, and sometimes also elsewhere.
An example of a project initiated by the Lighthouse Society is organizing 'Tussendeurtje'. Here, festival visitors eat at the homes of Vlielanders with the aim of connecting festival goers to islanders and vice versa. This is something that is highly valued by the festival's organization. Originally, 'Tussendeurtje' was organized by Into The Great Wide Open itself, but it turned out to be unfeasible to include it. After it was removed from the programming in 2015, the Lighthouse Society successfully took it over in 2016, allowing them to have a concrete project with corresponding responsibility. In 2017, Tussendeurtje will take place again. Click here for more information.
The starting point is that the organization and design of the festival remain in the hands of the Into The Great Wide Open organization at all times. The society is solely for strengthening, and no activities or actions are undertaken that are not supported.
"I meet fun music enthusiasts there, who find it more important to do something good like supporting Into The Great Wide Open than to visit as many festivals as possible."
Into The Great Wide Open
Into The Great Wide Open is inextricably linked with Vlieland. Music is central, but it is particularly the context that makes the festival unique. Right in nature on perhaps the most beautiful Wadden island in the Netherlands. Surprising side programming, visual art, film, challenging children's activities, and plenty of peace and space to fully enjoy it. An intimate festival feeling and the ‘great wide open’. Moreover, the festival distinguishes itself through its social involvement, particularly in the field of sustainability. For example, there is collaboration with Lab Vlieland with the aim of minimizing the ecological footprint through a fossil-free Into The Great Wide Open. Unnecessary waste, bottled water, and disposable cups are also addressed. Thus, Into The Great Wide Open was the first major festival to provide visitors with free tap water and they led the way with significant energy-saving solutions such as connected generators. The transportation of all the artworks exhibited at the festival, along with a thousand liters of special beer and over five hundred liters of lemonade, has long been assisted by the wind through the Stichting Men who Sail, which promotes sustainable transport over water, and sails the freight to the festival.
To what extent do the location and this social involvement influence the reason for the lighthouse keepers to donate money? “The first time we went to Into The Great Wide Open, we found it such a fantastic festival, where we felt almost completely happy for a few days”, says Luc. “Beautiful music, beautiful art, beautiful people in an incredibly beautiful place. It’s not necessarily a conscious choice, but Into The Great Wide Open and Vlieland belong together, so in that sense it certainly plays a role.”
For Fred, the role of the festival is also important in his donation: “Into The Great Wide Open is very sympathetic. It does good things and the interaction with Vlieland as a location is beautiful. Organizing more sustainably is a nice starting point that I support. I wouldn't quickly make this choice for festivals like Lowlands, Pinkpop, Down The Rabbit Hole, Best Kept Secret. Those are festivals that go for the big event. Sympathy and making the world a bit more beautiful do not really seem to rank high there. Furthermore, we have grown from two nights to three nights and then to a week of camping thanks to Into The Great Wide Open. And then we took a seasonal spot at Stortemelk. In that sense, Vlieland is certainly decisive.”
Ferry thinks it’s a nice idea that people ‘give money’ because they support the ideals of the festival. “Every now and then, there’s a somewhat misplaced feeling of embarrassment about receiving money. That’s apparently human. But we don’t hold out our hands and we give a lot back. So I try to be proud of this diverse group, which reflects our visitors. It’s a bit odd to say, but I hope people give money because they feel we are doing meaningful things that deserve support. On one hand, we are a regular festival with good bands, where you can drink beer at the bar and dance. But at the edges of that festival, we also create things that you don’t see everywhere: art, an artist in residence, our sustainability projects, but also our children's activities in the Kolder. The money we receive from the Lighthouse Society is essentially just included in the budget, so everything comes from one account. But it’s nice to think that this amount is the cherry on top. We can do that extra children’s thing or that different artwork, which I think is wonderful.”
Good cause?
All in all, this private funding yields quite a lot of good, apart from a bit of reluctance. Since this year, the organization of Into The Great Wide Open also has ANBI status. An ANBI is a public benefit organization. An organization can only be an ANBI if it invests at least 90% of its efforts in the public interest. For the donors, this status also provides tax benefits. Ferry: “You can't really call us a charity, but we do mean well.”
"Of course, you can't really call us a charity, but we genuinely mean well."
And it is nice that that status indicates that we are of general utility." Additionally, it is different to receive money from people than from funds. "These are people of flesh and blood whom you encounter and also see walking around at our festival," he notes. "You feel responsible in a different way to provide accountability and justification. Especially because you meet them at the place where they donate the money and you see and hear one-on-one whether they are enjoying themselves. Now that I think about it, all festivals should do this, receiving money from individuals alongside funds and sponsorship, because it makes you more conscious as an organization about how you spend the money. You think about it differently, look through a different lens. This can only contribute to a more beautiful and better festival."
