The Secret Life of The Pencil in aid of Children in Crisis: a case study
Howard Lake | 21 July 2015 | News
The Secret Life of the Pencil exhibition and auction raised £34,000 for Children in Crisis this year. Joe Spikes and Mike Tinney told UK Fundraising how it worked.
It all started with a casual conversation one evening around three years ago between Children in Crisis’s Joe Spikes and a personal friend, Mike Tinney.
Mike, a photographer, had been working on a venture called The Secret Life of the Pencil with long-time friend and industrial designer Alex Hammond. The project aimed to explore the finer details of pencils belonging to some of the world’s top creative individuals, with the underlying theme of accessibility to creativity.
By coincidence Children in Crisis, which protects and educates disadvantaged children in countries affected by conflict, uses a pencil as its logo, believing that by placing a pencil in a child’s hand and allowing them their basic right to education, huge potential can be unleashed. Joe and Mike immediately saw the synergy between Children in Crisis and the project, which was already looking for a charity to support.
Sir Paul Smith and David Bailey at The Secret Life of the Pencil
The Secret Life of the Pencil is a collection of photographs of pencils belonging to top creative people, documenting them in remarkable detail and revealing an insight into their users. Contributors were drawn from contacts of Mike and Alex and of Children in Crisis and include a wide range of professional people who have defined themselves and their craft with the help of the modest stylus: people such as David Bailey, Stephen Fry, Anish Kapoor, Tom Dixon, Alexander McCall Smith and importantly Sir Paul Smith – whose enthusiasm and support led to a special exhibition of the photographs at his flagship shop in London’s West End.
What income did Children in Crisis receive?
At the Secret Life of the Pencil exhibition
Children in Crisis negotiated with Mike and Alex regarding the contribution from:
• profits to the charity
• a share from poster sales, sales of limited edition prints
• the sale of around fifteen special auction pieces which included the actual pencil photographed.
In order to maximise the fundraising potential of the project and extend its reach beyond the UK to overseas supporters, Children in Crisis used a mix of mechanisms and embraced the opportunity to go more digital. Hence the combination of a ‘virtual’ auction for the special, one-off auction pieces via the global online platform, Paddle8; selling limited edition prints online via the Secret Life of the Pencil website; and selling posters in-store at Paul Smith’s west London shop.
Posters and prints have also provided a way of extending the fundraising ‘lifetime’ of the project beyond the one-off exhibition, offering ongoing funds for the charity.
Online auction
Nick Park’s design
The auction was a silent one and ran online for two weeks while the exhibition in London took place; it culminated in an event held by Children in Crisis for its patrons and friends. In all, around £34,000 was generated from the exhibition and auction and, post-auction, more from sales of prints and posters.
Koy Thomson, chief executive of Children in Crisis, believes that the longevity of the project stems not only from fundraising mechanisms like sales of posters and prints but also because the Secret Life of the Pencil as a project resonates so well with the organisation’s messaging and logo.
He said:
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“It means that collaboration can extend into the future. The pencil has simplicity and a strong association with education. It’s a simple item used by everyone, everywhere. It’s very powerful.”
He’s hoping and expecting that the project will develop further, with other big names being invited to contribute and the exhibition moving further afield both in the UK and abroad.
Anish Kapoor’s design
More fundraising opportunities are in discussion, including a book, and because the project is self-funding, Mike and Alex will be able to take more photographs to add to the collection. All the original auction items were sold.
Koy added:
“The photographs are fantastic pieces of art. When people see them in person, they understand that. For instance, they see that by buying Anish Kapoor’s photograph with his – sculpted – pencil, they’re buying an original artwork by him.”
The association with Sir Paul Smith and the Paul Smith brand, according to Joe Spikes, brought not only a link with a powerful brand, but the great location of its exhibition space and the additional level of promotion offered by the company. Many of the contributors also put their weight behind it. Stephen Fry, for example, tweeted to his 10.5 million followers. Ian Callum, Director of Design for Jaguar Cars, pointed out that his pencil sketched the actual picture of the next generation of Jaguar cars.
Tom Dixon with his design
Collaboration has been the key to success, said Koy Thomson, and Children in Crisis was very grateful to Alex Hammond and Mike Tinney for the opportunity to work with The Secret Life of the Pencil.
“The project brings mutual benefit to the creators and the charity, while protecting the integrity of the art at its centre. In the long term, to get the most out of the project, we need to approach it collaboratively, too. We want to attract more contributors, develop new ideas around it, broaden the audience and give it more international reach.”
The project is currently looking for sponsors to help take the show to new audiences.
Koy concluded:
“So far the project has been great for cultivation of our supporters. We’re delighted with the initial results.”
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.