Uplift Earned Income

Embrace entrepreneurship in arts and culture

Approach income generation in new ways

Uplift Earned Income

2025 Programme - Applications Now Open

At the heart of Uplift Earned Income is a 2-day residential course hosted at the University of Warwick 8-9 May 2025. Switch off from the day-to-day on the Warwick Business School campus and start to transform your earned income strategy.

Pre-and-post-residential activities take place online, through Zoom and a library of on-demand content.

Participants in this programme should leave with:

  • A new earned income strategy,  aligned to wider plans
  • A realistic, actionable plan for delivery, starting with a manageable experiment
  • A cohort of people who will support each other as a network
  • Access to an expert coach to help turn theory into reality.

Before the course:

Before taking part in the residential course, we will hold a Welcome to Uplift Zoom session (w/c 28 April), which will:

  • Allow the group an opportunity to introduce each other and begin to establish rapport as a group and familiarity with the delivery team and tutors
  • Introduce the initial high-level concept of the four domains of earned income growth
  • Encourage participants to start to think about approaches to strategy development and provide tools to support embed and encourage change

We’ll also ask you to undertake a short diagnostic exercise starting with an exercise to imagine a 10-star Experience  at your organisation.

The diagnostic will help you to think about:

  • Your priorities for earned income
  • Current sources, contribution and established practices
  • Practicalities of change. How is your organisation already changing? What’s the operational and leadership capacity? How mentally resilient are your team right now?
  • Your own strengths and skills

At this stage

You'll start to define the change you want to see, what's stopping you from getting there, and where your natural strengths lie.

The Warwick Residential

The University of Warwick campus is designed with access in mind. Please see their website for more information.  If you have any questions about taking part, or if there are adjustments you would like us to make, we are happy to assist. Please contact robin@baker-richards.com

The nearest railway station is Coventry. For London-based participants, trains from Euston take just over an hour and the University of Warwick campus is a short taxi ride from there. There is free car parking on-site.

Day 1

Thursday 8 May

Audiences

  • Audiences, pricing and loyalty – exploring your organisation’s price proposition.
  • Where is the value you offer, and how does pricing and demand creation currently work?
  • What are the most powerful levers you already control, for growing earned income?

Earned Income Strategy

  • Brand and organisational storytelling.
  • How earned income fits with audience development strategy.
  • Mission-based earned income vs mission creep.
  • Prioritising risk vs reward.
  • A foundation of mental resilience.

Pre-Dinner Speaker & Evening Meal

  • Break bread and get to know your cohort of peers better.

Day 2

Friday 9 May

Revenues

  • Case studies in revenue diversification including retail, licensing, space hire & filming, commercial & rental property, food & beverage and experiences.
  • Cost and complexity of set up, the margin, and the earning potential
  • Factors for success.

From half-cooked to fully baked

  • Identify a real change which you will deliver with the support of Uplift Earned Income mentors and your peer group.
  • Share your pitch and receive feedback
  • Plan next steps

At this stage

You'll leave the residential ready to create the outline of your earned income strategy, and with a practical experiment for change in mind, inspired by the ideas of others. You'll have identified courses to take on the Cultural Enterprises Academy.

Make it real:

Create your commercial strategy and receive expert feedback, execute your experiment and overcome barriers, and be inspired by the Cultural Enterprises Academy

There will be two further sessions delivered by Zoom for the cohort to check-in with each other and advance earned income skills.

  • Session 1 (w/c 19 May): A deeper dive into effective commercial strategy.
  • Session 2 (w/c 9 June): Tackling barriers and blockers to create opportunities and progress.

Each participant will be matched with a mentor from the delivery team, to work with them for approx. 6 weeks after the residential. You’ll receive two online coaching sessions for you to discuss the change you’re trying to create in a confidential, enabling environment.  You’ll be paired with the mentor who best fits your priorities.

At this stage

You'll be growing earned income and monitoring the results. You'll have clear priorities, a plan for more change and a formula to manage it. You'll be checking in with your peers as well as receiving expert advice from mentors.

Keep the inspiration coming

Participants will also have a year’s access to the Cultural Enterprises Academy from the Association for Cultural Enterprises. This online learning resource is packed with tutorial videos for growing earned income and providing inspiration for revenue diversification. You can explore the academy at your own pace.

What our 2024 participants thought

It was incredible. Packed. Informative. Great group. Lovely setting. Excellent level of enthusiasm maintained! Incredible value for money.
Elevate Square

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Uplift 24 Participant

What an inspiration, I walked away ready to write some real tangible strategies for the future of our cultural venues. Strong experienced delivery from peers who I respect and who offered the same respect in turn left me feeling empowered with self-belief to build on ideas.
Elevate Square

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Uplift 24 Participant

I loved having the space to think strategically and use learnings from case studies and theory to try and apply the principals in practice.
Elevate Square

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Uplift 24 Participant

This is an incredibly rich course. It offers invaluable insights for producers and venues (and allowed us to get under each other's commercial skins!). Highly recommended jumping off point for thinking afresh about getting your hands on the resource that will make things you care about happen. Now the hard work begins!
Elevate Square

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Uplift 24 Participant

I was incredibly impressed by the breadth of material covered, and even more so by the quantity of further opportunities for development.
Elevate Square

Anonymised

Uplift 24 Participant