Communications plan for the World Heritage Center of Central Finland: What type of online and offline communications encourages potential donators to provide monetary support for the project?

Abstract

Although cultural heritage is all around us and an inseparable part of us, yet receiving funding to its preservation remains as a challenge for some of the organizations conserving it. The Foundation of Petäjävesi Old Church in co-operation with the National Land Survey of Finland is pursuing to build a World Heritage Center of Central Finland which would retain the cultural legacy of Central Finland for future generations. This project requires funding in order to executed. The main objective was to discover what type of online and offline communications encourages potential donators to provide financial support for the construction project. Qualitative research method was utilized by conducting semi-structured interviews with themes of cultural heritage, responsibility communications and fundraising for cultural heritage. A thematic analysis under these themes was performed. The process led to a discovery where the educational and overall value of cultural heritage and communication methods, such as different events and activities and media content with emotive, concrete and storytelling content should be implemented. The results revealed different fundraising methods where easiness and events played a key role. These methods were included in the communications plan and provided concrete actions which the Foundation of Petäjävesi Old Church can utilize in the pursuit of receiving funding for their cause and create a personal attachment of the potential donators to their cause.