What can Creative Councils learn from the RNLI..?

The RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Association) was originally a 'provided service' in the model of most statutory bodies. In most other countries where they exist, they are like the coastguard paid for out of taxpayers money - yet in the UK it is wholly run on public donations.

So the question is: how can councils and other public bodies brand themselves as a mixed income model? Can they increase their perceived value and their income at the same time..?
(The alternative model would be the post office, running commercially with a public subsidy..)

So what's special about the RNLI? Lifeboat crew members are unpaid volunteers, while lifeguards are paid by the appropriate town or city council and RNLI provides their equipment and training. Its is also ranked number 1 in a Third Sector list of charity reputations. They are a big organisation, operating 444 lifeboats across the UK. They rescue an average of 22 people every day. They run an annual budget of £147.7 million.

So the unanswered question is "why do people value this over ambulances, or bin men, or anything else" - and how can other services get a piece of the action..?