A private function

While the argument for public funding of the arts has been won, with all political parties supporting public investment (although, no doubt, the debate can still rage over the level of that investment), private giving is the new mantra for all political parties. Not just for arts funding either: all parties are obsessed with how to continue levels of investment in public goods and services at a time of declining tax receipts and economic slowdown. In a globally competitive market, Government can no longer rely on a purely ‘tax and spend’ economic model, and alternative sources of funding must be sought. It was against this backdrop that the National Campaign for the Arts (NCA) ran a ‘snapshot’ poll of its membership about levels of confidence in fundraising, particularly private giving. The poll was conducted in early June 2008, a period when the scale of the economic downturn was becoming more apparent and fundraisers might expect a more challenging environment. We wanted to know whether members were worried about the potential impact on their fundraising targets, and to see how robust the sector might be in withstanding any decline in levels of private giving.

The results highlighted the following:
• That as many respondents were confident of meeting their fundraising targets as were not;
• 80% of respondents claimed Gift Aid on donations;
• Of the 20% who did not use Gift Aid, 50% claimed that it was because they were ineligible, and 42% pointed to operational and administrative reasons;
• Respondents with higher levels of private funding were more likely to feel vulnerable than those with higher levels of public funding;
• That failure to meet private fundraising income targets would have a significant impact on respondents’ ability to operate.

One of the more surprising findings was that gloomy reports of the pending economic crisis had an overall neutral impact on the arts sector’s confidence levels, with as many respondents feeling confident of meeting their fundraising targets as not. It was even more telling that, although the economic situation featured highly as a reason for those who were not confident of meeting their targets, the majority cited mainly operational and organisational reasons, highlighting a resource and capability issue within the sector.

Those who were confident in meeting their targets demonstrated the power and the value of meticulous planning and research, and of building good, personal relationships with their donors. This proves the point that personal cultivation, and having good systems in place to support this, is fundamental to successful fundraising.

The feedback on Gift Aid showed that a significant minority are still not making use of this opportunity. This again came back to administrative issues, with many respondents reflecting concerns that the system was burdensome and complicated to administer, particularly for small organisations. There are some lessons to be drawn on the way guidance is drafted, and the need for the system to be made simpler.

Finally, 55% of respondents said that not meeting their targets would have an impact on their ability to operate, with additional, added-value work such as educational, outreach or access programmes most at risk, as reduced income would force organisations to cut back to their core remit. However, a surprisingly large minority (45%) said there would be no impact on their operations. Of this 45%, 30% were not reliant on fundraised-income to operate, and 13% stated that they fundraised for additional activity not essential to operations.

In conclusion, the robustness of the sector hinged on the degree to which organisations were in receipt of public funding. The higher the reliance on private funding to deliver its remit, the more vulnerable an organisation felt to economic change. This raises serious challenges for politicians of all hues, when looking to encourage private giving to the arts.