A cry often heard from arts organisations working on community-based projects is that sponsors are simply not interested in their work.
We assume that the corporate world is only interested in glitzy events and brand building through column inches in the broadsheets. So the news (p1) that MMC is stumping up some serious cash to support an orchestra?s community work around the UK comes as something of a surprise ? not least because the sum of £1m is on the table, with an additional commitment of staff time to boot. Operating almost exclusively in business-to-business markets, MMC has little to gain commercially from its four-year package of support, but clearly places a high value on its staff by supporting involvement in their local communities. The initiative also knocks down another commonly held belief ? that sponsorship always involves arts organisations subordinating their own agendas to those of their paymasters. It doesn?t. London based City of London Sinfonia gets the opportunity to tour extensively around the UK, as well as to developing its outreach and management training activities. A story with a happy ending: shame they?re so few and far between.
Published: 25-02-2002