The last ten years have seen substantial increases in arts sponsorship in the UK. Amongst these there were three bad years, but the general movement was positive. The latest figures, however, tell a different story and reveal a sharp decline from £150.4m in 1999/2000 to £114m in 2000/2001. Colin Tweedy explores the issues behind the headline figures. 
The substantial fall in UK arts sponsorship has arisen essentially because most of the major arts Lottery capital campaigns have been completed. Straight cash given to the arts fell slightly, by 3%, but the sponsorship scene is far more complex now.
Companies give not only cash, but also in kind (this rose by 63%), and there are a huge number of business volunteers working in the arts, many through our Board Bank and Skills Bank. Sponsorships of awards and prizes grew, as did corporate memberships. Also, the picture changes across the UK; the figures rose dramatically in the West Midlands and fell in London.
So what, if anything, can we deduce from this kaleidoscope of contradictory statistics? Has September 11th and the global recession meant that arts sponsorship is going to go into free-fall? One thing is clear: the language has to change. Sponsorship as a ?one size fits all? definition for the myriad number of ways in which business can and does engage with the arts is simply misleading. Many people have come to me and said that the very word sponsorship is outdated, redolent of the eighties and nineties and that ?partnership?, a description of equals working together in a mutually beneficial way, is a more accurate word. Others groan and see the word partnership as also having a distinct shelf-life.
When Arts & Business was set up as ABSA in 1976 virtually the only sponsors were national or international companies. Most of the arts groups who got sponsorship were large metropolitan based organisations, but in the last 26 years all that has changed. The growth has come from Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and every arts organisation is looking for private funding, from a two person theatre company to the British Council.
So while the number of companies able to give has grown, so have the number of potential recipients. Even more significant is the rise of other causes beyond the old arch enemy, sport! Education, health care and the charitable sector generally have turned their attention to the business community. Running fast on the inside track (to use an inappropriate sporting metaphor) has been corporate social responsibility (CSR), which has galvanised the attention of the corporate sector, particularly the FTSE 500.
The arts may be in danger of being sidelined by the huge number of conflicting demands on the corporate purse, but equally alarming has been the change in corporate structures and management control. The days when a chairman or chief executive was able personally to control a budget have largely gone - though many arts fundraisers will comment on how many decisions are still dependent on the enthusiasm of one individual driving the project through the various committees.
The arts have seen many of these changes coming. In 1999 ABSA changed its name to Arts & Business. We dropped sponsorship from our name, not because we had stopped believing in it, far from it; but we saw that the new partnerships that could be developed needed to be incorporated into our identity. We were also aware that creativity had become the new corporate buzz word and that the arts were superbly positioned to work with business in unlocking the creativity of the workforce.
Arts & Business is aware that the new strategy we have developed in tandem with our re-branding has been causing not a few in the arts profession consternation. I also will accept the criticism that we did not communicate the reasons for our new work clearly enough. Arts & Business is also aware that our new strategy helps to develop partnerships that will only come to fruition in the medium to long-term. Many arts organisations fear that unless they get increased funding now, they won?t be here in the medium to long-term.
But the trends in corporate support are pointing to the fact that our strategy, albeit painful, is right. Unless the arts are embedded into corporate life and more than a handful of senior executives are involved, I fear that the trend in traditional sponsorship will continue downwards. Our annual figures are reflecting these changes and in future years need to be seen within the context of the new environment that business and the arts are facing. The word sponsorship would then more appropriately become partnership, and investment in the arts would be seen as the key to our creative future as individuals, companies and country. A big ambition, but surely an important one.
Colin Tweedy is Chief Executive of Arts & Business w: http://www.aandb.org.uk