A&B report warns of sponsorship downturn

Private investment in the arts, particularly from businesses, is likely to decrease in 2009, with a further and more significant drop in the following year, according to the latest report by Arts & Business (A&B), previewed exclusively by AP. Funding from trusts and foundations is also likely to fall, and the severity of the recession means that “the climate is expected to remain quite dire”, but A&B believes that the decrease in funds “could herald a new era of opportunities for both communities to come out stronger and wiser, through new business models and the creative exchange of skills, expertise and more”. The report, ‘Private Investment in Culture’, recommends that arts organisations maintain relationships with their donors and tap into resources other than monetary donations, such as knowledge and skills. Based on data from previous recessions, investment is expected to increase from 2011 onwards as confidence returns. Business investment has doubled since the 1990s, which A&B interprets as “indicating that working with the arts is becoming an embedded practice within the corporate sector”. The report also includes a survey of cultural coverage by all the major national newspapers, national and regional newspapers in the four UK nations, the specialist cultural press and broadcast media. It examines the limited coverage of sponsorship deals by the media, and concludes that this may be because the sponsored organisation is usually responsible for media relations, and some media outlets consider mention of a sponsor to be “advertising through the back door”.