Steep fall in private arts funding

A 9% fall in private investment in the arts sector is revealed in new figures from Arts & Business (A&B). Its latest annual report, ‘The State of the Marketplace 2008’, which catalogues investment in the arts from business sponsorship, individual giving, and trusts and foundations, shows an overall rise of 12% (taking inflation into account) in the cultural sector as a whole, bringing the total to £686m. The headline figures have been hailed in the media as a success story, but when heritage, museums, libraries and crafts are excluded, investment shows a substantial decline.

Total business support for cultural organisations, which includes in-kind sponsorship, cash sponsorship, corporate donations, corporate membership, and awards and prizes, has fallen by 7% overall to £163.4m, although the arts, and particularly theatre and the visual arts, continue to receive the lion’s share of this category (80%). A&B does not attribute the decline to the current economic crisis, but notes that “we cannot afford to ignore the biannual decline of business investment since 2002, which suggests that there is a ‘natural cycle’ for this”. Giving by Trusts and Foundations increased by 7% overall, reaching £141m, with 76% of this figure going to the arts sector. Individual giving “reached record levels, experiencing a 25% increase… which makes up more than half of the total private investment received in the UK”. However, more than half of the overall figure of £382.1m went to heritage alone, with only £108.4m (28%) going to arts organisations: opera, theatre and music are the largest recipients of individual donations within the arts sector. The figure for museums was significantly enhanced by the largest ever individual donation of £20m to the National Maritime Museum from Sammy Ofer.

[[we cannot afford to ignore the biannual decline of business investment since 2002]]Speaking to AP, A&B’s Director, Colin Tweedy, confirmed that developing and supporting individual philanthropy would be a key strand of the organisation’s work in the future. A&B manages the Prince of Wales’s Medal for Arts Philanthropy, which was awarded for the first time in November to five major donors to the arts (AP184). There are now plans to create a regional philanthropy award to honour donors “at a more moderate level”. A&B also plans to deploy fundraising experts from the sector to develop training, advice and support on structuring individual giving campaigns.
Concerning the fall in private investment in the arts, Tweedy acknowledged the challenge facing the arts with the “very stiff competition” from heritage and museums. “Clearly, if people are moving away from performances to exhibitions and galleries then that’s a trend we have to watch”, he said, adding that “people are aware that if you go to a performance your guests… are sitting in the dark for half the time, and therefore, though that’s a great evening out it means you haven’t got the opportunity to network with them.” He suggested that arts organisations should work together during the recession. “I think there are areas where doing a joint marketing plan or a joint sponsorship plan so that you can divide the support up between variety of institutions is something which should be looked at more and more by arts organisations, particularly if they are perceived to be not as attractive as before,” he said. On being asked about the clarity of A&B’s figures in relation to the arts sector, he agreed that “we need to be more specific in our breakdowns, and I very much take that on board”.