28 February 2012
Business investors have given £10m less to the Arts in the past
year despite culture secretary Jeremy Hunt’s best efforts to
encourage philanthropy, according to new figures.
However, overall donations, including those from trusts,
foundations and individual donors increased by a £28.5m.
CAF head of policy Hannah Terrey commented: “Our UK Giving
report has repeatedly shown that arts are a low priority for
donors, just 1% giving to this cause in 2011. It is therefore
encouraging that these figures show donations to the Arts have
increased significantly.”
Senior Corporate Advisory Manager Klara Kozlov, added “The fact
that there has been a marked drop-off in corporate donations,
despite the government taking steps to encourage businesses to
give, is a concern.
It is being increasingly realised that business charity
partnerships create more benefits for both parties when the
organisations have a strategic fit. The number of businesses with
commercial operations that have a close alliance to the Arts is
limited and could explain the reduction.
Additionally, in economically turbulent times, Arts are often
perceived to be a ‘nice to have’ rather than an essential service
that other charities often supply. Arts organisations need to
review their corporate fundraising strategies to ensure that they
fit with the external environment.”
Hannah Terrey added further “This decline suggests that we
should be careful about supposing philanthropic donations can
replace public funding for the Arts in the short term. Achieving a
major culture change around levels of philanthropy should still be
the long-term ambition. The government must continue to support
charities and donors to make sure that they can give and receive
money as effectively as possible in order to see this ambition
realised.”
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