logo
    • Magazine
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Racial Justice
  • Economic Justice
    • Collections
  • Climate Justice
  • Health Justice
  • Leadership
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Subscribe
  • Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Complimentary Webinars
    • Premium On-Demand Webinars
  • Membership
  • Submissions

Positive Trends in Arts and Culture Funding—At Least on the Surface

Eileen Cunniffe
July 2, 2013
Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print

Arts

June 30, 2013; PartnershipMovement.org

On the heels of the Giving USA finding that arts and culture was America’s fastest-growing philanthropic cause in 2012, Americans for the Arts (AFTA) has reported an uptick in business support for the sector. The latest edition of Giving USA cites an estimated 7.8 percent increase in arts and culture funding to $14.44 billion in 2012, compared with 2011. This exceeds the pre-recession peak of $13.7 billion in 2007 (not adjusting for inflation). AFTA’s BCA National Survey of Business Support for the Arts reports an increase of 18 percent in business giving to the cultural sector from 2009 to 2012, after downward trends in 2006 and 2009.

The BCA Report 2013 is based on a survey of 600 businesses, ranging in size from less than $1 million to more than $50 million. While the recent resurgence in arts funding by businesses was led by the largest companies, more than 80 percent of contributions reported came from small and mid-sized businesses.

So things are clearly looking up in the world of nonprofit arts and culture, right?

While both reports offer welcome relief, there’s a long way to go in generating continued investment in the arts. The BCA survey demonstrates that business support for the arts has rebounded to “near 2006 levels,” leaving plenty of lost ground to be made up. And as Mike Boehm noted in the Los Angeles Times following the release of Giving USA, a peek behind the curtain of data showing increased support for the cultural sector suggests that many donors still don’t see the arts as essential to society, which is why their gifts went elsewhere during the peak years of the recession.

Sign up for our free newsletters

Subscribe to NPQ's newsletters to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

When BCA survey respondents who don’t currently support the arts were asked “why not?” on an unprompted basis, the top reason mentioned was budget constraints. But many also cited a belief that social causes such as education, healthcare, or youth programs were more important.

“Nice to have” is a label the nonprofit arts and culture sector simply can’t afford to carry, and certainly doesn’t deserve. But this perception may help explain why, in the face of mountains of research demonstrating the positive impact of arts education, school districts around the country continue to slash arts programs to balance their budgets. Which makes the nonprofit arts sector—especially those organizations dedicated to delivering arts programs for youth—more essential than ever.

The BCA Report 2013 highlights four reasons cited by businesses for supporting the arts: improving quality of life in the community, helping create a vibrant community and society, improving academic performance for students, and offering education initiatives that benefit the community. It shows that businesses that support the arts are much better than those that do not at articulating benefits that fall into the category of enlightened self-interest, like stimulating creative thinking and problem solving, enhancing acceptance of diversity in the workplace, helping to recruit/retain employees and growing market share. Not surprisingly, those who “get it” are also far more likely to go beyond direct corporate contributions; for example, by promoting board service at cultural organizations, hosting arts events in the workplace, and/or having a corporate art collection.

AFTA has an ongoing campaign, the pARTnership Movement, aimed at advancing support for the arts among corporations and business professionals.

The challenge for fundraisers in the nonprofit cultural sector is to make a stronger case—not only with businesses, but also with government, foundations and individual donors—about the vital importance of the arts to the fabric of our society by underscoring the many ways arts and social causes intersect.—Eileen Cunniffe

Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Eileen Cunniffe

Eileen Cunniffe has worked in the nonprofit arts sector for more than a decade, managing board development, capacity-building consulting projects and skill-based volunteer programs. She also has deep experience in corporate public affairs, organizational communications and community relations work. In addition to writing for NPQ, Eileen also writes and publishes creative nonfiction.

More about: Nonprofit NewsPhilanthropy

Become a member

Support independent journalism and knowledge creation for civil society. Become a member of Nonprofit Quarterly.

Members receive unlimited access to our archived and upcoming digital content. NPQ is the leading journal in the nonprofit sector written by social change experts. Gain access to our exclusive library of online courses led by thought leaders and educators providing contextualized information to help nonprofit practitioners make sense of changing conditions and improve infra-structure in their organizations.

Join Today
logo logo logo logo logo
See comments

NPQ_Winter_2022Subscribe Today
You might also like
Why Social Change Films Matter
Cyndi Suarez and Saphia Suarez
Philanthropy Must Move from Charity to Solidarity
Son Chau
Eliminating Biphobia Through Breath, Brotherhood, and the Arts
H. “Herukhuti” Sharif Williams
Using a Data-Driven Strategy to Advance Racial Equity in Grantmaking
Heather Lenz, Ariel Jordan and Catherine Smith
Protecting Nonprofits That Protect Us During Crises—and Beyond
Aisha Benson and Jen Talansky
Reimagining Philanthropy to Build a Culture of Repair
Aria Florant and Venneikia Williams

Upcoming Webinars

Remaking the Economy

Black Food Sovereignty, Community Stories

Register Now
You might also like
Why Social Change Films Matter
Cyndi Suarez and Saphia Suarez
Philanthropy Must Move from Charity to Solidarity
Son Chau
Eliminating Biphobia Through Breath, Brotherhood, and the...
H. “Herukhuti” Sharif Williams

Like what you see?

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

See our newsletters

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

Independent & in your mailbox.

Subscribe today and get a full year of NPQ for just $59.

subscribe
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Copyright
  • Careers

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.