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Record levels of voluntary income for arts charities

Fundraising | Celina Ribeiro | 26 Feb 2009

Arts organisations secured record levels of voluntary investment in the last financial year but contributions from businesses were down, according to a new report.

The arts and culture sector reported an above-inflation 12 per cent increase in ‘private investment’ (voluntary income) in the 2006/2007 financial year, reaching a record £686m. The financial maelstrom failed to stifle the steady growth of individual contributions the sector has witnessed in recent years, with income from individuals reaching £382m – a 25 per cent increase on the previous year.

Corporate giving, however, fell 7 per cent to £163m. While it was the only element of voluntary income that was down (trust income rose by 7 per cent), the report authors Arts & Business stress the drop-off could be a result of a natural two-year cycle of corporate giving rather than any direct impact of the recession and businesses going bust.

While the recent figures are higher than ever, the report predicts it will be “a number of years” before voluntary income tops the £700m mark, and that confidence in investing in the arts would not experience a significant increase until after the London Olympics.

The report says there are signs the current giving levels might be the peak of a boom for the sector.

Colin Tweedy, chief executive of Arts & Business, a charity arts network, congratulated arts fundraisers for their “remarkable achievement”, but warned the future for arts may not be so rosy.

“In this economic climate the challenges facing cultural organisations are immense and the cultural sector cannot remain immune in a global recession. With a squeeze on public investment and a reduction in some private giving imminent, the key is to maintain long term relationships so the cultural sector can weather the storm,” he said.

“The cultural sector enters this downturn in a position of unprecedented strength, but we need to work together to maintain this long-term security.”

Arts and culture organisations remain majority funded by the government, with 33 per cent of income coming from trading and a further 13 per cent from voluntary contributions.

Heritage organisations took the lion’s share of voluntary contributions at around a third of the total pot, with museums in second place at 18 per cent.

Pictured is a scene from a performance by the English National Opera.

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