Most arts organisations are not confident that philanthropy will be able to plug funding holes, as a new report finds that two-thirds of organisations believe they do not have the fundraising skills to meet their income targets.

Hot on the heels of the Arts Council England announcing its new national portfolio, cutting funding entirely to 206 organisations, an Arts Quarter study has found that the majority of arts bodies – specifically those with an annual income of less than £5m – feel they lack the fundraising capacity to attract voluntary income.

Last December secretary of state for culture, Jeremy Hunt, tried to cool fears about government pulling funding for the arts when he outlined a ten-point plan to increase philanthropy in the area, which included an £80m matched fund, encouraging more donor recognition, and making 2011 ‘the year of corporate giving’.

But these raft of measures, broadly welcomed by the 587 organisations surveyed by Arts Quarter, have failed to bolster optimism in the sector, 50 per cent of whom don’t believe that philanthropy will reach the levels required for another one or two decades.

Half of those organisations did not even believe their organisations had a consistent case for support which they could take out to potential donors.

In its summary of the report, Arts Quarter said, “There is an urgent need to develop the skills of existent staff as well as look at how external resources can be deployed to supplement these.”

Three main areas of skills shortage were identified: identifying and cultivating major donors, incentivising corporate philanthropy and the ability to formulate a fundraising strategy. Three quarters of arts respondents said they wanted bespoke mentoring as part of an effort to bolster these skills.