Philanthropists respond to Hunt’s call for more private donations to the arts with challenge fund

By: 

Cheryl Chapman

Managing Editor, Philanthropy UK

The new culture secretary Jeremy Hunt has issued a call to arts-loving philanthropists to step in and fund the gap that government cuts will inevitably create as a result of tackling the nation’s budget deficit. Hunts comments, made in his maiden ministerial speech, were warmly received on the whole, and attracted an immediate response from interested parties, including the launch of a 'challenge fund' to stimulate philanthropic giving to the arts.

Colin Tweedy, OBE, chief executive of Arts & Business, which forges partnerships between the two sectors, and will now be instrumental in bringing philanthropists and arts organisations together at social gatherings and meetings as a government agency, welcomes Hunt’s comments and says donors are pragmatic about the role they must now play. “The majority of individual donors, as distinct from corporate donors, accept they have a core responsibility to fund the arts now the era of public sector grants is over and as the government grapples with the economic situation which is not of their making.”

Theresa Lloyd, author of Why Rich People Give and Cultural Giving, Philanthropy UK founder and independent philanthropy advisor says, “Jeremy Hunt’s commitment to strengthen philanthropy for the arts is to be welcomed.  He emphasises the importance of thinking long term. This includes encouraging the creation of endowments, the development of legacy programmes and strengthening of fundraising capacity across the sector. Crucially, he recognises the need of the sector to be able to plan for years ahead with confidence. He proposes to recognise this by rewarding organisations that have 'more ambitions fundraising programmes' with long term agreements – to reassure donors that their support will complement sustained public investment.”

Hunt has promised a bigger slice of lottery funding to soften the impact of cuts in government funding to the arts as well as commitments beyond the cultural sector – such as the simplification of Gift Aid and, more fundamentally, the development of a cultural shift in attitudes to giving, particularly among the better off.

Lloyd says, “We don’t have details on the means yet. Given the financial situation it is unlikely that the recommendations of the Goodison Report on Gifts of work of art will be implemented now, or the proposals for ‘Lifetime legacies’ that would help to underpin endowments.

“These would also benefit the university sector, and we see from the Ross-CASE report that the number of people giving to British universities rose by 12% in 2008/9, and cash donations increased from £430m to £511m, partly attributable to a government-supported matched funding scheme.”

In a trailblazing response to stimulate cultural giving, Arts & Business has this week launched a new pilot ‘challenge fund’ for the arts with an initial pot of at least £500,000, which it hopes will stimulate £3m of new funding.

The Big Arts Give pilot is in partnership with UK cultural philanthropist Alec Reed and his Big Give website, which pioneered challenge funding in the UK.

Tweedy says “We hope it will dramatically reanimate individual cultural philanthropy in this period of economic difficulty.

 “The Big Arts Give is a significant part of our private policy for the arts target - to reach £1bn of private sector investment and philanthropy by 2016, from £655m in 2009.

“In this pilot year, we anticipate raising at least £8 of new cultural wealth for every £1 Arts & Business invests through the catalyst fund. We will promote this innovative approach for the benefit of organisations wishing to develop new relationships with givers. It is not about 'quick fix' fundraising, but should be used by arts organisations to help foster a culture of life-long giving. The arts are often perceived as being slightly out of the mainstream of charitable giving. The Big Arts Give will push culture further up the ladder of charitable causes.”

Welcoming the initiative, culture minister Ed Vaizey said, “The UK’s sustained success in the arts and culture is underpinned by a combination of funding from public and private sources, box office and commercial revenue.  We owe enormous thanks to donors like Alec Reed for their profound generosity to the cultural life of the nation.  I think the Arts & Business Big Arts Give is a terrific idea and I hope, in particular, that it will unlock additional funding for some of our smaller cultural bodies.”

Reed adds: “Both donors and charities enjoy the buzz of having their donations doubled, and I am delighted that Arts & Business is putting arts at the forefront of inspirational fundraising."

Tweedy continued: “The Big Arts Give fits into the government’s Big Society perfectly. We will be trialling new measures to encourage corporate giving and philanthropy and inspiring a climate that empowers local people and communities to build the capacity of their arts community.

“We know arts organisations are prioritising individual giving over all other sources of private investment for the foreseeable future. This campaign will encourage arts bodies of all sizes to create new wealth and attract new donors. In a new era of pressure on public funding, philanthropy will become ever more vital to the success of arts and cultural organisations.”

Lloyd adds a note of caution about private funding of the arts, “Of course there have been concerns that private philanthropy is more likely to focus on successful main stream, perhaps more conventional arts, but even if that is the case it is surely good that these organisations should be strengthened and more money flows to the sector. The risk to endowment income that we see in the current financial crisis does not mean that arts institutions should not be in a position to benefit when times improve.

“The challenge as always is that too few boards understand what is needed to sustain an outstanding programme that will engage and retain major donors, and encourage legacies, and their own role and responsibilities in this activity. I hope that the interest in strengthening fundraising capacity will lead to improvements in both staff and volunteer leadership, to the huge benefit of the cultural sector as a whole.”

The Big Arts Give will be launched as part of The Big Give Christmas Challenge 2010 in December 2010.  .