John Nicholls, managing partner, Arts Quarter LLP

John Nicholls

The devil will lie in the detailed implementation of this Action Plan. The key concern here is that those organisations which are currently well-resourced may be likely to be the greatest beneficiaries which one assumes is not the purpose of this action plan. It is vital that a broader range of organisations irrespective of art-form, scale and location are able to benefit from any boost to philanthropy. Indeed it could be that those who are most reliant on subsidy (i.e. non-London based organisations with annual turnovers of under £1m) are made priority beneficiaries of the plan.

Whether any plan will have an impact at this time remains unclear. In AQ’s last Economic Impacts on the Arts Survey published in October 2010  the majority of respondents forecast that individual and corporate giving may be likely to decline again post April 2011 in response to a levelling off of improving confidence in the economy post Comprehensive Spending Review.

Key to the success of any boost to philanthropy will be root and branch investment and incentivisation to allow giving and asking capacities to grow in equal proportions. There is little point in capacity building fundraising skills within the arts unless the pool of potential funders is incentivised to give. Similarly potential donors will only give sustainably if arts organisations are able to fulfil the expectations of donors professionally.

The proposed £80m matched fund equates to around £16m per year – again the impact will depend on the criteria and proportions of the match requirements. Historically matched funding programmes have had a degree of impact on incentivising notably companies to give to arts causes (for example the Pairing Scheme) but again, it was mostly larger-scale organisations who benefitted under this programme where there were the resources to cultivate and service corporate relationships.

One key omission from the plan is mention of looking at wider commercial revenue generation issues outside of philanthropy. For some arts organisations, philanthropy may not suit their business models or indeed their creative outputs may not be deemed attractive to private sector supporters. In this respect these organisations will need guidance in how to capture effectively their intellectual property and development of skills as to how they then may be able to go on to exploit their intellectual equity.

I believe philanthropy can and should play a greater role in the mixed funding economy. A&B have talked for many years of the reasonably even three-way revenue split for arts organisations (admissions/ subsidy/ fundraising) but still a significant proportion of arts organisations only have part of this three-way revenue portfolio in place in any sustainable way.

Whatever practical activities are put in place it is important that they reflect the visions and values of arts organisations. A ‘one-model-fits-all’ approach simply will not work. A modular capacity building programme for organisations which allows them to select the elements that best fit their business models will have a greater impact on organisations. Moreover this has to be seen as a long-term programme, nothing is likely to radically change within the lifetime of this or indeed the next Parliament.

Donors will only feel more comfortable giving once economic confidence has truly returned and so the immediate term has to be more about putting in place effective foundations for what will be a significant shift in the UK philanthropic culture while at the same time, developing intellectual capacities within the sector itself.

John Nicholls
John Nicholls founded Arts Quarter LLP in 2008 with over 20 years’ experience of working within the arts, wider charitable communities and business world in the UK and overseas.
Nicholls has worked as a senior business development, communications and brand professional for a number of arts organisations in the UK and overseas including Shakespeare’s Globe, the Young Vic, English National Ballet, San Francisco Symphony and The Washington Ballet.
Nicholls is a trustee of the National AIDS Trust and South East Dance. In the past, he has served as a trustee of Headlong Theatre and was chair of Pacitti Company. He also acts as ad-hoc advisor to a range of other arts organisations.

Arts Quarter LLP
Tel: +44 (0)203 062 8852
Email: john@artsquarter.co.uk
Website: www.artsquarter.co.uk